Casey's Christmas-Themed Bridal Shower (Part Two)

Female relatives of Adam and Casey brought Christmas y gifts to the Christmas-themed bridal shower on Friday night.  First here are the guests.

Adam's Aunt CeCe with Casey.  CeCe helped host the party.  Thanks so much CeCe.  

Adam's grandmother and my sister, Martha, and Casey

Adam's Aunt Leslie gives a hug to the bride-to-be.

My niece, Kelly, mother of the groom.   (Photo by me)

Adam's Aunt Joy with the bride-to-be

Adam's Great Aunt Bernice and cousins Debbie (left) and Sherrie (right). 

Adam's sister-in-law Kristen.  

L. to R. :  Donna, mother of the bride, Casey, Margaret, Casey's grandmother, and Joann, Casey's Great Aunt. 

And now for some of the pretty gifts Casey received.

Kristen's gift wasn't a box of Huggies.  This was just the box she used to wrap it.

Included in Martha's gift was a tiny wine glass inscribed : "3 wise men.  Really?"

From Kelly to Casey and Adam.  So sweet. 

I had a special ornament made by Nth Degree Art (Photo by me)

and a Christmas tree skirt made by SeamsClever

Christmas tree skirt of burlap with felt poinsettias around the perimeter.  (Photo by me)

I had all the guests write a message on the back lining of the tree skirt.

The bride's mother, Donna, writing a message on the back lining of the tree skirt. (Photo by me) 

Finally I want to thank my friend, Peggy, who helped host the party.

Peggy and I.  

I certainly had a lot of fun planning and hosting the shower, and I believe the guests and the bride-to-be had fun as well.  And now the Chatfield house is already decorated for Christmas.  I think I'll plan another party!

But first, I can't wait to attend Casey and Adam's wedding on Saturday.

Photos by Kelly Cabaniss Snellings unless otherwise noted.

Casey's Christmas-Themed Bridal Shower (Part One)

Gifts for the bridal shower under the tree.

When I was planning a bridal shower for Casey who is marrying my grandnephew Adam, I decided to use a "Christmas in October" theme.  I think it was fun for everyone---especially the bride-to-be.

The invitation specified the Christmas theme and asked guests to bring a gift that could be used at Christmas.  Well that could be almost anything actually.  But many did bring Christmas y things.

The Shower Invitation. 

Christmas decorations were used throughout our Chatfield house including a decorated aluminum 1950s Christmas tree.

1950s aluminum Christmas tree.

When the bride-to-be arrived, I presented her with a corsage that was pinned on by her grandmother, Margaret.  The corsage included a crocheted Santa ornament that had been crocheted by my mother.  Casey never knew my mother who would have been her great grandmother (by marriage), but she will have an ornament made by her. 

The corsage adorned with a Santa ornament made by Granny Greene.

Casey's grandmother pins on the corsage. (Photo by Peggy Rhyne)

At our house on Christmas eve, we always play what we call "Dirty Santa" also called "The White Elephant Game".  As an ice breaker, we played this game at the shower.  I  bought and wrapped the gifts---Christmas ornaments.   For picking numbers to decide the order of play, I had each guest choose a small box that contained a numbered Westmoore Pottery ornament that could be taken home as a party favor.

Each box contained a tiny pottery ornament with a number to determine the order of play.

Westmoore Pottery ornaments. (www.westmoorepottery.com)

 In turn each guest opened a "Dirty Santa" gift based on her number, and ornaments could be taken away from someone rather than choosing an unopened gift.  Several of the ornaments did change hands.

Wooden birdhouse ornament. (Photo by Peggy Rhyne)

More Christmas ornament gifts.

Everyone had a lot of fun with this game. 

Refreshments followed the Christmas theme:  Lottie Lane Fruitcake (homemade), spiced pecans (homemade), fruit kabobs, cheese florets (Southern Supreme) and hot spiced apple cider to drink.

The food. (Photo by Kelly Cabaniss Snellings)

Lottie Lane Fruitcake.

Table set up on screen porch.  (Photo by Peggy Rhyne)

After refreshments, Casey opened her gifts.  (To be continued.)

Rescued by Pinky, the Tow Truck.

Pinky, the East Coast Towing Truck dedicated to breast cancer survivors.

I was gadding about the other day when I had car trouble and had to call AAA  to tow my van  to my mechanic across town.  AAA sent East Coast Towing, and when the truck showed up it was bright pink---decorated with pink ribbons honoring breast cancer survivors. 

Pinky's license plate.

Matthew, the driver,  was very helpful and friendly.  We had to go near my house on the way to the mechanic so he dropped me there first.  I had noticed a lot of pink breast cancer ribbons attached to the roof of his cab and when I inquired he told me each one represented a breast cancer survivor who had ridden in his truck while their vehicle was being towed.  I told him that I was a 25 year breast cancer survivor so he added a ribbon for me.

Matthew's Pinky towing the van.

Ribbons in honor of breast cancer survivors who have ridden in Matthew's truck.

The next time I need to be towed, I am going to request the Pink Tow Truck with Matthew as the driver.  East Coast Towing donates a $1.00 for every call this tow truck makes to a charity supporting breast cancer awareness or breast cancer research.

Matthew and my selfie.

My van had a minor problem.  The hose from the radiator to the heater had sprung a leak and antifreeze was spurting out onto the manifold causing smoke to billow out from under the hood.  At first I thought the car was on fire.  Glad to have AAA and happy they sent Matthew with East Coast Towing.

Will the End of Summer Mean the End of the Ice Cream Truck?

Lots of different goodies on the ice cream truck.

Almost every Sunday afternoon, the ice cream truck makes its way around the neighborhood and down our street. Now that summer is over I wonder if the ice cream truck will continue to make its rounds.

Dover/Davis Street ice cream truck.

When I was a kid living out in the country every now and then Tony's ice cream truck would come down the road ringing its bell. We would run out with our nickel (maybe dime) in hand to get ice cream.  Our neighborhood truck plays a calliope version of The Entertainer to announce its arrival, and a nickel or dime won't buy a popsicle these days.  Nonetheless, it's fun to hear the truck in the neighborhood, and it's fun to partake of its goodies.

Recently I just had to join the neighborhood kids and get a chocolate covered popsicle.  It reminds me of my childhood days back in Cleveland County.

Neighbors eating ice cream.

Chocolate covered popsicle.  My favorite.

Ice cream brings out the "kid" in me.

I hope the ice cream truck doesn't stop now that summer is over.

My Movie Debut with Lauren Bacall

The recent death of Lauren Bacall brings back memories of seeing almost all of her movies and reminds me of my movie debut.  The Portrait, a 1993 movie made for TV, was filmed in the Raleigh-Durham area, and when there was a call for extras I signed up.  I was hoping to see either Bacall or Gregory Peck who was her co-star.  I had forgotten about signing up when one Friday I got a call asking if I could show up on Saturday at the Governor's Mansion as an extra in the movie.   A room in the Mansion was supposed to be Peck's office on a college campus.

In the telephone call I was told to dress in something that wouldn't stand out in a crowd--not a bright color for example.  When we first arrived on Saturday we were sent to wardrobe.  I had dressed in a subtle rust colored shirt waist dress, and my outfit was approved.  Some folks had to choose a "costume" from those provided by the movie set.

The first scene in which I participated was a large group of us supposedly attending a concert.   The camera just panned across the group.  If you blink you won't see me.

Then the director, Arthur Penn, called about a dozen of us out and he looked us over and chose three of us.  We were supposed to be college professors---ironically I was the only one of the three that was.  I wondered, "Do I look like a college professor?"  (What does a college professor look like anyway---actually a pretty diverse group.) We were going to be doing a scene in the Governor's Mansion which was supposed to be the "office" of Gregory Peck who portrayed a college professor and the husband of the Lauren Bacall character.  I was so disappointed that Peck was off somewhere else filming and there was a stand in for him, because in the scene it only showed his back.

But sure enough Lauren Bacall was there, and I spent the afternoon filming with her.  I had no idea how long it took to film just a snippet of a film.  The three of us extras were supposed to be walking along outside of Peck's office and I was supposed to wave at a colleague across the way just as Bacall comes dashing out of the office and runs into the three of us.

 As soon as the director yelled "action" we were supposed to start across the hall and Bacall was supposed to dash out of her husband's office.  The director kept yelling "cut" and we kept repeating and repeating this scene.  There was only once when the three of us extras missed the cue, and it had to be repeated.  I'm not sure what happened the other numerous times. 

We had been told that we extras were not to talk with the actors, unless they first talked to us. At one point, they stopped filming and made some comment about the floor squeaking when Bacall rushed out of the office.  They brought in several moving blankets that movers use and taped them down on the floor to muffle the sound. (I would have thought they could have digitally removed the squeaky sound.)  At that point Lauren Bacall walked over to me and asked, "Do you think that is going to be safe for me to dash across?  Do you think I may trip?"  I couldn't believe I was standing there being asked a question by Lauren Bacall.  I told her I was pretty certain it would be safe.  That was in 1992 or 93, so she would have been about 67 or 68, but she was in great shape and looked to be no more than 50.  She was very beautiful.

When the movie was shown on television some months later, a friend of mine in Lattimore taped it and when I and some of my friends got together for a viewing, we had to stop the film and look at it in slow motion to see that I was really in the movie.  That was more fun than the actual filming.  I never see a movie now without thinking how tedious it is to film just a short scene.  So should you see The Portrait,  when Lauren Bacall comes rushing out of her husband's office,  it is I that she almost runs into.