Halloween Memories

Hope all of Pamela's Girls are having a Happy Halloween. I had fun pulling out some old pictures of Halloween's past. When Auntie J and I were growing up, I don't think Halloween was the "Event" it is now. On the first Halloween I remember, I was about 6 and we were in Charleston. I was going trick or treating with the little girl who lived next door to my grandparents. She was about 9 and had a beautiful long, red fairy dress. Mommas had made me a clown outfit - I'm sure with a lot of love - but it was a dull navy and nothing about it said "clown." Everybody would rave over the fairy, but have to ask me what I was. The next year, though, Pamela and Mommas made me a beautiful fairy outfit out of some old lace curtains.

Then, when I was in the 2nd and 3rd grade, our Methodist church came up with the idea of collecting for the poor children in other countries. So instead of getting candy, we had to hold out a little milk carton and say "Trick or Treat for Unicef." I must say, I thought that was the PITS!

When it came to Mommy M's first Halloween, I pulled yarn through a baby bonnet and dressed her in her Raggedy Ann doll's dress - of course, Skippy dressed up too.

For her next Halloween, I got a "bunny" pattern and made this outfit and she and Pamela posed for.

Sanfran S wanted a tiger outfit, as she went through a "bad" phase when she liked the Clemson tiger. I also found a picture of her posing next to her award winning picture in kindegarten in 1985.

This year was really special, having BabyB come trick or treating to our house. It was so special to have Mommy M come by with all her childhood friends, who now are parents with children of their own. It seems like life has come full circle, as I remembered times going through the neighborhood with my two little girls, and it seems like only yesterday. I am very blessed to be able to enjoy this time with Baby B.

With love to all my Pamela Girls, CiCi

Happy Halloween!

We had such a wonderful weekend celebrating Halloween with our family! Thursday night we went to the Halloween carnival at the Country Club. Marvin talked Baby B into riding his first pony… I think Marvin was even more proud than Baby B!

Friday Baby B helped Daddy L carve our jack-o-lantern. At first he wasn’t so sure about the icky insides, but then he decided it was pretty fun. Of course he HAD to taste it:) Friday night we ate dinner at the Kiwanis pancake supper with Cici and SS where Baby B enjoyed running around the cafeteria just like Sanfran S and I did when we went when we were little.

Saturday Baby B went to trick-or-treat at Cici and SS’s first where he got a bag full of special Halloween treats. Then we met at a friends house to get on a hayride to trick-or-treat through the neighborhood. There were probably 15-20 children on the hayride. I included the photo of one of Baby B’s friends. She was Little Bo Peep…Isn’t the wig hysterical? The funny thing is that she really doesn’t have much hair.

Once Baby B watched the big kids running to the door and getting candy, he caught on really quickly. He had a ball!!! He walked up to every door just like the older kids and even learned to hold out his bag for candy. He was most excited when we pulled up in front of Cici and SS’s house. Even in the dark, he knew where we were and he pushed through the other children to get to them first. Baby B ended up with a LOT of candy by the end of the night.

I was EXHAUSTED by the end of the night, but it was so much fun! I think I enjoyed trick-or-treating as much with Baby B as I did when I was little because it was so exciting to see Baby B having such a good time enjoying his first of many trick-or-treating experiences. It was also pretty neat that he got to trick-or-treat at the same houses that SanFran S and I went to many Halloweens ago with my some of my long-time friends.

Happy Halloween Pamela’s Girls!
Love,
~Mommy M

The Day Before Halloween & A Perfect Autumn Day

I hope that the Pamela’s Girls had as beautiful an October Saturday as Uncle R and I had today. It was a perfect, crisp Autumn day with brilliant sunshine, china blue skies and leaves turning glorious shades of gold, butter yellow and crimson all across Nashville.

After a Sky Blue Café breakfast where I caught this amazing view of downtown Nashville at the end of a multicolored street, I set out to trade in two boxes & one bag of used books - and was determined to return back to Chez R with lots of in-store credit & no books left in my trunk to slide from one side to the other when I swing around corners. And I came very close to meeting my goal. I have 2 little books still remaining in my trunk, which is a definite improvement! And – I came home with a couple of very interesting reads that I traded for and a very compact and beautiful edition of the best of classic French recipes that included all of my favorites and ones that I would actually like to try making for myself one day. I am always thrilled to have in-store credit at my favorite bookstores here in Nashville since there is usually always a book that I have a hankering for!

This is absolutely my favorite time of year and I have enjoyed seeing all of the decorations around Chez R this past week. Even Merry & Bright were wearing some stylish black puppy sweaters with scary little jack-o-lanterns on them. I love pumpkins and Chez R has them adorning each room with Fall flower arrangements, on kitchen towels and keeping watch on the front porch. I am looking forward to seeing if we have any trick-or-treators here at Chez R tomorrow night. There is a little basket of candy handy beside the front door and Merry & Bright prepared to bark out any warning of impending ghouls at the front door.

Love & Happy Halloween to the Pamela’s Girls!

Auntie J

North East Coast Travels

Last week I did a lot of traveling. I had to be in Washington, DC from Monday-Friday for your annual Conference we plan and run every year. Since I hadn't been to NYC or Philadelphia since I moved back to San Francisco I decided to make the most of already being over there and visit those cities. B.K. was already over there for work for 2 weeks so on Saturday I flew in to Philly and met him and one of his college buddies (who also lives in NY and we used to hang out with often when we lived there) at the airport. My fashion designer friend, L.A., from NY also met me there because she was going to be out of town the following weekend when I went to NY. Confusing, I know. I planned a very busy week for myself.
Pictures from Phila:
Oh, I forgot to mention that I also met up with one of my college buddies who lives in Philly now.
Now on to DC. I got sick on Monday on the way to DC. I took a train by myself from Philadelphia to DC. It's about 2.5 hours so not bad. I worked really long hours, 7am to 10pm usually. Anyways, I had a bad cold, sore throat, stomach issues and lastly I lost my voice. I had to give 2 speeches and really talk close into the microphone because by Thursday, my voice was very scratchy. I even coughed into the mic!! The rest of the conference everyone kept asking how I was feeling so that was nice to know they cared. A really sweet group of people.
Washington, DC:

Giving my speech (thought you'd get a kick out of that picture). My fashion friends say I look so professional in this picture. I picked my outfit, hair and makeup carefully for that reason. :)

Mexican Scientist/Entomologist
The Team

Now, the last and final stop before heading back home to San Francisco; New York City. By the time I took the 3.5 hour train from DC to NYC, I was sick and exhausted. I managed to pick up the next day though. I did a lot of shopping and saw a whole lot of my and BK's friends in that weekend. Unfortunately I was so out of it I forgot to take pictures with my friends there but I got BK to take a couple of me the last day and then I took some street shots. Visiting NYC is so fun and nothing like living there!
Have a great weekend Pamela's Girls! I still have no time for rest because the Giants are in the World Series! I'll be watching it today with the mobs of people by the stadium. Go Gigantes!!
Love you all,
SanFran S

Oh Dear...

Baby B is going through a phase where he loves to put every toy in the den into one pile...Yikes! At least it keeps him busy I guess. Do you see the Mickey Costume in the pile on the right? We're trying to become more aquainted with it:)

Love,
~Mommy M

Sneak Peek of Halloween

This morning I decided to put on Baby B’s Halloween costume since he hasn’t tried it on yet and I knew it would make a cute blog… Well, if today was any indication, then so much for the thoughts of Baby B cheerfully running door-to-door around the neighborhood as his beloved icon Mickey Mouse.
Before I put it on him, I showed him the costume and showed him his Mickey doll and "tried" to explain that he was going to look like Mickey Mouse. As soon as I attempted to put on the costume he started screaming at the top of his lungs. Even a bribe of candy corn didn't help. Lastly, I stood him on the stool in his bathroom to show him how cute he looked, but as soon as he saw himself, his face turned bright red and he gasped so hard that he didn't breath for a few seconds.
Oh well, I guess thats how it is when you have a 2 year old at Halloween. Maybe he'll drastically change his mind by Saturday. One of my good friends is having a hayride for all the kids to go trick-or-treating and then a Halloween party at her house afterwards, so it should be a lot of fun if Baby B cooperates.

Happy Halloween Pamela's Girls!
Love,
~Mommy M

My Desk

A few years ago Uncle R surprised me with a wonderful desk for our anniversary. On our every-other-week trips to Huntsville to check & love on Mom & Pop, we would stop in Franklin, TN for supper at a wonderful restaurant near the central town square and then walk across the street to a Ben & Jerry’s for an ice cream cone. After that we’d stroll along Franklin’s quaint Main Street and look into the beautiful window displays. Among the interesting variety of shops there was an antique store that had a desk in the window that we noticed and kept coming back to admire.

Then there came a Friday night in late November that we walked to the storefront with our ice cream and I screeched to a stop and pointed. “It’s not there!” I gasped. “Oh no!” I felt sad. It seemed so perfect with its simplicity and fun little drawers & cubbyholes.

A few Saturdays later, Uncle R took me for a drive and revealed as we entered downtown Franklin that we were coming to pick up our desk! It was so exciting! He had called the shop and asked that they hold it for us!

I love to sit at this little desk in our dining room and gaze around at all the meaningful items that cluster around me on its surface. To some people my little desk would be a bit cluttered but each of the things that decorate it are special to me in some way.

There are books giving and/or written by dear friends. There are photos of family & friends – some framed and a few just propped against others. My Eiffel Tower collection is lined up in a row along the top shelf and other Tower images grace a paperweight, stationery box, small framed engraving, photo album and a few varieties of journals. (People seem to have caught on that I like Eiffel towers and I occasionally receive them for presents.) Every one of them is special to me. A green Christmas candle from my seester always smells good as I sit and work on my computer and a little china chihuahua gazes up at me reminding me that Donda enjoys surprising me sometime with some little treasure that she knows will delight my heart.

I’d love to see the desks of my other Pamela’s Girls. What do you keep on your desk – home or at work?

Love and happy Weekend,

Auntie J

Week of October 18th

This weekend we took Baby B to the State Fair in Columbia. Since we went on a Saturday, it was extremely crowded, but Baby B had a good time seeing all of the sights… and of course, there were some sights! We didn’t even attempt to ride rides this year, but Baby B enjoyed seeing his favorite farm animals at the petting zoo and he devoured a corn dog and lots of Fiske Fries. He thought the pigs oinking were really funny and he got to feed the goats pellets of food one by one just like he feeds Barkley his dog food. I think the photo of him and Daddy L is especially cute!

Now I'm already busy getting ready for this weekend. I am going to Jacksonville for a "Girl's Weekend" with two of my best friends from highschool. We are staying at a VERY nice resort on the ocean Friday night and we are going to a Halloween party in Leslie's neighborhood Saturday night. Tonight I was trying on my outfit and since SanFran S gave me the vest, I asked Daddy L to take a photo for the blog. Can you tell what I'm going as??? (We added a gun as an effect. Don't worry SanFran S... I'm not taking it with me to the party.) I'm not sure what Becky will be but Leslie is wearing a blonde wig and dressing up as Sandy from Grease, so it should be pretty funny! Any visit with Leslie is pretty funny!

I've been working on Leslie and Becky's daughters birthday gift and Christmas gifts so I can take them with me and not have to worry about something happening to them in the mail at Christmas time. This is the stool I painted for Kaleigh's birthday:

Love to Pamela's Girls!

~Mommy M

October 9th – 2010 -- A Bookish Saturday

Back at the beginning of September, some office friends wheedled me into joining their Fantasy Football League to help make up the needed number of teams. I barely know anything about football, much less enough about all of the players around the NFL to juggle who I should play and who I should bench based on performance & playability on any given week. Fortunately Uncle R has helped and kept me from being truly horrible but even so, the particular set of players that I was dealt have left me on a lower rung in the league stats.

At the office recently, someone asked me if I looked often at my team and how I was making decisions. Gulp. “I just don’t have time to deal with it!!! There’s not enough time!” I wailed. “I’d do a lot better with a Fantasy Book Club!!!”

And that’s true!

This past weekend our little Jane Austen Tea Society met for High Tea at our Tearoom and discussed Wuthering Heights. I had been a little worried that there might be just a couple of us who would brave Emily Brontë’s dark classic, but there were ten people grouped around the table. One of our number for this Book Tea was a Brontë enthusiast who shared a wealth of knowledge and information about the Brontës, their lives, their personalities, etc. It was VERY interesting! She had found out about our Wuthering Heights Tea when she saw a link to our Jane Austen Tea Society blog on the Brontë blog. We also were happy to welcome the daughter of one of our members who had read Wuthering Heights for the first time as a school assignment and her wise and thoughtful comments made her a very appreciated and valued member of our group this time. We hope that both of these new people will come back to our January meeting when we will discuss George Elliot’s Silas Marner.

Our beloved Countess Pamula drove up from Atlanta to be with us, and even came a day early so that she and I could indulge in our shared interest of visiting bookstores, chatting non-stop and nabbing the occasional paleta. In addition, she and I had a reservation to attend an Author’s Breakfast early Saturday morning at the annual Nashville Southern Book Festival. There was a writer that I especially wanted to hear at this particular breakfast, Helen Simonson, who wrote Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand – one of my favorite reads this past year. She was included on a panel of authors, which included celebrated Southern writer, Lee Smith. Ms. Smith wrote a wonderful book that I have recommended many times over the years called Fair & Tender Ladies. I was very happy to have Ms. Simonson sign my Major Pettigrew book!

It was a busy weekend and ended happily with a long-awaited visit from our dear, dear friend Sandra H. We didn’t get to keep her in Nashville as long as we would have liked but as with the Countess Pamula, we are thankful to a kind Father for whatever time we are able to share with these loving and sweet friends.

Hugs & kisses to the Pamela’s Girls,

Auntie J.