Post Halloween

Just got home an hour ago from the other side of the apartment complex. I should be in bed now, but we have ended Daylight Savings Time and I had an extra hour. Might was well post while it is still fresh in my mind...

Tawny had an intimate evening of old horror flicks planned for her guests. Her apartment was dark, many candles were lit, had a bubbling cauldron by the dining area, snacks and sweets all over the table for us to nibble and plenty of good cheer.

I brought two dishes. Once was a plate of refrigerated croissant dough torn at random pieces to wrap around sliced smoked kielbasa sausage that were no bigger than two inches long. The nibbles were baked, speared with toothpicks before I arranged them around a ramekin of spicy mustard.

The other dish was a more spooky fare that tantalized my creativity...

BEFORE PICTURE




AFTER PICTURE



How? First I sliced the package of cream cheese into two equal parts and rolled them into a ball. They were placed together and mushed down a bit into the serving dish. I wasn't sure how it would work but I drew capillary-like furrows into the cream cheese before drizzling some barely warmed homemade red pepper jelly from my aunt over the mounds. I topped them with two small rounds of red pepper I cut to fit underneath the gummy eyeball candy. This was served with buttery crackers.

The craziest part of the evening was when I found myself unable to get out of Tawny's bathroom. I somehow managed to lock myself inside. Her husband and relatives were just in the bedroom next door looking at something on the Internet so I knocked, but no one answered. I didn't know they had left to go back into the living room where the TV was a bit loud. By this time I was giggling so hard I barely could talk on my cell phone. Tawny knew where I was and couldn't fathom why I was calling her from the bathroom. She was cracking up on the other line as she made her way to rescue me. It was several minutes before we could speak from laughing painfully. There is never a dull moment in Sprinklesville!
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Post Halloween

Happy Halloween

From my haunted palace to yours...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN




Tricks and Kisses,
Sprinkles
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Happy Halloween

Sweets with Sweets

I cannot recall the last time I decorated cookies. My rusty skills revealed themselves today during Bridget and her son Logan's visit to my place for Halloween-themed cupcakes and cookie decorating.

My visitors were so sweet! They brought me flowers. Bridget handed me a vibrant summer-like mix while Logan had to bring me his own separate single pink rose. I immediately prepared them in a large vase before we headed out for a quick Greek lunch down the road...

Disney's "Lilo and Stitch" played on the DVD while we decorated the cupcakes Bridget baked and the cookies I made. Logan did participate; however, it was Bridget who got more out of it by learning how to color buttercream and royal icing with the new electric gel colors I received in the mail earlier in the week. My memory was short on how involved the whole activity could become, but it was worth a creative afternoon.

In between decorating, Logan would show me his mini Legos shaped like helicopters and trucks. It was all very complicated and told him so. Bolstered with the fearless spirit of an eight-year old, he commanded his knowledge of building each bit. He proceeded to hand me five pieces to put together a miniature helicopter pilot: three black pieces for the body, one for the white helmet and a yellow tinted clear acrylic mask for the helmet. After I struggled a little with my long nails to put them all together, he rewarded me with a smile. What a ladykiller!

Here are some pics of their decorating. Luckily for me they took most everything home. My kitchen and dining room were decorating disaster areas. Ha! All cleaned up in over an hour thank goodness.



As a result of today, I am definitely going to bake again for Christmas with the 15-year old butter cookie recipe I've kept and never used until this afternoon. It was a recipe from a lady named Nancy I worked part-time at Williams-Sonoma back in Chicago. For years I saw it hidden in between other pages of my personal recipe treasure book, but never had the heart to throw it away. Delayed surprises can be best and sweet, too!
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Sweets with Sweets

Early Voting

Cabal and I were arguing at 3:40am. He woke me up and wanted to go outside. Begrudgingly, I got up to empty my bladder first and it was then I noticed a quick beep on my cell phone signaling a text message. I thought, Okay - it is the reminder beep that has the dog crawling the walls. For some reason some text messages sent earlier in the day have been coming in around the wee hours. After reading the message, I snuck back into bed. For one minute. The dog was insistent to be walked. I went back to sleep after our jaunt which made me get up later and late for my early voting option.

Armed with Dunkin Donuts coffees (one iced/one hot) and their new egg & cheese wrap from the drive-thru, I drove further up the road to a popular library for early voting. Cars were parked on the grass just up on the curb off the main road far in advance of the library. It was about 8:30a; the polling place had opened at 7am. I braved a stop first inside the library parking lot and got lucky with someone pulling out. By this time, all that was left was hot coffee which I took with me and a book to read during the long queue snaking in front of the library. The signs said it was a two-hour wait to vote. Bullshit. I waited four hours! Luckily I talked to a charming lady who worked for Christian Dior cosmetics. What else could make an AGOL happy but talk about Shallowville stuff? Not the whole four hours of course...

My sensible sneakers made the wait in line more than bearable. Others were succumbing to sitting on the curb once they got to it or were complaining about their aching backs. No one fell out of line because to us voting was not an option but a requirement. This election year is too important not to vote.

Before I went inside the library, I called the girls to let them know that I was running an hour late for our lunch date. Sharon, Amy and I were all meeting at work and then taking Sharon's car to St. Petersburg to find this Filipino restaurant we hadn't tried in a while. I still had to go home and take care of the dog before a longer stretch out. It took us an extra 20 minutes to find the place because we got lost. At 3pm, we finally ate lunch like wolves starving from a long winter without food. The food was better than my last trip there but did not outshine my aunt's or my cooking. We just use more quality vegetables/meat and make sure to have fuller flavor by seasoning properly through marinades or ingredients. Our food has more color, too. What can I say?

This was funny...Sharon insisted going a different way home and bragged about how much easier it was. Yes, we got lost again for 10 minutes and almost got killed twice with Sharon not yielding to traffic. We laughed it off since our humor was back thanks to lunch.

Tawny texted me while we were out. She was expressing how she missed me and wished I was going to the Halloween party at Dan's house tonight. As soon as the invite had been sent last week, I declined. I didn't feel like driving home late with my night blindness from his home which was miles from mine. My desire to dress up in costume was non-existent. There would be enough guests and I didn't feel like pretending joy. The last couple of weeks have been trying at work. My rule for myself lately has been: If it won't give you joy and you have to pretend too much, then don't do it. I would still miss being with Tawny and our other friends plus seeing their creative Halloween decor at Dan's house.

I contributed to the world today. It is time for change and I want to see a black man become president. My belief in the hope he represents brings tears to my eyes. The last eight years have felt like a group of people letting some popular person's son play at a high office and using him for a puppet for their own agenda. It is at the end of his two terms that I feel he now fully understands what havoc his playacting and marionette responses have yielded. Four hours in line was well worth the wait and that investment in joy will be paying off next Tuesday.


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Early Voting

Scary Spooky

Hello Ghouls! Everything has been frighteningly exhausting. Work actually. We are swamped with work and new policies & procedures bottlenecking our once streamlined process. As easily as words come to me for posting, I haven't been able to stitch together complete sentences by the time I wind down at night...

I was chastised today for not dressing up for Halloween at work. My motivation for dressing up silly was nowhere to be found; besides, my lunch date would not have appreciated it. He enjoyed me as Sparkling Sprinkles not Spooky Sprinkles. Poor thing received a text message from me with my meal order and apologies for being later while I was stuck in my boss' office. He already accomodated me by working in a late lunch. Someone was long-winded on a conference call that ran over an hour. Grrr..

Pictures were not a priority today unlike last year, but here are a few for you to enjoy:

Condiment Twins: Michelle (Ketchup) & Sharon (Mustard)


Nun on the Run Amy -- This actually scared me when I came around the corner and saw her. Probably a childhood flashback haunting me.


No one recognized a Redneck Bridget. I stood in line for 20 minutes last night getting these teeth for her at the party store.


Is this the official Korean/Asian pose? Kim thought so.


Okay... During a conference call with my new North American mothership, I took two pictures of Bridget. The first one with her eyes open and another with her eyes closed which is the shot I really wanted so I could get a picture of her false eyelashes. I was showing her the closed thumbnail on my cell phone and when I selected it to be full screen, her open eyes shot came through. Talk about freakin' spooky! I swear it is not a hoax. Look at the date, file name and file size on both files. They are the same:



...and that's how Halloween should be: Scary Spooky!


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Scary Spooky

Halloween Extravaganza

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Hello, my little ghouls and goblins! Tricks or Treats? I promised treats in yesterday's post and boy do I have them. Some of the tricks can be seen on the videos. It will be obvious that we didn't have a productive day today, but we sure had a blast. It was filled with breakfast treats and a costume contest sponsored by HR and lots of candy everywhere! Enjoy...

Lisa as a really cute Witch.



Bridget on skates & My Gang (Bridget, Boss & Temp)


>>>Please watch the volume on the videos.<<<

Bridget Rolling Down the Hall



Bridget Dancing...Gotta Luv Her!



Leann as a Happy Pumpkin in action is hysterical!



Here she is again...stationary.



Ooops, Officer Evie -- Here's what happened....


Christine having fun with Take Out.



Cruella stopped in, too!!



Are you tired from all the tricks and treats? Whew. Me, too, my Halloween Honeys. From the candy that Bridget brought in to being delivered some candy by other peeps and gobbling brownies made by Evie, I am Halloweened out.

Hope you and your kiddies had a safe one. And if you didn't participate in any way during this second most popular holiday in America (Christmas being first!) and have some childish fun, my message is in Bridget's belt buckle:


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Halloween Extravaganza

Howling Halloween Party

Almost forgot I had a hair cut appointment this morning, but was able to get myself in the shower in time to be there. I promised Halloween co-hostess' Kathy and Tawny that I would make a vegetarian version of my Filipino eggrolls which made a stop to the Asian store a must after my haircut. Ended up making 50 eggrolls, but decided to fry them at Kathy's house. It was too humid with the rain to try and make sure they cooled completely and stay crisp for a couple of hours.

Walking around towards the front door, I noticed the personalized graveyard. Kathy and Jamie were have been very, very busy...

AGOL's is funny, but I loved Mart's that says, Water My Grave with Beer



The Graveyard



Cindi and Her Cutie........&.......Cindi with sis Kathy



Jason with his girlie Allison



Glam Witch Jill with Kool Keg hubby Mart. (I teased Mart that the pump wasn't for the keg, but actually a penile pump. It brought screams.)



Ant as Minister of Death with Wild Witch Wife Becca



Blaspheming the AGOL! Tawny and Kathy thought it would be funny to have the banned Chip and Dip at their party. Notice the dip wasn't even taken out and put in a proper bowl. They cackled the whole time about this addition. The party was still a howl despite this intentional blemish.



Party accouterments: Ouija board at fortune telling table and plasma action. Too bad I didn't get to try the drink mixers from test tubes.



Who has the better bump? Becca or Dan? (I can't believe you missed this Jeff!!)



Jamie being an ghoul of some sort and avoiding the wedding issue with Pretty Pirate Kathy. AARGH!


Backstory: Ant is a bonafide minister thanks to the Internet and his wife Becca is a notary. We figured, all our friends and some family were gathered in one place so why not get married during the party? Had everything been set-up, it would've been legal. Jamie's scariest nightmare almost came true. Hate to tell you this, Jamie, but you guys can already be construed as common law man and wife. Happy Halloween, Jamie!

Sisters being cheery...



Matt winding down and chillin'. His wife was Britney Spears (trashy version), but forgot to take pic.



The Grave Outdoors...

Difficult to see, but you'll get the ghost...er, gist.



Jack scaring away guests and a special Witch's Brew complete with rotating hand.


There are so many other pics of other people, but I am posting those on Picasa for my buddies to see in their entirety. Sending more video clips to them, too. Jeff ended up missing most of the party to help someone with a costume contest at Ybor City's Guavaween so hopefully those will help him get a feel for the ghoulish delights we experienced. Thank you very much Kathy & Jamie and Tawny & Jeff for putting together a really fabulous party. You outdid yourselves with the decorations and the food. It was well-attended (two dozen?) and great fun!

Post party...
Putting my costume together was easy as was the fantasy make-up. I didn't as elaborate as I wanted to in case I had an allergic reaction to the paint. Dummy me forgot to take the picture when the application was "fresh" and other special effects "visible" so here it is with a slight touch-up several hours later when I got home.

Tired gypsy fortune teller...


Jumped in the shower (third time today!) to get rid of all the make-up from face, neck and arms. Finally made it to bed after 2am when my jasmine tea helped to wind me down.
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Howling Halloween Party

Viewing Van Gogh

With leash and dog in tow a little after 5am, the full moon greeted us with diffused abandon. Our closest natural satellite looked like it had been dry brushed with clouds of cream from side to side.

Seeing this love quote from Van Gogh reminded me of it again during the day:

"The more I think about it, the more I realize there is nothing more artistic than to love others."

Viewing his Irises at The Getty Museum in Los Angeles several years ago took my breath away. I was lucky enough to stand in front of it for several minutes without any interruption in my viewing pleasure as if I was its own private audience. My eyes focused on the lone white iris to the left. I got the strong impression it was him sticking his tongue out to the world. The other words or feelings I received were I may be in an asylum, but I can still stand out and I can still paint my essence on canvas. No one can take that away from me. I loved it.

Meanwhile back at the asylum I call my work, I had another round of software testing. I will have to continue it next week thanks to a miscommunication between the project manager and my boss. I was hoping to get it completed this week. Sometimes that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Rushed home to take care of my Pretty Boy Dog so I would be ready when Tawny picked me up around 7pm. I was accompanying her on a shopping errand for the Halloween party on Saturday. Two stores with a stop for dinner in between got me home around 11pm. I tried to settle in quickly by attempting to finish this post, but I soon discovered browser errors that would not allow me to log into Blogger.com. I performed all of their recommendations to the same negative results. Disgusted and sleepy I made it under the covers with more positive results.
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Viewing Van Gogh

It's the Little Things

Washing bed pillows, using special shampoo on my make-up brushes and cleaning my everyday jewelry are just a few of the things I found myself tackling today. I had other plans complete with an itinerary, but I decided to leave them for another day. Sometimes life just goes that way.

It is tackling the little things that can give you the greatest satisfaction. Perhaps it makes the bigger things that much more doable. A whole lot of little things, as you know, can outweigh a couple of the bigger things. Sounds simple doesn't it?

Preparing my small corner of the world with more fall decor to last until Thanksgiving. I am not doing my handmade ornament party this year the Sunday before Thanksgiving. It is just too much pressure on my plate right now. Also, been putting together my costume for next weekend.

I decided to be a gypsy fortune teller which is not too far off the mark for regular AGOL. I am a gypsy at heart and I have been a fortune teller in brief circles. Luckily on my costume, I own most of what I need to complete it and need to pick up two items. The biggest decision is on how much fantasy make-up I will do. It involves a lot of glitter and colored eyeshadow that will extend way beyond the eyes. Oops -- just remembered that I will have to buy a couple of colors to go with the outfit.

Mostly an overcast day which I very much appreciated. A different variety of medium size dragonflies were still dancing about with butterflies next to my car as Cabal and I emerged again in the afternoon. They had brown bodies and brown gossamer wings that looked like they had been dipped at the tips in a cloud.

A good night's sleep, tackling many small things and generally keeping away from the world brought me a contented measure of peace. Other than love, I very much treasure feeling peace. Sometimes this gypsy would like to hang up her worn shoes and just sit around the fire drinking a warm liquid for comfort. In this case, no fire but some rain this evening and a good quality tea made with whole green tea leaves and jasmine blossoms. Wishing you the peace I am feeling at the moment.
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It's the Little Things

A Peppering of Humor

I quickly remembered why I am no longer doing my temp's job that I trained her for a year ago. It just plain sucks. It was like riding a bike in the processing of IT-related requests, but I still had to IM my IT buddies when I hit a few bumps. The only bad thing for the users was that I am now included under the cloak of capital expenses police. I'm sure several people enjoyed my justification requests. My UK parent says cinch the purse strings tighter, I help cinch the purse strings tighter.

It wasn't all work and typing like a fiend. There was a peppering of humor. In my IM to Kathy who is co-hosting the Halloween party at her house, I teased her and asked if her boyfriend who is of a smaller stature (5'5" to her 5'9") will be dressing up as the Keebler Elf, Ernie.

Sarah says: is jamie going to be the Keebler guy?
Kathy says: ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!! OMG THAT IS HILARIOUS!!!
Sarah says: tell him to dress up like FRODO from Lord of the Rings
Sarah says: a hobbit
Kathy says: he was thinking of being this guy, but not enough time now that he's working: http://www.tronguy.net/
Sarah says: OMFG
Kathy says: i know!! total nerdom
Kathy says: and imagine, the tron guy works as a computer consultant
Kathy says: I just texted Jamie your idea on keebler and his response was "Tell Sarah to KMA" (kiss my ass)
Sarah says: LOL

The AGOL is the original Evil Kitty...Jamie will get me back at the party. Don't you worry.

Enjoyed some more Alaskan crab legs for dinner. I just love this stuff steamed and seasoned with Old Bay seasoning and vinegar or wine. I sat on the floor using my large glass and iron coffee table as my dining table and happily camped out. Yeah, baby.

Completely sucked into watching the new Bionic Woman series. I had a metal lunchbox in the 70s from the original one. I can't wait until the next episode... While watching TV at my real dining room table, my dog sat down near my feet. Something made me look down and I saw this, my dog telling me he wanted a chest and belly rub:



He must have been really wanting attention because he was patient and let me take pictures. Jeezus, I can't decide whether to be embarrassed or amused. Is this canine cutie actually smiling??



How can you top all that? You can't. You just gotta laugh.

A Peppering of Humor

Searching for Normal

Was hoping for normal and quiet at work, but got more of the same. As I mentioned in the last entry, I was looking forward to taking two ibuprofen pills but ended up eating two Krispy Kreme doughnuts that Tawny left on my desk. Little did she know that we were in no danger of running out of doughnuts for the rest of the day. There must have been 12 boxes delivered to my floor and another 12 boxes on the 4th floor. We are having Customer Service week and it was part of the celebration. Our site was on a scary sugar high all day. (Just think of my boss.)

Bridget's five-year old son drew on a pumpkin he received from school and called him Pumpkin Fred. He made his mom give the pumpkin a ride in the front seat and take him to work because Pumpkin Fred wanted to go with Mom. Bridget took a different picture of the pumpkin at her desk as proof for her little boy. She was going to have the pumpkin in her son's carseat when she picked him up from school as if Pumpkin Fred had been waiting for his owner. The whole thing was really cute.

Meet Pumpkin Fred!


I received my own little ornamental pumpkin from Kathy via Tawny who visited her last evening for more Halloween party planning. Oh gosh, I have to come up with a costume idea. Well...I do have one already. Not telling until the day of the party. It's not racy but it could be sexy. I'll have to take it into the AGOL R&D group for further development. Ha!

Gave Tawny a ride home and traffic was smooth sailing. She asked me if I was staying home tomorrow so I could go with her and Rosemary to movies and lunch. I thought about it and my workload and declined. I have the time, but I would feel too guilty. Damn me for being responsible.

My ribs still hurt a little and laughing all day didn't help. I pleaded for no humor but that just egged my friends to make me laugh even harder, the little demons. They are probably getting me back for my own pranks and jokes. Hmpf! Still, my energy is low and not at effervescent level. I should head early to bed. Night-night...

Searching for Normal

And Then...

Granted this week so far is an improvement over last week, but the pressure is still there. The energy was skewed further by other people's drama. Here's how it went...

Bridget had taken her son to the allergist first thing this morning and came to work finding out that one of her tires had a chunk missing out of it. It had to be replaced before her trip home over the long bridge to St. Petersburg. She ended up spending a couple hundred dollars on two tires and that is without the extra alignment work. The rest of her afternoon went downhill from there thanks to bickering with her boyfriend about her refusal to go see midget wrestling with him. I beg you not to have me elaborate. It just gets ugly.

And then...Tawny told me we could go out anywhere for lunch since her husband Jeff was going home to retrieve his wallet. We sat and enjoyed a tasty lunch albeit being served our meal 20 minutes after our initial order and in a warm temperature, not warm hot or piping hot. Grrr. Our waitress was not having a good day. Even worse was Jeff having a blowout in one of the tires as he was leaving the house. He ended up replacing all four tires at a tire shop. Had to call around for this special size tire on their compact vehicle which took the rest of the afternoon.

And then...My friend Lisa said that her shoe had a blowout meaning that she had to go to the mall and replace the pair she had on during lunch which did not end up an easy task.

And then...My boss was still hyper (sadly no tranquilizing device readily available). He was bouncing around like Tigger trying to put out fires and giving us frequent updates.

And then...Well, this part was better. Met some of my motley crew after work for some steam letting. Gave Tawny a ride and Jeff met us along with Ant and DJ. DJ had asked me late yesterday afternoon if we could meet. I forgot to invite Kathy and Jamie! Had a great time anyway; there was plenty of humor to go around. Ant had a delicious spunkin muffin from the coffeeshop after. It had a lot of spice and a creamy center. Whhhattt?

Found out ghoulish plans are being made for a Halloween party at Kathy and Jamie's house. Tawny and Jeff are involved in the planning. Jeff used to build sets for television and with all the creativity and geekiness going on with the rest of the group, it will be spooktacular!

Speaking of Halloween, Cabal is lucky I don't make him look like these. (Click link to see wrong doing by other pet owners.) Besides, Cabal would be dressed like a king or was that a pimp?

Side note...Tawny was happy that I am writing again for me as in the recent entries instead of encouraging and helping others to write. She believes I've neglected myself in the last year. I've explained to her that the ideas are always there and I use some of those ideas to help others. Generating ideas has always come easily for me. Writing, if I allow myself, is like breathing. I am not an expert by any means, but I give it a shot. It is the execution of some of the other ideas for myself that is the challenge.

I've probably told you before that I grew up without television a portion of my childhood. My mother refused to buy another TV after our house got broken into for the second time in the Philippines. I was forced to use my imagination and creativity for amusement. Those habits have kept my mind alive like an active volcano. Run out of ideas? Are you serious? Girl, pull up a steno pad and take notes. Hope you know shorthand.

And Then...

AGOL Takes UK: Chocolate & Champagne

My personal and major objective today was a chocolate run. There was no way in heck I was going to land tomorrow without buying some Cadbury and Galaxy chocolates. My ride home from the Trampa airport depended on it!

Waitrose was to be my source for trafficking chocolate to the US. Around a dozen chocolate ingots weighing 400 grams each and packages of other Cadbury and Galaxy varieties plus three oddball packages of McVitie's Digestive Biscuits came to £45 pounds or $90 worth. The AGOL doesn't play around with her chocolate. Friends and family were being gifted with chocolate.

Yes, there is a picture of the treasure, but you will have to go to Yummy's site to see it on the grocery checkout conveyor. Poor thing. He had never seen so much chocolate purchased at one time. Has he ever had an American Halloween? Didn't think so. Even I must admit it was bordering on obscene, but I didn't care. I just had to get it on the plane.

We dropped the chocolate treasures home before going out again to The Lanes to visit Riddle and Finns for lunch. Not risking any choco meltdown. Too much was riding on their safety. Ha!

Yummy had heard good reviews about Riddle and Finns and we had put it on our mental list of places to try a week before. Here was our chance to sample it since dinner at The Saint was still hours away. Seafood here we come.

The entrance was quite nice and the inside simple with white subway tiles on the walls. The dark wood tables were set quite high. Lunch was almost over so we were the only ones inside. Our order was taken right away and the waiter extremely pleasant and personable. He served us slices of bread with little ramekins of smoked mackerel pate, garlic mayonnaise, horseradish, and onion in vinegar with a side scallop shell filled with butter. What a great way to start.

We had ordered the specials scribbled in chalk on the outside sign. Our starters were the same: crab and feta salad. For the main course, Yummy had Haddock and Chips and I tried Poached Brill with Fennel. Downed with wine, everything was delicious!

Walked around a bit before heading home for an energy nap. Tonight required alertness for all the fun to be had...

Anna, Anton and everyone's friend, Brian came to pick us up. Brian was specially invited into town earlier in the week and we were lucky to have him on a Friday. I found out he was flying to Raleigh, North Carolina the next day about 15 minutes after my plane's flight to Trampa.

We visited two pubs before heading for The Saint where our reservations were secured by Yummy. This Party of Five was definitely starting to get really fun. Did I hear sirens? Just kidding.

I won't enumerate the menu, but suffice it to say everything was great. We all had starters, main course and sinful dessert. A bottle of champagne was popped open for our celebration, liquid gold was poured into our glasses garnished with raspberries. It was indeed heavenly. My time here started with champagne and Yummy felt it fitting to end with some more. What a sweetie! Wine came, too.

Smiley friends: Anna & Brian


Yummy & Anton: Best friends doing their impression of The Clash: Fashion Calling.


Getting happy: Anna, Brian and party crasher, Sean.


Sprinkles & Yummy having had too much sun and now getting striped with wine.


Drinking heaven garnished with a raspberry.


There was a surprise -- a party crasher named Sean. His partner had gone off to get drunk pre-celebrating his 40th birthday. We invited him over and gladly he was fun. Another surprise was Anton remembering him from his school days. Sean didn't remember him, but they had mutual friends he recognized. It was a small world. The evening was wearing and we invited Sean along to our next and my last boozer on this trip.

We took cab rides to The Eddy to complete our beer sandwich. This pub and others will have to deal with the smoking ban taking effect July 1, but for tonight it was smokin' in more ways than one. Loud, but recognizable music played when we came in. Beer-thirty was enjoyed by this (now) Party of Six!

Midnight crept in. It was time to walk home for most of us. Hugs all around. These were good people to meet and a blast to hang with...Too much to drink to think seriously about organizing my things. Of course, I can start packing in the morning before I leave. (Gulp!)

AGOL Takes UK: Chocolate & Champagne

Spooky Little Girl Like Me

One Treat, Two Treats -- WTF? Now 40+ Treats!

The power of Martha Stewart compels me! No one is spookier than that wench..ok, me. Who else would snort Halloween dust and sneeze out 40+ treat bags to give out at work tomorrow?

Spooky Little Girl Like Me