Looking back on November....
1. Sophie Theallet: Every year Coplon's (where I work) teams up with the International Hospital for Children for a benefit auction. They provide the auction items and we provide the night's entertainment...a fashion show. The event
is always a huge success raising over $500,00! Hank (boss man) asked Sophie Theallet to be our guest designer. She was INCREDIBLE! She is a french designer who has worked for Jean Paul-Gaultier (drool). Read more on the Virginia Living blog. Coolest part...Just days after leaving Richmond, she won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, which includes a $200,000 prize for her collection! Nicole Kidman and designer Alber Albaz presented Sophie with the prestigious award!As far as the fashion show goes, the collection was beautifully chic and made for a real woman. I love this part of my job because I fit all the models and stage manage the show. Our 11 models have 30 seconds to change clothes and we never went out of order! It was an amazing (but exhausting) night!
2. Urbana Oyster Festival: Noah and I were invited by our amazing
friends to go to the Urbana Oyster Festival a couple weeks ago. While this was my first time, this is the 52nd year of the Urbana Oyster Festival. I am not usually a fan of festivals, carnivals, fairs, etc. but we had so much fun! We spent the entire weekend at the river (so beautiful). The weather was amazing and the festival was fun. All the local wineries hosted a wine tasting event (which Noah and I always enjoy). Noah ate a seafood fritter (see photo). Basically they found every sea creature they could find (fish, clams, squid, shrimp...) and fried it. I don't have to tell you it was disgusting. I still can't believe he ate it.3. FLORIDA! Ever since my mom was 16 years old, my family has gone to Florida for Thanksgiving. I was 3 months old the first time I went. It's great because my step-dad's family has houses about an hour from us so we all spend Thanksgiving together (19 total this year and a lot of family couldn't even make it). I love my step-dad's fam because there are sooo many of them and they are all so nice. I am really lucky. While my life has been ever changing (constantly moving because of divorce), Thanksgivings have always been something I could count on. It never changes! And what better way to spend Thanksgiving than sitting by the pool or walking the beach on an 85 degree day??? I come back totally relaxed and a little tan.
Best part of Thanksgiving....pumpkin pie! Nobody in my family even likes pumpkin pie so I have no idea why I love it so much! When chocolate isn't the main ingredient, I usually pass on dessert. Oh who am I kidding??? I have the worst sweet tooth. I don't need the turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, or cranberry sauce! Just give me the pie :) Plus, pumpkin is a vegetable right?While I was on vacation I actually had time to read books. I read 2 really good ones!
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett was recommended to me by my friend, Sally.Taking place in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960's, the book follows three brave women on their journey to make a change in an extremely segregated world. All of Miss Skeeter's Ole Miss friends are married and having children at 22. But Miss Skeeter doesn't dream of Junior League, babies and afternoon tea. With the aspiration of moving to New York to become a journalist, she takes a job with the local paper writing a housekeeping column. Since she knows nothing about how to get rid of stains or rust, she asks her friend's black maid, Aibileen, for advice. She quickly learns of the hardships Aibileen faces on a daily basis. Trying to impress a big-time NY book editor, Miss Skeeter thinks of a courageous and dangerous idea...a book. She teams up with Aibileen to write a book about the experiences of 12 maids. It's a really interesting book and keeps you wanting more!
- Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts was my second read. This is the 2nd book in Nora Roberts' bride quartet. My mom gave me the first book, Vision in White, to read on my honeymoon and I loved it. I actually liked this book better than the first. It's about four friends who run Vows, a wedding planning business. The event coordinator, Parker, was left her parents' huge estate when they tragically died. The other girls take care of the photography, flowers and pastries. This book follows the florist, Emma, on her journey to find true love. Obviously, each installment follows each woman on her love quest.
This book is not suitable for children! I was reading it on the airplane when Noah started to read over my shoulder. He couldn't believe the sex scene :)
New Moon: I've already discussed my vampire addiction. Clearly, I had to w
atch New Moon when it came out. Problem...I was in Florida! I wasn't about to waste my time in a movie theater when it's beautiful during the day and there are restaurants to dine in at night. So I waited until it rained. The island is very remote and the one movie theater is TINY! Each row had about 5 seats and there were maybe 20 rows. It was so cute (like Noah....and Jacob). I loved it and I don't know if I can wait for the next installment. Don't care what the movie critics say....4. Al Groh is FIRED! We came home from Florida on Friday so we could go to the UVA/TECH game on Saturday. The tailgating was fun but the game was TERRIBLE! It was sooo embarrassing. We fell apart in the 4th quarter. So we ran from the stadium with our tails between our legs. I was so relieved to learn that Al Groh was fired less than 24 hours after the game (if you can even call it that). I'm going to forget this season ever happened and enjoy the 8 months of bliss until football season starts again (just kidding).
November was so busy I can't remember everything! I am really looking foward to Noah and I's first Chrismikkah together as a married couple! Time to trim the tree :)
Even though the word "Vampire" didn't appear in literature until the 18
