Big photo catch-up 1: holiday party & Dickens Fair!!
The annual holiday potluck party and gift exchange in my townhouse complex was about TWO WEEKS ago, but I'm only just now blogging and sharing photos about it. (I'm on the complex's community relations committee, so I also helped plan/run the party, along with some other cool peeps.)
The same "lateness apology" goes for the annual Dickens Fair in Daly City (near San Francisco), which I attended two days after the holiday party. So, in one fell swoop, I'm going to play ketchup by posting pix of BOTH events in the same entry! :D Go me! *cheer* However, I'll put them under separate cuts, since I don't know which event which readers might be interested in. heh
Here is the Tanglewood Christmas tree (that's the name of my complex.) My friend/neighbor Lisa, her two kids, and our neighbor Mark decorated this tree a few weeks ago. I think we did a nice job! :)
Me with Vinny, Lisa's older son.
Me with Vinny and also Daniel, Lisa's younger son. I love these kids! :)
Daniel enjoyed playing with the plush critters that adorned all the tables.
A close-up of some of the critters.
Along with a gift exchange, we also had a door prize giveaway. Here are those prizes. Too bad I didn't win one. :(
Part of the delicious potluck buffet! I was really impressed at the quality and variety of food people brought!
My yummy variety of victuals!
Lisa and Vinny acting silly. :D
Someone made these SQUEEFULLY cute and clever cookies shaped like hamburgers!
The "burgers" consisted of vanilla wafers (buns), sesame seeds on top of the "buns", chocolate peppermint patties (burger meat), and variously colored frosting (ketchup, cheese, etc.).
People eating. This is only a portion of the folks who turned out for the party.
I wanted to see how the crackling fire in the fireplace would look without the use of the camera flash. Not bad!
Here I am, along with Lisa and our neighbor Mark. We're all on the community relations committee.
The kids were very eager for the start of the kids' gift exchange!!
I'm calling off numbers so the kids can see who goes first, second, etc. in their gift exchange. I think I look kind of like a school teacher here. *giggle* Whatcha think?
"Teacher Shari" with the kids again! ;D
Kids unwrapping their loot!
Daniel got this way-cool "Hall of Fame" toy multi-pack, which he LOVED! It made Lisa and I feel old, because we played with all these toys as kids! :">
Mark won a wreath in the door prize drawing. And Dave (another neighbor) put it on him! LOL
After the kids' gift exchange, the adults had theirs. Here's the pile before folks started taking stuff. I was very excited looking at this!
Lisa was excited too! :D
Everyone in the gift exchange took seats in a big semi-circle, so we all could see what each other had, in case we wanted to steal. (Sorry for the bad grammar!)
More people in the exchange. Initially I ended up with a Starbucks gift card in this exchange. :D Then someone stole it and I got a nice bottle of Chardonnay. I'm not a big wine drinker but I generally have very GOOD luck with Chardonnay. Then that got stolen and I got a box of fancy Ferrero-Rocher chocolate truffles, which I like a lot and my mom LOVES. But ultimately, I ended up with a Pillsbury Doughboy salt & pepper shaker set. *sigh* It's cute, but I would have preferred any of the previous things much more! heh
The Dickens Fair, as I said above, is an annual event in the Cow Palace, located in Daly City, just south of San Francisco. Being a lover of history and historical re-enactment events, I've wanted to go to the Dickens Fair for years, but never did. This year I did, thanks to Shawn, whose friend Jeff performs in the Fair and gave us a pair of free tix.
Right upon walking into the Fair, we heard Scottish and Irish music and went right to this stage, where various types of Celtic dancers were performing. Here's one pic.
More Celtic dancers.
I can't get enough of Celtic music and dance! :)
Shawn was trying to look menacing with this horned walking stick thingie. Instead, however, I think he looks slightly giggly! LOL! (Note the sprig of mistletoe in his pocket. We bought that for a dollar but it fell out some time during the day. But not before we got to enjoy it! heehee)
This tree was decorated by handmade candles from the ladies who ran this booth. Cool!
Vats filled with coloured wax, into which the ladies were dipping the candles.
Another part of the candle demo.
Aye matey! Shawn looks good in a pirate hat! ;D
And Shari doesn't look too bad either! heehee
Me in another piratical hat!
Shortly thereafter, we ran into Jeff, Shawn's friend and neighbor who gave us the Fair tickets.
Shawn and Jeff.
Shari and Jeff.
I'm often looking for artistic ways to compose photos, so I thought this made a good photo-opp. I had Jeff (on the left) and Shawn (on the right) pose whilst looking at their beautiful pocket watches.
This guy was giving some type of Victorian "parlour talk" about some explorer's expedition to somewhere, and was showing us odd things like preserved giant beetles! heh
I photographed this mace because it reminded me of sweetgum (liquidambar) seed pods.
I just thought these hankies (or whatever they were) made for a beautiful colour palette.
One of Shawn's and my fave venues at the Dickens Fair was "Mad Sal's", a stage where all sorts of bawdy songs were sung and skits were performed. Here is a group of gals who just finished a song.
Here is a whole group singing and/or performing, but I don't recall what.
The reason I took this (blurry) close-up is because I recognized this lady as Molly Paigen from The Jolly Beggar, a small a capella group of women and men who used to sing at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in the Black Point Forest of Novato (Marin County). She was just as funny and brassy and naughty in her gigs at Mad Sal's. ;D
I thought this sign was funny in the restroom, as was the stuff it was referring to (see below)!
Flowers in the urinals! (Yep, I guess they converted the men's room into a ladies' room. Not sure why, tho!)
We had to stop for Queen Victoria's royal procession, so I tried to take pix but none turned out well. (BTW... soojaebi... is this a procession or a monocle?) ROFL!!! This inane phrase won't be funny to anyone else, so don't even TRY to make sense of it!
This picture is self-explanatory! *giggle*
The colour in this pic is TOTALLY messed up, due to the lighting, but I'm sharing it to show what a difference a little Photoshopping makes!
Yay! :D Now you can appreciate our delicious Greek repast of various foods. I was looking for the vendor who sold Shepherd's Pie but couldn't find them until after we ate. I'm not sure why Greek food was sold at a Victorian event, but oh well. :) It was great!
I call this pic "Olde & Modern" because of the stark contrast in the clothing of the two girls. (Yep, another scene that caught my artistic eye! heh)
Then I ran into my friend Greg, dancingguy, who does Ren Faires as well as the Dickens Fair. I also ran into my friend Sharon (not to be confused with Jeff's Sharon), but I didn't take any pix of her.
We returned to the Celtic music and dance stage later. Here one of the fiddlers was singing. Nice kilt too! ;)
Another braw kilted laddie doing the Ghillie Callum, or sword dance.
These naughty lassies were trying to get a peek at whether the kilted dancer was "regimental" or not! *wicked giggle* Alas, he wasn't. :(
Shawn LOVES bread pudding, so we took a break and shared some. And yay!!! It has raisins! :)
Some Dickensonian character came up to our table, without speaking a word, and scrawled this question on the wooden table we were eating at. I thought it was very funny!!
Here are Scary Shari and the Shawn!
Yep! I had to try on one more hat. Actually, I was tipping my hat here.
Shawn looked very good in this Robin Hood cap!
A live mannequin in a shop window.
This sign just cracked me up!!
This shop had hair extentions in many colors; this one reminded me of my own hair. I'm not sure why I'm holding it with an "ewww, yucky" type of body language!
LOL LOL!!!! Talk about a photo-opp! Guys kept stopping to pose with these dancing girls. Shawn wanted to but was a little hesitant at first. But I encouraged him and I'm so glad I did, because this pic rocks! And note the cute blushing on his face. >;D
Back at Shawn's place, we at least had fake mistletoe!
I got to help him decorate his mini Christmas tree. :) Here's a box filled with beautiful little ornaments.
I bought this li'l acorn ornament at Cost Plus World Market (here that, dragonkiri?) because I wanted to contribute something that was very meaningful and symbolic to me, and since acorns come from oak trees, I thought it was perfect. :)
The trimmed tree in the dark.
The trimmed tree with the camera flash.
One more pic with the flash.
The same "lateness apology" goes for the annual Dickens Fair in Daly City (near San Francisco), which I attended two days after the holiday party. So, in one fell swoop, I'm going to play ketchup by posting pix of BOTH events in the same entry! :D Go me! *cheer* However, I'll put them under separate cuts, since I don't know which event which readers might be interested in. heh
Here is the Tanglewood Christmas tree (that's the name of my complex.) My friend/neighbor Lisa, her two kids, and our neighbor Mark decorated this tree a few weeks ago. I think we did a nice job! :)
Me with Vinny, Lisa's older son.
Me with Vinny and also Daniel, Lisa's younger son. I love these kids! :)
Daniel enjoyed playing with the plush critters that adorned all the tables.
A close-up of some of the critters.
Along with a gift exchange, we also had a door prize giveaway. Here are those prizes. Too bad I didn't win one. :(
Part of the delicious potluck buffet! I was really impressed at the quality and variety of food people brought!
My yummy variety of victuals!
Lisa and Vinny acting silly. :D
Someone made these SQUEEFULLY cute and clever cookies shaped like hamburgers!
The "burgers" consisted of vanilla wafers (buns), sesame seeds on top of the "buns", chocolate peppermint patties (burger meat), and variously colored frosting (ketchup, cheese, etc.).
People eating. This is only a portion of the folks who turned out for the party.
I wanted to see how the crackling fire in the fireplace would look without the use of the camera flash. Not bad!
Here I am, along with Lisa and our neighbor Mark. We're all on the community relations committee.
The kids were very eager for the start of the kids' gift exchange!!
I'm calling off numbers so the kids can see who goes first, second, etc. in their gift exchange. I think I look kind of like a school teacher here. *giggle* Whatcha think?
"Teacher Shari" with the kids again! ;D
Kids unwrapping their loot!
Daniel got this way-cool "Hall of Fame" toy multi-pack, which he LOVED! It made Lisa and I feel old, because we played with all these toys as kids! :">
Mark won a wreath in the door prize drawing. And Dave (another neighbor) put it on him! LOL
After the kids' gift exchange, the adults had theirs. Here's the pile before folks started taking stuff. I was very excited looking at this!
Lisa was excited too! :D
Everyone in the gift exchange took seats in a big semi-circle, so we all could see what each other had, in case we wanted to steal. (Sorry for the bad grammar!)
More people in the exchange. Initially I ended up with a Starbucks gift card in this exchange. :D Then someone stole it and I got a nice bottle of Chardonnay. I'm not a big wine drinker but I generally have very GOOD luck with Chardonnay. Then that got stolen and I got a box of fancy Ferrero-Rocher chocolate truffles, which I like a lot and my mom LOVES. But ultimately, I ended up with a Pillsbury Doughboy salt & pepper shaker set. *sigh* It's cute, but I would have preferred any of the previous things much more! heh
The Dickens Fair, as I said above, is an annual event in the Cow Palace, located in Daly City, just south of San Francisco. Being a lover of history and historical re-enactment events, I've wanted to go to the Dickens Fair for years, but never did. This year I did, thanks to Shawn, whose friend Jeff performs in the Fair and gave us a pair of free tix.
Right upon walking into the Fair, we heard Scottish and Irish music and went right to this stage, where various types of Celtic dancers were performing. Here's one pic.
More Celtic dancers.
I can't get enough of Celtic music and dance! :)
Shawn was trying to look menacing with this horned walking stick thingie. Instead, however, I think he looks slightly giggly! LOL! (Note the sprig of mistletoe in his pocket. We bought that for a dollar but it fell out some time during the day. But not before we got to enjoy it! heehee)
This tree was decorated by handmade candles from the ladies who ran this booth. Cool!
Vats filled with coloured wax, into which the ladies were dipping the candles.
Another part of the candle demo.
Aye matey! Shawn looks good in a pirate hat! ;D
And Shari doesn't look too bad either! heehee
Me in another piratical hat!
Shortly thereafter, we ran into Jeff, Shawn's friend and neighbor who gave us the Fair tickets.
Shawn and Jeff.
Shari and Jeff.
I'm often looking for artistic ways to compose photos, so I thought this made a good photo-opp. I had Jeff (on the left) and Shawn (on the right) pose whilst looking at their beautiful pocket watches.
This guy was giving some type of Victorian "parlour talk" about some explorer's expedition to somewhere, and was showing us odd things like preserved giant beetles! heh
I photographed this mace because it reminded me of sweetgum (liquidambar) seed pods.
I just thought these hankies (or whatever they were) made for a beautiful colour palette.
One of Shawn's and my fave venues at the Dickens Fair was "Mad Sal's", a stage where all sorts of bawdy songs were sung and skits were performed. Here is a group of gals who just finished a song.
Here is a whole group singing and/or performing, but I don't recall what.
The reason I took this (blurry) close-up is because I recognized this lady as Molly Paigen from The Jolly Beggar, a small a capella group of women and men who used to sing at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in the Black Point Forest of Novato (Marin County). She was just as funny and brassy and naughty in her gigs at Mad Sal's. ;D
I thought this sign was funny in the restroom, as was the stuff it was referring to (see below)!
Flowers in the urinals! (Yep, I guess they converted the men's room into a ladies' room. Not sure why, tho!)
We had to stop for Queen Victoria's royal procession, so I tried to take pix but none turned out well. (BTW... soojaebi... is this a procession or a monocle?) ROFL!!! This inane phrase won't be funny to anyone else, so don't even TRY to make sense of it!
This picture is self-explanatory! *giggle*
The colour in this pic is TOTALLY messed up, due to the lighting, but I'm sharing it to show what a difference a little Photoshopping makes!
Yay! :D Now you can appreciate our delicious Greek repast of various foods. I was looking for the vendor who sold Shepherd's Pie but couldn't find them until after we ate. I'm not sure why Greek food was sold at a Victorian event, but oh well. :) It was great!
I call this pic "Olde & Modern" because of the stark contrast in the clothing of the two girls. (Yep, another scene that caught my artistic eye! heh)
Then I ran into my friend Greg, dancingguy, who does Ren Faires as well as the Dickens Fair. I also ran into my friend Sharon (not to be confused with Jeff's Sharon), but I didn't take any pix of her.
We returned to the Celtic music and dance stage later. Here one of the fiddlers was singing. Nice kilt too! ;)
Another braw kilted laddie doing the Ghillie Callum, or sword dance.
These naughty lassies were trying to get a peek at whether the kilted dancer was "regimental" or not! *wicked giggle* Alas, he wasn't. :(
Shawn LOVES bread pudding, so we took a break and shared some. And yay!!! It has raisins! :)
Some Dickensonian character came up to our table, without speaking a word, and scrawled this question on the wooden table we were eating at. I thought it was very funny!!
Here are Scary Shari and the Shawn!
Yep! I had to try on one more hat. Actually, I was tipping my hat here.
Shawn looked very good in this Robin Hood cap!
A live mannequin in a shop window.
This sign just cracked me up!!
This shop had hair extentions in many colors; this one reminded me of my own hair. I'm not sure why I'm holding it with an "ewww, yucky" type of body language!
LOL LOL!!!! Talk about a photo-opp! Guys kept stopping to pose with these dancing girls. Shawn wanted to but was a little hesitant at first. But I encouraged him and I'm so glad I did, because this pic rocks! And note the cute blushing on his face. >;D
Back at Shawn's place, we at least had fake mistletoe!
I got to help him decorate his mini Christmas tree. :) Here's a box filled with beautiful little ornaments.
I bought this li'l acorn ornament at Cost Plus World Market (here that, dragonkiri?) because I wanted to contribute something that was very meaningful and symbolic to me, and since acorns come from oak trees, I thought it was perfect. :)
The trimmed tree in the dark.
The trimmed tree with the camera flash.
One more pic with the flash.