Costuming Madness in Newport

It's been forever I know! I've been a bit busy, and also probably avoiding an announcement of the end of my last relationship a couple months ago. See how I'm just skimming over that? But I'm back to post about my fun weekend! It's official. I'm obsessed with costuming. But you probably already figured that out, didn't you? So that's what I've mostly been doing in my free time from work, church and my social life. And here are the most recent results!

I also posted these photos on my costume blog so sorry if you read both!

So my costuming group, The New England Costumers, went to Newport Rhode Island this weekend to tour the mansions in Bustle Era dresses/fashion! It was a lot of fun and the weather could not have been better for us. We got lucky as it had been threatening to rain the day before, but the morning of, it was clear skies and not too warm! Well, 75, but it could have been worse! We had a very leisurely, unhurried day, and I think we all enjoyed ourselves immensely! We toured the Breakers and Marble House and we're already making plans to go back so we can see a Fashion exhibit at Rosecliff, which was closed this weekend because of a flower show.

These "cottages" were amazing! And we spent the day dreaming up our own versions of our ideal mansions. We also were stopped repeatedly with requests for pictures or to just know why we were dressed up! It was a fun day!




Overlooking the sea.


Jenni, Gloria, Zarabeth and me (and Mike behind the camera...)






In front of the Chinese Tea House


Diet Coke toast with Jenni!


And the ubiquitous shoe shot. :)

More of my pictures can be found here.

If you want to read more about my outfit and how I made it, check out my costume blog!

The summer is just getting started, so hopefully I'll have more to post soon! But yes, a lot of it is going to be costume related! :)

I love these gals!

Soon to be reunited again this weekend for Barbara's Bridal Shower!

So exciting!

(Pictures from Nicole's birthday dinner almost a year ago)

Time to play catch up!

Also titled:

Why I've been missing

I've been a little distracted for the past several weeks.

His name is Dan.

He makes me smile.

Unfortunately {or fortunately, for me, who lives in freezing cold Boston}

he lives in Arizona.

Which is where we took this picture.

Yep, it's true, this is not what Boston looks like in February.

We actually met at Christmas in Washington DC.

I was visiting my cousin and he was home to see his family.

He stopped me in church and we had our first date that night!

Since then he's been out to visit me,

and I've been out to visit him.

We've just been having a lot of fun!

Wow, I feel like I'm writing a poem or something. Sorry about that.

Anyway, here's a photo recap of the last few visits together.

This is actually what Boston looks like in January.
Dan braved the cold and came to visit me in Boston.

Here we are with John Harvard.

We also went to an indoor waterpark for my roommate Lisa's Birthday party which was a lot of fun! {OK, so maybe there are some places that are warm in New England in the winter!}

This was also in Boston, out in Lexington. Again, it was pretty cold!

Well, we're not in Boston anymore!

Last weekend we checked out Goldfield which is an old mining/ghost town. It was pretty touristy. But the weather is just great in AZ this time of year! It was beautiful and sunny!

The sun was really hurting my eyes. And I didn't really need the coat, but I guess I am more of a true Arizonian at heart, because 65 really is still kinda cold... :)

We went to see Mary Poppins at the Gammage Theater at ASU which was so much fun! If you can you have to see it, it's one of the best musicals I've ever seen {well, other than Wicked, but that's hard to top}!

Since Sunday was Valentine's Day we made a special meal:

Heart Shaped Turkey Meatloaf Patties with Herb Smashed Potatoes with Goat Cheese and Green Beans with Lemon Butter and Toasted Almonds.

It was delicious! Thanks Rachel Ray! :)

Here we are sitting down to our meal.

I forgot to get pictures of the desserts! We had Dan's family Peanut Butter Pie {which was so, so good!} and chocolate dipped strawberries.

It's nice to have a Valentine!

Happy February everyone! I promise I'll try to be better about posting!

More Costuming Fun

Sorry for not being better about posting! I had a great Christmas break, but didn't get to see any of my immediate family so no fun pics of the kiddos, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy!

Last weekend I attended an 18th Century "Twelfth Night Ball" in Sudbury, MA in a 300 year old inn with my costuming group! We had a blast drinking punch, watching the contra-dancing (doing a bit myself) and feeling like we were living back in revolutionary times!

Pictures, of course, with more here!

With Sarah and Jenni, enjoying the punch:

My first contra-dance:

Gloria and Mike:

I did both our hair before the ball:

It never takes long for Sarah and Jenni to start some kind of fight! (Just for fun, of course)

More of the dancing:

It was a really fun event, I got to know everyone better, we met some new friends, I ran into a co-worker who I didn't know did re-enactments, and we made more costuming plans so that's always a good thing!

I promise to have a non-costuming post up soon, but lately that's all I've been up to really!

Happy New Year, by the way!