Today was one of the most pleasant days I've had in awhile. True, the weather was horrid~snow, snow and more snow! Add to that periods of blowing snow. Does the phrase "whiteout" conjure up any stark images?? Tell you what, when I first woke up this morning I thought for sure I'd be getting a call saying that our little cropping party in Spring Lake was being postponed to a more sane day. Not the case! These scrapbookers are a hearty lot! Patricia is a real trooper. She offered to drive and then comforted me by saying that she has driven to Traverse City in worse weather than this!Ha! So, go you, Patricia! I was happy as a clam in her nice warm van with my own personal chauffeur. When you go with Patricia, you go first class, my friends!
So we get there a little after 10 am. The snacks are already out on the table and coffee's a brewin'-these scrapbook chicks really know how to live. Suz-whom I dearly love-always has a riot of a time whether she gets ANY scrapbooking done or not! She's just glad to be out and about with everyone. The life of the party, she is! Today she had these cherry cordials that she was liberally passing out to all of us. They were delicious AND so full of booze that we decided two should be the limit! Then we started listening to the soundtrack from The Big Chill. All retro oldie goldie stuff. Everyone's singing along and busting out with a few moves. So fun...followed up by Elvis the pelvis and Harry Connick, Jr. Dreamy and McSteamy!
Beth, bless her, made the most delicious pot of chili for our lunch! I found out that she also has cat and dog hair on everything she owns. We are both just wild for our pets and the children in our lives and love to scrapbook, eat and talk a lot! Yup-lots in common.
Patricia kept laughing and coming up with little stories about the pictures she was sorting for her album. That's one of the best things about scapbooking. You relive those happy moments again while you are immortalizing them on the page. Right now, Jayden loves to look at pictures. He loves to go on my blog and look at all the posts that have pictures of him and remember all about the times we've had. It makes me happy to know that these albums will be keepsakes for my family one day and they will be cherished reminders of me and our family and all the memories and traditions we have together.
Not a very good picture of our workspace but it was a cute old schoolhouse that has been revamped. I had never been in Spring Lake proper before. The downtown is cute and quaint. In the snow, it was like a Christmas card. Picture perfect. A scene from Currier & Ives. Us sitting there all cozy with the snow swirling outside the window. Big, fluffy flakes that were so perfect, they looked fake! Just when we were all getting into the swing of things, Patricia and I had to leave for the symphony in Grand Rapids. So, pack it all up again and off we go...
It has been years since I've been to the symphony. I loved to go when I lived in Portland. I took my boys to the kids' concert series there when they were little-The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, OR. Loved it. Then, we moved to Paducah, KY and I remember going a few times. The concert hall there was incredibly cold and drafty as I recall and had seats that were so uncomfortable you almost couldn't sit through a performance! DeVos place in Grand Rapids is very nice, however, and I had no idea what a treat I was in for! This performance was part of the Fox Motors Pops series, guest conducted by Victor Vanacore, themed Hot!Hot!Hot! Night at the Copa. I am now obsessed with Victor Vanacore. He's high energy, talented, happy, fun, and just a spectacular pianist and performer. Such personality! Mr. Vanacore knows how to connect on a deeper level with an audience. You can tell that he loves his work. He has a good time doing what he does. I can honestly say that I've never had a better or more lively time at the symphony! Victor Vanacore has worked with Ray Charles, Barry Manilow, Johnny Mathis, the Jackson Five, and many more big names. Google him sometime and you will be impressed with all that he has done! The guy's a genius. The program included music by Carlos Santana, Gloria Estefan, Chick Corea, and many other greats which Mr. Vanacore has tweaked and arranged brilliantly. I was just enthralled! Believe me, I will be watching and listening for his work from now on! Mr. Vanacore does have a CD out called American Standard Time. Check it out! To top it all off, two extremely gifted dancers, Andrzej and Jennifer Przybyl, husband and wife, National Champions from Detroit, mesmerized all of us throughout the concert with their Latin dance moves. Oh, they were hot, hot, hot!!! If you love watching Dancing With the Stars, you would have gone completely crazy for these two! It was eyecandy of the highest caliber! The combination of glorious sound and the magnificent dancing were nearly orgasmic...hehe! I'll never tell...All of that rapture built up a powerful appetite. So, Patricia and I capped off the day with a scrumptious meal at Red Lobster. Haven't been there in ages. Not sure how many points that added up to be-yikes! Made it back to the Little House on the Frozen Tundra. Surrounded by my dogs and cats and warmed by a rip-roaring fire, I think I'll call it a night! Hopefully tonight I can finally finish reading The Shack. News at 11.
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