beliloveable fundraiser

rehearsing . .

my friend cindi and i worked the 50-50 raffle table

the hostesses with the mostesses

waiting to go on!

and where is zazu?

in philadelphia!!! having lunch with three birthday tea party colonists!

phillie is so pretty!

the young colonists met lions . .

. . lion king actors on break before the next show . .

. . were objects of interest for visiting tourists . .

and had fun swinging in the playground . .

though they found their clothing need a little tuck when working with modern day swings.

we saw the liberty bell, independence hall, all the lovely homes of the historic section, and the girls had fun rolling their hoops everywhere!

we had a tour of the kimmel theatre, ate chocolate croissants and stayed overnight in one of the smallest and quaintest and loveliest apartments one could wish. it was a fun time and i wouldn't mind living in phillie . . if i wasn't such a new yorker.

the next morning we got our tea and coffee for the ride home from mazag cafe at the corner of 10th and carpenter. the spinach pie and grape leaves and baba ganoush looked worthwhile for a special return trip. (the owner, dahlia, is also really nice. several philadelphians feel the same way.) we then hopped into the trusty crown victoria and rushed home to a duncan rehearsal for a fundraiser tomorrow.

the painting is found

m finally made a decision today and settled on a painting. i had been surfing the web for "seaside" or "stream" paintings by american painters and decided to look at several by andrew wyeth. i found the carry and really felt the flow of the water that is in the music she is using by debussy. she hemmed and hawed for a few days and i finally brought it up again today while we were at our friend's house. we all looked at the painting online and admired it and then she did it . . she said it was THE painting and she would use it and it was wonderful and the search was over. we were all jumping around and yelling with joy that the ultimate decision had been made. (see met museum visit and moma.)

tea party

. . and what transpired there.

m and c's friend had her 11th birthday party today. yes, it was a tea party and everyone came in 18th century apparel.

dances of the colonial period were studied, music was researched, and the minuet and virginia reel was taught and learned by the party participants.

i don't think the whooping would have been considered very laaaaaadylike in colonial america, but ladylike activities were accomplished . . such as embroidering hankies.

and serving tea.

daddy is zazu in the road production of the lion king, and made his appearance at the party via skype!

growing up in the 21st century can be very surreal. or maybe just growing old in the 21st century is surreal.

the girls had a fun time eating delicious scones and cucumber mint sandwiches, sipping delicious berry tea, and eating heavenly angel food cake, which they especially enjoyed decorating while helping with the pre-party preparations.

i think the group shot is very sweet . .

but i think the mamas are even sweeter . . loving their children so dearly, and being only human, they were quite trigger happy and could not stop snapping pictures!

concession duty at annie and closing night

i've been helping out at annie by selling all the delicious food people have been preparing (including some of my own pasta salad). it gets very crazy when intermission happens and it was good i slipped in during the afternoon rush, not that madeline couldn't handle it (she is THE super food seller and organizer), but she did look a trifle flushed, surrounded as she was by a starving pack of nychea members. i stayed for the last show and enjoyed all the final accolades . . kudos to all the players, the crew, the stage manager (!), the costume designers, the set designers, the wranglers . . and to leCee. (m and c and i helped janet load up all her costumes . . bags and bags! we did three trips in someone's SUV.)

abloom in the city

people's window boxes and tree boxes have been bursting with tulips and daffodils and violets. it's been glorious walking around lately. and the air has been a comfortable low 60's, upper 50's. the girls have been scooting, and i've been walking fast to keep up.

annie's stage manager

k has been doing a great job stage managing annie. there were a lot of rehearsals and she didn't want to be at all of them (certainly not with her hair all vinegary and essentially oiled, a necessary preventative that happily paid off), but she persevered and was a big help to director leCee. i hear from some players that she keeps a "strict" backstage (to the relief, i think, of some beleaguered moms) and runs things efficiently. m and c and i certainly enjoyed her brief onstage scene change appearances to carry off large tables with, seemingly, just her pinky.

up and running

annie is up and running. we went to see it last night. it was a lot of fun and the costumes were beautiful! it was exhausting (the scene changes can be a nightmare), but k and everyone did a great job and now, hopefully, all will be smooth sailing.

annie in tech

k had a long day doing tech for annie. i took some soup over to her at 8 pm. she got home around 9:45. it was an 11 hour day.

moma

m is still searching for her painting . .