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Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday for a multitude of reasons. - that may explain the line of work I'm in.
Every year Perfect Settings hosts a Sweetheart Banquet. This year is no exception. We had a fabulous time last year and we're going to have a fabulous time this year, again! Come again with all of those "firsts" stories... some of you were hysterical and this year we aren't telling any secrets.
Smooches!!
To borrow Amy Grant's list.... So here's my lifelong wish, My grown-up Christmas list. Not for myself, But for a world in need.
No more lives torn apart, That wars would never start, And time would heal all hearts. And everyone would have a friend, And right would always win, And love would never end. This is my grown-up Christmas list.
Anyone else??
Not IT... just it. I've been tagged (yet again) by Isis of Posh Events - who by the way is the coolest wedding planner in Jersey (for the record) and Lynette Richardson Hall who's the wedding diva (in her own right) from "Whose Wedding is it Anyway?" So here are the rules for the tagging.1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog. 2. Share 7 random and/or weird things about yourself. 3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. I've done 8 because there's always a party pooper. 4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. I emailed everyone so that people aren't waiting for their random quirks.
Weird or random thing #: 1. I fought a monkey who was in a dress… yes, the monkey won. 2. I send out more than 100 Christmas cards every year… and no, I don’t sign “love the Pagan’s” – that would be too easy. It usually takes me about 3 or 4 days to get them out the door. And BTW… I only send cards every other year for that reason – I even try getting a lot of them done in July at a Christmas card signing party that my BF does. 3. I make lots of noises with my mouth and it makes most people crazy. I scare them or they think my head just fell off. I can’t tell you that the car went racing down the street I have to say “the car went vvvrrroooommmm the whole way down the street!” I’m a great story teller. 4. I used to run 2.5 miles everyday at 5 am. When my dog died I stopped running. In May 2007 I decided I needed to run just to prove that I could still do it. I did but was sore for 2 wks. 5. I’ve had 3 dangerous stalkers in my life. Thanks, but 3 is enough. 6. In 2001 I had a life defining period of 18 months. It has made me who I am today – not all of it is better but it’s still good. 7. My mother raised all of us to be painfully humble. All of my sisters are beautiful but only one would tell you that she is. I have a hard time accepting a compliment gracefully and am uncomfortable telling you about my life’s accomplishments – if there are any… see what I mean? I always have to add one more – I’m not good at doing mediocre. 8. Lastly, I belong to a book group that has been together for 11 years. We often joke that we’ve been together longer than most marriages. We meet every 6 weeks and for the last 11 years I think I may have missed 6-8 mtgs. We talk about the book for a good 10 minutes…. the other 2 hours and 50 minutes we talk about life. At least 2 times a year I have to tell the monkey story so that (at least) one of them can pee their pants. What’s so funny? Remember I make noises with my mouth…!
Time to tag 7 others… My good friend Leslie Weeks of Leslie Manning Events http://lesliemanningevents.blogspot.com/ Jennifer from OC’s Finest http://ocsfinestweddings.blogspot.com/ Emilie from Emilie Duncan Event Planning: http://www.emilieduncan.com/pblog/ Christina from Simply Modern Weddings: http://simplymodernweddings.wordpress.com/about/ Kim from Parisian Events (yes from Paris!) http://www.parisianevents.com/parisianparty/index.php?paged=2 Amber from Amber Events: http://www.amberevents.blogspot.com/ Liene from Blue Orchid Events: http://blueorchiddesigns.blogspot.com/ Barbara from Barbara’s Brides: http://austinweddingcoordinators.com/
The Candlelight tour was a huge success. I met a lot of great people and got at chance to talk to many of them. I even made a friend!If you've never been to any of the tours from Columbia, you really need to look into going to the next one. I have no vested interest other than promoting this awesome little town of 10,000 people. I can't get enough of it.
On Monday I had the extreme pleasure of going to hear Anthony's dissertation for graduation. He did his talk on "Photochemical Process of Biphenyl and Ortho Derivatives" The talk lasted for more than 30 minutes and it's a good thing there wasn't a pop quiz because I can guarantee that neither Tony or me understood one word of his dissertation. We were proud parents nonetheless. At one point I got the giggles because it just seemed like Anthony was talking another language... I mean that. I had no idea what he was talking about!Anthony asked me to make cookies and brownies. No problem. For how many? I asked. About 100, he replied. Problem. Thank God for Pillsbury! This all came in the wake of decorating for the tour (see below). Even with the help of the Dough-Boy it still took a few hours to make all these cookies and brownies.
The first few pictures are of his peers descending upon the cookies. The other pictures are of Anth talking. I couldn't take a ton of pictures b/c Anthony was getting embarrassed. Shucks. It didn't help that my camera makes that electronic snapshot noise. It was pretty funny.
There's one picture of Dr. Iannoe who was Anthony's mentor. Dr. Iannoe worked with Anthony for over a year doing research and theories with Anth. I know Anthony appreciates him - we do too since Anthony's finally ready to graduate after 4 1/2 years of hard work. Dr. Iannoe told us after the dissertation that Anthony had come to him for a topic and he gave him one. After a few days Anthony came back to him and said that he didn't think the topic was challenging enough... imagine that. This topic must have been challenging enough for Anthony to tackle because if it weren't I think I would have been able to decipher at least one paragraph of Anthony's moving lips...
The Columbia by Candlelight tour is set for Saturday from 3-9 pm. The tour is also known as the Ghosts of Christmas Past Tour - but you know me... I don't do ghosts. There are 9 sites on the tour... including the Odd Fellows Hall - that's us people. There are really cool sites on as well. Tom Hermansader is on the tour this year. If you aren't from Lancaster County you probably aren't familiar with Hermansader art - unfortunately. However, Tom is a very gifted artist and for years Tony has been buying me art work from Tom. He's famous for doing all of the art at the Lancaster Square. At any rate, Tom lives in a beautiful Victorian Mansion here in Columbia ... I'm dieing to see the inside. It's simply a beautiful structure and I'm really wanting to get there - that is if I can get out of here for a few minutes.Others on the tour have Historical relevance as well and there will be more than 100 costumed hosts from the 1840's through the 1950's. (This won't include me.) BUT what's really cool is that there will be a lot of "living window" displays downtown as well as having a chance to have a carriage ride. My place will have a remake of a Victorian ball down in the ballroom. There will be actors in costume redoing all of the dancing and all of the things they did at balls back then. My house is open for the tour and for crying out loud please come and make me feel like all of my Christmas tree decorating wasn't in vain. We have 4 trees up - yes, the 2 footer does count! and if I have to string another set of lights I'm going to scream. Ticket information: Tickets can be purchased at the Market House the day of the tour for $15. but if you buy them in advance they're $13. Call Christine Horn at 717.442.1702 to purchase tickets. I guarantee that if you come you will be pleasantly surprised of all of the history here in Columbia. I didn't get a chance to blog about the Lantern Tour in October - aka: Ghost tour... again.... anyway it was one of the most awesome experiences seeing your town through the eyes of all of those who've walked before us. The acting and the choreography was spectacular.
Last year this was bugging the heck out of me... as most trivial things do. So I ask Anthony - my son the chemist who is the smartest man in the world - well, second to his dad. "Ok... so who is Parson Brown and why are we pretending that he's our snowman? That's what the lyrics to Winter Wonderland say!"
He says "how am I supposed to know?" I say "because you want to be a chemistry and physics teacher and someone will eventually ask you during your career so you better get an answer" so he googles it and tells me. That put that to rest. So here I am minding my business in my office and on the radio they start singing; In the meadow we can build a snowman Then pretend that he is Parson Brown.... I completely forget what Anth told me last year so I google it myself...
"Parson Brown" is the term used to talk about a typical angelican priest of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. "Parson Brown" is not an actual person (though he might have been at some time), but a figure of speech, like "John Doe" is an unidentified male and "Charley" is a watchman. "Parson" by itself means minister.
The classic line from Winter Wonderland: "In the meadow we can build a snowman Then pretend that he is Parson Brown He'll say 'Are you married ?', We'll say 'No man, For you can do the job when you're in town.'" Sure, it sounds like some kind of sexual reference, but its not. It's just a priest asking a couple if they are married. They reply that they are not and that they will wait for him to "do the job" of marrying them when he comes to their town.
Got it.... not to forget it anytime soon either.
This has become a pet peeve of mine. Anyone else? I hate being somewhere that has posted "please turn off your cell phone" and then hear an obnoxious ringtone. I really hate when this happens during a wedding or at an event if someone is giving a speech.Whit's ringtone is a gospel choir and it sings: Someone's calling you, You've got a phone call baby So you better pick it up You've got a phone call bay-bay Please speak up!
I hate to say it but I actually like this one. Puts you right in church behind the pew. However, this is the only exception to the rule. I accompanied her to a photo-shoot and her cell went off and I could have killed her. So the time has to be right. I hate those tones that are really out there... like the other day Tony and me are at lunch and this little old lady - very conservative - is eating lunch with (what looked like) her son and daughter-in-law. Out from the Coach bag comes ringing a very loud salsa. It did make me chuckle but she couldn't hear it and so it went on until her son said "mom is that your phone?" She whipped out the blue tooth and said (really loud) "HELLO?" *sigh* I recently heard a ring tone that was that song "If I could change the world" but it really carried the "change" so it was; if I could ch-a-a-a-a-nge the world" - for heaven's sake.. you could change your ringtone!
Remember that post about mottoes? Well I received an email blast about the mottoes being updated. I found some that were very cool - these are the ones I LOVE! "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." Dr. Seuss
Happy are those who dream dreams...and are willing to pay the price to make them happen".
"once you breathe in and out, everything else is extra. So go ahead live, love and laugh."
"You get what you give...so kill them with kindness and reap the rewards"
"The flower that follows the sun does so even on cloudy days."-Robert Leighton
"remember- Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astair did but she did it backwards and in high heels"
Whitney managed to get an A for this picture of my great-nephew (I can't believe I'm old enough to say that) from one of her toughest professors. I had to wait for my niece to do an OK of the model release before posting it. I just love this behind.... it's the only time in life that dimples on your butt and rolls on your thighs are ok.
The assignment was "liberty" - he looks like he's been liberated! Great job, Whit!
One of my best girlfriends is a travel specialist. I say this to remind you all of when you're booking your honeymoons you could call Shelley. She has a lot of different honeymoon packages. Not only will she help with your travel plans, I'm sure she'll end up being one of your best girlfriends too! I want you to peruse her website and make sure you look at the different options she has that you can take advantage of. If you don't find anything that interests you, please call Shelley. She'd be more than happy to help you pick out options that will work for you and your budget. And of course, tell her I sent you - no, I don't get a kick back I just get a pat on the back and she tells me "Dase, you're awesome"http://www.ytbtravel.com/mboykin
On the roll today... making up for lost time. It's been nuts around here.I'm really digging this picture today. It's a picture of the inside of the boy's restroom.
The sewing machine was one that was left inside the warehouse. (The warehouse was last a sewing factory.) My mother was a seamstress but I couldn't tell you the first thing about this tiny thing other than 1. it's cute and 2. it's made by Singer. We got rid of a lot of sewing machines but I couldn't part with this one... or about 5 other ones. I took this picture right after we finished the decorating of the ladies room. I'd show you some of those pics but the picture doesn't do it any justice - if I say so myself. You're going to have to come down and see for yourself!
I get more spam on my blog than I have clients. What I found was there were key words that I must avoid... anywhere in the text. Those words are: the word that means you coming out on the top of a game.... (I just said I had to avoid them!) the medication that men sometimes take *ahem* .. and the word speedy gonzales says (in English) when he yells "Andale!" - I guess they all have something in common to the mating thing. *sigh*Brian, (my webmaster) how do I avoid this?
Repast definition:1. a quantity of food taken or provided for one occasion of eating: to eat a light repast. 2. a meal: the evening repast. 3. the time during which a meal is eaten; mealtime. 4. Archaic. the taking of food, as at a meal. 5. Obsolete. food. –verb (used without object) 6. to eat or feast (often fol. by on or upon).
I've been asked to do repasts pretty often. When I was first asked I didn't know what the heck a repast was. I actually thought they were saying "repass" - I would have understood that more, I think. At any rate, I soon found out that a repast is actually a reception of sorts. Some people call them "Irish wakes". In a nut shell a repast is a reception after a funeral. I really enjoy doing these because the air is still somewhat blissful. People are looking at pictures and talking about the person that just passed in a loving way. Let's face it, the whole reason someone would rent a venue of my size is because the dearly beloved is just that dearly beloved - and most people don't have the space to accommodate so many people. For the record: When I die I want there to be lots of desserts, coffee and lots of Motown 70's played.... HEY... I think I just had that party when I turned 40!
Loved this!!
I say no more....
I just love that word! It comes from the theory that people are dependent on their cells. There was an article in the paper that described this feeling. They should have just had a small picture there of me.
Fauxcellarms is a term that can be interchanged with "ringxiety" it's the feeling you get when you're walking along and feel your purse vibrating and it really isn't. That happens to me a lot. (On a (very) side note, I love when my mom says "just call me on my purse") Or when you think your cell is vibrating and you don't have it on you. They described it, as a phantom limb. A phantom limb is "an often painful sensation of the presence of a limb that has been amputated." Ok, guys that's going too far. As someone who used to do amputations I can't say that I agree with that. Phantom limbs are very real. That can't be compared to me feeling like my cell is ringing. Shucks, my sister used to fall asleep at night with her glasses on just because she forgot she had them on. I think that's more comparable. I can't say that I agreed with everything in the article (are you surprised?). It went on to say that the reason people have this fauxcellarm is that "as human beings, we're so tapped into our community, responsiveness to what's going on we're so attuned to the threat of isolation and rejection, we'd rather make a mistake than to miss a call" It also says "people feel the phone is part of them and they're not whole" Um, no. I'm afraid to miss a call like "Daisy, my invitations are in and my name is spelled wrong!" It has nothing to do with isolation. Heck, I have enough friends and family to fill those gaps. My best friend invites herself when she calls and says "Hey, Dase, I'm on my way, is that ok?" and I say "No, I have to clean my house" next thing I know there's a knock on my door and she says "get over it".
Fauxcellarms will go down in history (in my book) as something I welcome, not loath. It keeps me in check. I think "do I have my Blackberry, is it charged?" I think that makes me a respectable and dependable business woman.
So I get tagged pretty often and I have to apologize here. If you've tagged me before and never saw me blog about it; I'm sorry. I have a huge number of irons in the fire and trust me, my heart was there and just busy trying not to get burned.I have to tell the world three ways that I contribute to the Green cause. 1. I bought an almost 200 year old warehouse. Everything that could be salvaged has been. All of the trim and molding are original to the building. We sanded the floors - I don't advise that for anyone who wants to remain married. We did not keep the windows - they were guillotines! I was afraid Tony or me were going to end up armless. We did, however, have the windows custom made and replicated to the original ones. They are UV protected so that my burgundy furniture won't be pink in 5 years. They are very air tight as well. 2. Small thing.... but I think about this often: as soon as my blackberry is done charging I unplug it. When that little green light is still illuminated that means energy and voltage is still being used. I get on my whole family about overcharging their phones, too. 3. I'm a water whore. I hate when people waste water so I don't do it. I run my dishwasher only when it's full and after 6 pm - off peak hours. I bought a very energy efficient washer and dryer that uses almost no water hence very little drying time. I'm right there when the clothes come out of the dryer and they get hung right away so that I'm not wasting energy ironing clothes... at least that's the excuse I give. 4. I know I said 3 but I wanted to add this... I burn only soy candles from Kozee Kandles. Not only do they burn extremely clean with no smoking they kick Yankee's butt! Kathy makes the best candles in the world! I would know... I've burned enough candles in my 40 years. On a side note, I tried finding Kathy's web site but couldn't find it. Her number is: 717-475-3813 - tell her Daisy sent you. Soooo... who's on my list to tag? Ashley at Cherished Gifts and Favors Nicole at Grand Events Lisa at Social Couture Gabriela at Besame - not even sure if Gabriela has a blog. The Film Maker: Todd Klick
Here's the article from the Intelligencer Journal. It would have been easier to physically cut and paste this article together... but NO... I wanted to learn how to do it in software. In the process I pixelated it.. very badly. Sorry.
The good news is that Whitney finally got a good photo-credit!
Wow... we truly are in the year 2007 - who'da thunk it. I get this email from Daily Candy (I've blogged about them before) they give me the skinny about what "in." Well, apparently Leopards are in. Here's some of the email they sent: If you have a spare $22,000 lying around, you can get yourself the world’s most exotic domestic cat, the Ashera. By blending the bloodlines of the African Serval and Asian Leopard Cat with a domestic cat, a totally tame feline resembling a mini leopard is born.
Don’t be intimidated by their fierce, leopard-like looks; Asheras are fully socialized, affectionate, and intelligent. They get along with children and other pets and require the same care as a regular house cat. They even enjoy leisurely walks on a leash.
Your Ashera is hand delivered fully vaccinated with nail caps on its claws, as well as a year of veterinary insurance, a microchip identifier, and the ear of an animal behaviorist for ten years. Because you can never be too careful.
You've gotta check this kitty out! I love cats but I tell you what... these things look like you couldn't take a nap next to them. You'd have to sleep with one eye open the whole time for fear that you may be mistaken for a ground hog. The eyeball would get dusty - wouldn't it? That would hurt. How cool would it be to have one of these in your wedding? Awesome!!!
Or does everyone loath the co-worker who eats, sleeps and dreams weddings? Trust me, I love weddings, parties and special events but not everyone is as eager as me to hear about your event. Take it easy on these folks, people! This is a small excerpt from a slideshow on Glamour.com about the most annoying co-workers. It was sent to me by a past bride. Priceless.
200 Locust St. | Columbia, PA 17512 717.951.8541 Daisy@PerfectSettings.net