Ready for the Thingy!

Ready for the Thingy

The country road was pretty much deserted as I drove back from a dinner party in St. Mary's last night.  This was a good thing.  Picture a middle aged woman, whipping along in a BMW, sunroof and windows open, dressed to the absolute nines in my dinner party attire, radio blasting as I sang loudly and poorly to the radio cranked at 11(yes that is a Spinal Tap reference)  "Goin' on up to the spirit in the sky, that's where I'm gonna go when I die." was the song and in that moment, I was already the spirit in the sky!

Yes.  I'm a total nut.  But I'm a good nut, a fun nut and best of all a happy nut.  Somewhat cracked,  but still entirely and essentially a nut.  Some people are allergic to nuts.  That's OK, I'm allergic to some people.  But not many, mostly I love and adore human beings.  That's just the way I roll.

Gosh but life is good.  See I had this thingy I was invited to.  A soiree/dinner party/informal buffet thingy to meet a some friends of friends who were visiting.  The husbands had both served in the Diplomatic Corp in Tripoli and so our hostess wanted her friends from this new life to meet the friends of her former life.  There were 14 in attendance, including of course, those  from the diplomatic corp, a journalist(our hostess), a composer, physician, some actors, a brilliant artist friend and little old me.

Of course dressing up is always fun and I do clean up well I think.  The "code" was smart casual so I had to shop.  I'm mostly about dumb casual as you all know.  I bought some new shoes and a scarf and dressed up an existing skirt and blouse, fixed my hair, threw on some make up and went off in purple and zebra stripes..and yes, that worked..see above photo.  Oh, and I bought some new bling.  You know I loves the sparklies!  


For added fun I also wrapped the hostess gift in black, purple and zebra stripes to match my outfit..now how Martha Stewart of me is that uh?  The hostess enjoyed it and that's the point right? To bring a smile to your hostess' face with your little token of appreciation.

Now let's get to the important stuff. The  Food!  What a wonderful meal of French Onion Soup and some home baked croutons topped with cheese, Armenian bread with hummus, veggies, dips, brie, crackers, boiled mussels, potatoes and a dessert called Kataifi Kiounefe which I would describe as heaven on a plate.  And there is only one way to make heaven more heavenly right?  Of course it must be topped with whipped cream! Then there was wine and coffee and brownies and all sorts of other delights so it was an incredible gourmet fare.


It is the greatest gift that life can offer to be able to spend time with people of varied backgrounds and experiences.  When you haven't yet traveled to a place, to be able to hear the stories from others, to talk to people who speak 6 languages, who have lived outside this country that we take for granted, that in and of itself, is a trip.

Then to hear actors speak of their process, their auditions, how the casting people choose.  My friend Denise just landed a role that will be performed on stage locally which excites me.  Her movie is released in May and that's fun but to see her work on stage in the live theatre will be such a thrill.  I'm as excited as she is I believe!

We love the dessert so much we have a date to get together to learn how to make this, drink wine and talk about a play, a musical actually, being written about our group.  Yes, I shall be character in this play should it come to life! That's fun!

The appreciation I have to be included in such a fun evening is boundless.  I still feel like this young girl from Change Islands who didn't use a pay phone or travel a city bus until the age of 18.  I still feel like there is this big world laid before me full of treasures and treats and moments of pure joy and that I'm still as naive and green as the day I stepped off the train at Union Station in Toronto and marveled at those gigantic pillars and knew nothing and loved the feeling of knowing I was on an adventure!

Sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment.  This is one of my favourite quotes and I do believe that doing this is the source of my greatest joy.

I am a housewife, a mother, I run a direct marketing business, I make up stories and I live a very ordinary existence and in that ordinary I see the miracle every day.  It is a miracle I am here and while I am here I want to bask in the very wonder of it all.  I am a wide-eyed child, so very new to this planet in the grandest of schemes and I am having a helluva childhood!

Now here is a question for ya!  This was a "nice" dinner party/soiree and I was very appropriate during this entire evening.  I behaved quite well but I did do one naughty thing that nobody is aware of.  Can anybody guess what it is?  Comments are moderated, only the correct guess will be confirmed and posted.  I think only somebody who knows me very very well can figure this out.  I will send the first person who guesses a little present from me.

Cheers everybody!