Me as Hostess

Today I was hostess for our monthly Red Hat luncheon.  I chose Liberatore's, a very nice Italian restaurant in Westminster.  Originally I had 18 attendees, but through one medical problem and another too-busy-and-overbooked, we had 16 who were there.  Since our group has been together monthly since 2003, we have become close and really enjoy seeing each other.  It's become our tradition to have little favors, a gift for anyone whose birthday is that month, door prizes, table arrangements, i.e. potted plants, a Friendship Ball filled with some small treasure or candy for the next month's hostess, and a contribution to our basket that will be given away at Christmas.  This year the basket is a Gardening Basket.  My contribution was a bulb planting tool kit with a bulb hole digger, a gardening spade and some fertilizer mix. In previous years we've had a Wine Basket, a Spa Basket, a Tea basket, a Christmas Wreath, and a Decorated Red Hat.  The items really add up in 12 months and make a really terrific win to one lucky person.  Last year it was the Wine Basket, and wouldn't you know it - it was won by a woman who doesn't drink!

June is the one month of the year that is no one's birthday, so I decided to have a gift for each member.  I have quite a few new or like new gift items in my stash, and pulled out 15 things that I thought would be nice door prizes.  These ranged from several books, a Red Hatter teddy bear, Neutrogena sun block, scented candles, recipe cards, a personal battery charged fan, and similar items.  All were wrapped and in gift bags.  No one realized until almost everyone's name had been pulled that everyone was getting a gift, including the 4 African Violets that were the centerpieces on the table.  It was a lot of fun and everyone seemed happy with the gifts.

At the end, I collected everyone's money and when I tallied the count, I came up short by about $20, and couldn't figure out what the problem was.  Everyone was concerned and they started turning in extra dollars until it dawned on me what the problem was.  I shouted WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! I FORGOT TO PAY MY OWN BILL!!  Everyone had a big laugh and all the extra dollars were handed back.  It was so funny.  I tend to be a ditz at times, and I think even more so as I get older.  Anyway, all was fine and the day turned out very well.  I'm glad that it's all behind me.  For the next 20 months or so.

Red Hat Lunch

Today was a luncheon with my Red Hat friends.  There are 20 women in our chapter, and we've been meeting every month for the past 6+ years.  It's a really nice group, and I enjoy the get-togethers, but I have to say - I really hate the dressing-in-red-and-purple-with-red-hats part of it.  As my friend Sharon and I have said, we feel like Senior Hookers.  Very embarrassing walking down the street.  Another thing I really don't like is the "hat hair" we inevitably end up with after the hat comes off - flat and squashed.

I remember one time when we went to a garden/nursery called Surreybrooke for lunch and a tour.  It was in summer, and the temperature was in the high 80's, with humidity to match.  Sharon was wearing a hat that she had spray painted with red paint, and she was afraid to remove her hat for fear her blond hair would be streaked with red.  So even though we were all sweltering and sweating and had taken our own hats off, Sharon kept hers on.  When she got home and took off her hat, she was right - her hair was red!

This photo was taken last October, and everyone was supposed to dress in costume.  Sharon dressed as Maxine, with a cigarette holder and Margarita glass, and I wore my red silky pajamas and a red and purple night cap.  And we went this way to a restaurant in broad daylight!  

Errands

Made a hair appointment for this afternoon, and it was good to get it cut - sure needed it.  My hair dresser and I still aren't on the same page, but it's better than it was the last time I went.  Somehow she has me pegged for an old lady style, and I have to fix it once I leave the shop.  I want to look as youthful as I can, as we all do, and she must see me as someone older.  But she's a nice lady, and a widow, and needs the money, yada, yada, yada ...

When I left there I stopped at Lowe's and bought some plants to put into the patio containers.  It will bring some nice color out there and brighten things up.  I planned to do some of that tomorrow, but Sharon called and reminded me that we have a Red Hat lunch tomorrow.  I hadn't forgotten about it, but I had it in my mind that it was next week, not this one.  Sigh ... hadn't really wanted to go to this one - a Western themed restaurant called Stables, but I'll go.  I enjoy getting together with the women in our chapter, which we've had for nearly 7 years, but I really don't like the dressing up in red hats and purple outfits.  That part of it is getting old, and I'm not the only one who thinks so.  For one thing, it makes stopping on the way back a conspicuous undertaking.  Nothing subtle about looking like a Senior Hooker.  So I suppose the potting soil will have to wait until another time.

Spent some time this evening with the photos I took on the trip to Florida.  I cropped, straightened, and edited almost all of them, but still didn't finish.  I deleted the ones that weren't good or were too similar, but I need to go back through them again and organize and eliminate some more.  The thing with digital cameras, at least for me, is that since I don't need to worry about having them developed, I can take as many as I like, willy nilly, and deal with them all later on.  I must remember to be more discriminating - at least when in the "cutting room."  This photo was taken at the Lion Safari Park on our Florida vacation in March.