(Corabelle presents me with her birthday present to me!)
Last Saturday was my 23rd Birthday, not nearly as eventful as birthdays prior but that's alright we'll be celebrating this weekend in Missouri with blogger friend Michael! I can taste the "Chicken Annie's" NOW! As you can see in the picture above, Corabelle gave her daddy a "Herman Miller Studio" chalkware bathroom fish. I can't wait until July because we might actually have walls to hang it on then!
(Patricia with her present to me, a Heywood Wakefield set of drawers!)
Patricia's gift comes with some "cheating" she swears I am hard to buy for, so she developed a "Point" system. Where when I find something I would like I just point to it and she buys it. Well the day before my birthday, I went into a local antique store and there it was! This wonderful Hey-Wake dresser a few pictures and phone call later... Happy Birthday to me! Thanks Dear! I plan to keep our MASSIVE record collection in it!
Then when I returned home after a fun day with Patricia and Cora I found this in the mail box! A Wizard of Oz themed Birthday card from blogger friend Christine over at "I'm Not Old, I'm Vintage!" wishing me a Happy Birthday. Thanks Chris!
What a night it was Readers! I so wish ALL of you could have been there to dance and cha cha the night away with us! We raised $732.34 towards our bathroom renovations, (with donations still trickling in!) That's nearly half of what we need to raise to put the bathroom holding tank in!!! Hooray! (We need a total $2700.00 to complete the job, so we are well on our way!)
Now settle in readers because we filmed all the evenings fun and entertainment to share with you!
Nearly 70 of our friends turned out to raise funds for the Casablanca and we had a WONDERFUL time doing it! Everyone was dressed so sharp in their formals...
(Friends Kara, Emily and Lauren)
(Friend Rachel and son Caleb)
(Friends Chloe, Mary, Myself, Sheldon, and Zack)
(Friends Stephanie and Catilyn)
(Our Masters of Ceremonies Jensen & Seigen!)
I am starting to learn we just need a photographer for these events! I was so busy running in circles I hardly got to take any pictures, but rest assured everyone looked so nice.
We had quite an evening of entertainment and dancing planed, and at 7:45P.M. Our fantastic Masters of Ceremonies started things off...
("The Road to Morocco" By Seigen and Jensen)
Wasn't that funny?! These guys are a hoot, and our favorite "go to" M.C.'S!
After the first number we danced the Hokey Pokey to get things rolling.
The "Hokey Pokey", "Limbo" and "Bunny Hop" have become tradition at Casablanca dances, everyone's has fun doing them. Although, "The Bunny Hop" becomes a test of endurance as the song plays on!
At 8:05P.M. Friend Lara shared a song with us about how surprisingly "Shy" she is.
("I'm Shy" -from- Once Upon A Mattress" by Friend Lara)
At 8:20 P.M. Friend Jennifer serenaded us with her ukelele!
("Boom" by Friend Jennifer)
Then it was back to the dancing, this time with "The Stroll"...
Strolling on!
At 8:35 P.M. we were crooned to by friend Michael!
("My Funny Valentine" by Friend Michael.)
Isn't his voice JUST like velvet! He had all the girls swooning!
("It Had To Be You" - By Friend Michael.)
At 8:50P.M. we were in for a real treat! Friend Stephanie and Caitlyn had prepared a tap dance number!
("Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better"- By Friends Stephanie and Caitlyn!)
It BROUGHT THE HOUSE DOWN! And Rightfully so, those girls worked so hard on that tap number JUST for this event!
At 9:05 Friend Terrace took the stage with an old Peggy Lee favorite!
("Why Cant You Do Right" - Peggy Lee- by Friend Terrace.)
Then at 9:20 P.M. it was time for the long awaited Limbo Contest!
(Our Limbo Contest Winners- Jarrod and Lee!)
(Myself and Local Channel 3 NBC News anchor celebrity Katie Crosbie!)
Almost everyone we knew turned out for the dance, and people kept coming!
A good time was being had by all, Miss Casablanca 1959 was ladling out punch for party goers, and Friend Jordan (head of the refreshments committee) made sure we were well stocked with cookies!
Our famous fruit punch, in my Great Grandmother Youngblood's punch bowl-
(Delicious!)
At 9:40 Friends Audrey (Miss Casablanca 1959) and Jensen took to the floor to sing and dance with an old Cole Porter tune!
("De-Lovley"-Cole Porter- By Audrey & Jensen)
There Song and dance was, well... De-lightful, de-lishiouis, De-Lovley~! Jensen and Auredy will be starring in a Production of Cole Porter's "Anything Goes" later this summer, what a great preview!
At 9:55 We were lucky enough to be entertained by the Sisters Andrews!
("Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" -The Andrews Sisters - By Friends Jennifer V., Mary F. And Patricia!)
At 10:10 P.M. We were visited by our first special guests of the evening!
("Honey Bun"- Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific- By Friends Mary W., Utah, and Sheldon.)
Guest danced in the low light, drank and ate, and at 10:25 Friend Jarrod brought out his gitaur to serenade all the couples at the dance.
The records were kept spinning by Friend Utah, our zany DJ for the evening! First "The Bunny Hop"
Then a rowdy "Mexican Hat Dance" by Chubby Checker!
(Friend Utah cutting it up!)
At 10:45 Out of nowhere our second special guest appeared!
("Feeling Good" - Frank Sinatra- By Friend Chance!)
We danced, and Danced, and DANCED Some more! "Real" dancing mind you, none fo this bump and grind stuff. It was all such great fun we could have very well
danced all night! But all great parties must eventually come to a close, so for the last song of the Dance Miss Casablanca took the stage and sang the "Casablanca" Movie theme song "As Time Goes By"...
A fitting end to a wonderful evening.
Oh, oh OH! let me tell you about our theme and decorations! (I nearly
forgot) Since this is the only Casablanca party ever to be held
somewhere OTHER than the Casablanca we had to channel the 1940's War time vibe to set the mood!
We held the dance in the upstairs banquet hall of the
historic Wichita Theatre in down town Wichita falls. The Decoration
committee (Patricia, Jennifer V., Jordan and Myself) set things up to be like a 1940's dance club!
Complete with performance stage...
(Patriotic red, white, and blue lanterns!)
I was going for a homemade/USO show back ground all of our props, costumes and all the featured decorations came from shows we've done in the past at the Theatre. Jennifer and Patricia wired all the stair and balcony rail work with white Christmas lights. I was very happy with the way things came together, it was just being Mickey Rooney in an "Andy Hardy" Movie! Every thing just kind of fell into place. In Typical Mick Jordan fashion, I festooned anything that would stand still in crepe paper streamers and paper lanterns!
We surrounded our Stage/ dance floor with ringisde tables for two (just like in the movies!) we found these wonderful black and white chairs upstairs left over from a production of "My Fair Lady", and friend Cheryl lent us the silky purple table cloths left over from her daughters wedding! Thanks Cheryl! And The paper lanterns are from a production of "Annie Get Your Gun"! One of the neatest things about having our event down at the Theatre was getting to put our event up on the old marquee!
It looked so cool at night with all the neon lit up and letter board blazing!
(I love the red and green blinking neon!)
(Patricia and I all dressed up.)
Patricia and I have such wonderful and supportive friends, there are so many people to thank for helping put on this event, Friends Lynn Marshall and Russ for coming up with it, (Lynn also for being our publicity committee and coming up with all kinds of great art and posters. Our planning committee Utah, Jennifer, Patricia, Jordan, Nichole, Zack. All of our wonderful friends that volunteered to be part of the entertainment for the evening (You all were Wonderful thank you so much for donating your time and hard work for a fabulous floor show!) All the Blog readers who have sent donations our way, Dwane and Lisa Jackson of Wichita Theatre for hosting a place to have the event, and everyone else who helped in some way. Also to all of the fabulous party guests and and nice people who donated to the cause. THANK YOU ALL!
There is a line from "Wizard of Oz" that always touches home with me and I think is appropriate for the situation "A heart is not judged by how much YOU love, but by how much you are loved by OTHERS." I feel the love and consider myself to be so incredibly blessed. If this were a movie, I feel it would be like the end of "It's A Wonderful Life."
Well readers, everything is just about ready! The tables are set, the decorations are up, we are stirring the punch and everyone we know is getting ready to go "On The Town" with us tonight! Wish us lots a luck and cross your fingers that this fundraiser is a HUGE success!
This past weekend Patricia and I made a trip to Graham Texas (about an hour away) to pick up the single window for the bathroom. When I started this addition project I decied rather than buy brand new doors and windows I foolishly (in a romantic way) wanted the new part of the house to match the old. This meant, I would have to salvage bits and pieces to put together. Thus far its been mostly smooth sailing. The wooden french doors from Missouri are in, next came the eight foot window in the living room, we've found the back door that will be put in, and now i've purchased an old double hung window for the bathroom...it has seen better days.
The thing about the bathroom window is, when Larry framed it, we had planned to use two old windows and sash them and everything but life gets in the way. Well We had framed the hole in a wired size as a result it is a peculiar size, and it has been hard to locate a vintage wood framed window in the right size and FINALLY one popped up! There is quite a melodramatic story about another buyer who turned out to be a nasty lady and banned both myself and the seller of this window from a Facebook group, but that's just a foot note.
When we arrived in Graham I was disappointed to discover that one of the glass window panes was broken, but before I could even point it out the seller gave me an additional window to use replacement panes out of free of charge!
Whoever caulked these windows last did a HORRIBLE Job...so I chiseled off all the old caulking and will re do it myself. In the process I broke another pane of glass. So I have decied to use the other bottom replacement window... but it too has a broken pane! AHHHHH!
But it would be easier to replace the glass in this spare and put it back in the original window. It also needs a new window sill built into the bottom of the framing. GOOD GRIEF! Any other normal person would just give up and buy a new smaller window and put it in, but I am a glutton for punishment! It's taking a little more work than I would have liked, but it will be worth it in the end!
I know it doesn't look like much now, but its going to be a perfect window! I just have to replace the glass and re-caulk it all, and figure out how to do the sill, and paint it white, then it will be ready for instillation. Sounds like a lot of work I know, but to me its worth it!
Picked up lots of things last weekend at Bowie's "Second Monday" trade days Readers! The Fransiscan cream and sugar were a steal at $2.00, the Ivy vase (which now holds kitchen utensils) was $2.00, the 50th Wedding cake topper was $0.25, The clear glass bottle was found for $3.00 (it now holds sugar, don't worry I cleaned and boiled the bottle first!) The green glass water/juice jar was in a free box, the two dishwashered Pyrex fridgies $0.99 for both, and the Morton's pickle jar lid was $0.25.
We went to our favorite thrift store in Downtown Bowie, When this Turquoise 55(?) Bel-Air was parked out front we KNEW it was going to be a good day! These sweet church ladies run it and the prices are so low and all sales go to a good cause. We always walk out with an arm load to help them out!Friend Jenn and I were digging through the records, and I was thumbing through 78's when I stumbled across this...
(The Matador- Carmen Miranda & The Andrews Sister)
I Jumped up off the floor and started doing a happy dance, I said to Patricia and Jennifer "OH MY GOD!!!" They, were not quite as excited as I... I was delirious because I knew when I flipped the record over what would be on the other side!
(Cuanto La Gusta- Carmen Miranda & The Andrew Sisters!!!)
You might be thinking about how annoying that tune is, But Carmen Miranda is one of my favorite 1940's idols. Her outlandish hats, the "Good Neighbor" policy with Brazil, her rocket to American fame and how Latin lovers, song and dance swept the United States by storm... Why Foxtrot when you can Rumba! Any who, what is so special to me about this record is the fact I have bought it SEVEN times and never got to play it until now. 78's are brittle and even thought I would win the bidding wars on the big auction site, the seller would NEVER package the record well enough and i;d end up with a box full of dust. So I was ECSTATIC to actually find one in the wild, this one made it all the way home and is now safely tucked away in my "Andrews Sisters" album of 78's!
Thank You Mrs JoAlan Spears for buying this hit tune so many years ago, and taking good care of it! Oh and the best part of this tale? The long searched for record cost me a total of $0.10!!!
Victorious in our hunting we stopped at Sweetboys Diner for lunch, this is one of the BEST places to eat in Bowie and we always make a stop here for the delicious food. I ordered the "small club sandwich" with onion rings and as you can see the sandwich was bigger than my hand! Seriously one could have fed a family of four on this thing! After lunch it was back to hunting, a little bit of business with pleasure- I was searching for props to use in "The Wizard of Oz" and I found just what I was looking for...
(The Crystal Ball...)
I must say I was thrilled, and quite surprised to find this gem for $35.00, I really think is a paper weight, but to us at the theatre it will be Professor Marvels mystic crystal ball. The one he sees "... a house with a picket fence... and a woman in a clean but worn gingham gown..." it is perfect for our show, the ball is quite heavy, but the way the stage lights shine on it and make it glow it makes the scene!
After a long day of hunting we weary travelers headed home with lots of fun finds!
Tune in next week for The Wizard of Oz set post reveal! YIKES "On The Town" is Next Thursday too! Wish us break a leg and lots of luck!
I have to hand it to our friend Lynn, dear Readers! He and friend Russ Dreamed up the idea of a fundraiser and we have all been busy to make good on the idea. Lynn is in charge of Publicity at the Wichita Theatre and gladly agreed to make up a few things for us to promote the dance! He's come up with some great things.
Here is the second poster he made for the dance with "Fred and Ginger" cutting a rug! Our event is going to be at the Wichita Theatre, and so he added the marquee to the background. All of our friends are so excited to attend as well as help out. The whole thing reminds me of the Mickey Rooney movie "Strike Up The Band" everyone coming together to put on a show for a good cause. I am so thankful for all the friends that have been working with me on this, expect a thank you post in the not so distant future!
With new quirky little pictures and Facebook posts we are getting more and more people to join us for the dance. Patricia, the planning committee and I have asked friends to preform as part of the evenings entertainment! We have 12 acts lined up so far, with many more "possibles" in the works. Our entertainment line up looks like it has come directly from the 1940's movie "Hollywood Canteen"!
I ADORE what Lynn did here! In the movie "Casablanca" Humphrey Bogart's cafe is named "Rick's Cafe Americain" as the working title of the movie was "Everyone Goes to Rick's" (which I changed turned into the name of my blog) The same has been done here! AND as an added bonus, the palm trees on either side? They are a nod to the neon palm tress on the sign for Ricky Riccardo's "Tropicana Night Club" on "I Love Lucy"!
Speaking of "Hollywood Canteen" and WWII, Lynn was at it again with a neat Facebook party poster!
The next two weeks are going to fly by, Wizard of Oz opens THIS FRIDAY June 14th (and I'm painting sets like a mad man) and then we'll have this fantastic Dance the next week, followed by a double Eagle Scout ceremony for two of my good friends! lots to decorate and set up, so we'll all be busy, busy, busy!
I want to take this moment to say thank you to Lynn M. He has helped us so much in promoting and getting things ready for the fundraiser. I don't think I could ever say how much it means to me, but I am eternally grateful for everything you've done. I really mean it!
A joyous occasion Readers! Our very own Kelcie from the Casablanca (Miss Casablanca 1957) Has graduated from Midwestern State University with a Bachelors in Fine Arts! To mark the occasion we hosted a small dinner in her honor at the lake. The menu consisted (by request) her favorite in house dishes, chicken & dumplings with biscuits, strawberry cream pie, and a tasteful selection of treats just for the occasion!
Friend Margaret made cupcakes, and decorated them with graduation caps using a peanut butter cup, a square of chocolate and licorice for the tassel! Friend Zack made chocolate/peanut-butter squares, and Patricia made a strawberry creme pie!
To mark this momentous occasion we had Kelcie write it down in the door frame of fame! We had a wonderful afternoon of food and friendship, Kelcie regaled us with tales from her college theatre program and hopes for her not so distant future. Everything was going fine, until friend Margaret looked out the french doors and asked "Kelcie, how long has your tire been flat?" WHAT?!!?
Luckily the spare was in good repair, so friend Zack and (to a much lesser extent) I, helped these damsels in distress...
(Friends Kathy, Kelcie, Nichole, and Zack!)
With the flat temporarily fixed, the ladies said adieu and headed off into the sunset. But fear not Readers, Kelcie will be back! Haha She has hardly left us "For good", this summer she is working as staff at the Texas Shakespeare Festival and will be back just in time to join us at the Casablanca for Summers End.
Break A Leg Kelcie, you've got WONDERFUL things ahead of you!
