My Funny Valentine

There was a time when it was possible that someone might refer to me as a…you won’t believe it…as a “Party Girl”.  I know, I know. I said you wouldn’t believe it.

Wait a minute! *insert screeching brake noises here* I just looked up the definition of Party Girl from several sources: The Urban Dictionary (absolutely not printable on my blog), Merriam Webster, Wikipedia, etc. not one gave me the definition I thought applied to the term. I just asked He-Who his definition. He agreed with me (I know…it is a rare thing). Our definition of a Party Girl is someone who enjoys going to parties and perhaps indulges in a few too many libations. Although in this case, at the party I was going to tell you about, I had very little to drink. Not that I didn’t do my share of drinking at parties but at this particular soiree, I was working. Which brings me back to the most common definition of the term, Party Girl…”an attractive young woman hired to attend parties and entertain men”.  I was working at the party but I was not hired to attend or entertain men. The truth is I was working for free. Why do I feel like I just dug this hole deeper?

The group of friends I spent most of my time with liked to have house parties. Not just any kind of house parties, but themed house parties. Now these themes usually involved costumes. When people go to great lengths to create costumes for a themed party they often like to have photos to remember the occasion by. I was still making my living as a Photographer so it was implied that I would bring a camera and preserve the moment for future generations. This happened to be a St. Valentine’s Day Party. Now before you let your minds wander back to the beginning of the post, this is not what I am talking about.

I’m not even talking about my own personal favourite for Cupid, Pygar from Barbarella…

No. Not that at all.  Think more like this…

That’s right. We decided we would dress for the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.  I had intended to tell you how it remains the most notorious gangster killing of the prohibition era. I would have explained that the massacre that occurred at 10:30 a.m. on February 14, 1929  made Al Capone a national celebrity even though they could never prove he had anything to do with it. I might have even explained how two of the killers were even dressed as police officers and after the slaughter in the garage behind the offices of S.M.C. Cartage Company at 2122 North Clark Street in Chicago, the fake police were able to lead the other gunmen to freedom by pretending to have them under arrest. I think we are past all that now.

We created a staging area in the home the party was at. One complete wall was done up as “The East Side Garage” and we had bullet holes sprayed across the wall. The costumes were of Gangsters and Gun Molls. I brought in my studio lights and my Hasselblad and was able to get some pretty good quality fun shots. I’m the sober one holding the camera.

Those people knew how to party! However, I will never again call them Party Girls, Party Boys or Party People.

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Making Halloween

A long time ago in a far away land Halloween was one of the best times of the year.

As a child growing up my sisters and I would trounce around the neighbourhood with pillowcases filling them to the brim with candy booty. We would walk through our neighbourhood without a care in the world and our parents never had to accompany us. We all knew each other and kept an eye on each other.

As a young adult I use to make costumes and try to fool people into not even knowing it was me. I went to elaborate Halloween parties and had a great time. When the parties stopped my favourite thing was to costume up and hand out candy to the little ones that came to the door. The kids were adorable and I could answer that door all night.  Of course there was always an adult at the bottom of my driveway waiting for their return with a smile and a wave.  When we moved I stocked up on treats and turned all the lights on and sat patiently by the door. No one came. All night … no one came. He-Who finally convinced me to turn out the lights and join him in front of the TV. Of course I brought the candy with me. I had lost Halloween.

Today a blog post arrived in my inbox that reminded me that I still have some Halloween left in me.  This post from Sweet Mother reminded me of some of the reasons I always enjoyed Halloween and that I still had some of those “moments” in my life.

A little more than a quarter of a century ago I fell in love with this adorable little boy. He was my baby sister’s first born and I doted on him. When Halloween rolled around I decided I was gong to make him the best Halloween costume ever. I am not very good at sewing and really only know the basics. I worked on his costume for a very long time.  I don’t remember ever putting that much of myself into anything.  What kid wouldn’t want to be a dinosaur? (Not the big purple one. No one wants to be the big purple one.)  Well, he hated it! He cried and cried as we dressed him in it. You can see how angry he was in the picture on the left.  I’m not sure how we finally got him to smile in the picture on the right.

Angry Dinosaur

The good news was that I had built that suit like a tank and there was nothing he could do to it to harm it. It was also warm so he didn’t have to cover it up. These were things he did not appreciate.  The suit did indeed last. After his little sister was born it wasn’t long before she was swinging down the sidewalk in the dinosaur costume.  She was much happier about wearing it and so were the kids who wore it after her. I still laugh until I cry every time I see these pictures.

One day last week I got a Skype call from his little sister.  She’s a Mom now and she and her little one spend a lot of time with me on skype. In fact, little Ellee thinks I live in the computer. Other people tell me whenever she sees a computer she walks up to it and calls my name. (Is that not the most adorable thing you have ever heard?)  It seems Ellee wanted to be Peter Pan for Halloween and there were no Peter Pan outfits to be found. She could be Tinker Bell, no problem but, not Peter Pan. I spent the afternoon scouring the shops in our area and they were right.  I did not find one Peter Pan costume for a toddler. It had been a long time since I had sewn anything and I didn’t have a pattern or measurements, but I gave it a shot and managed to put together my version of a Peter Pan outfit.  I drove the costume to Lewiston, NY on Sunday.  When Ellee sees me in person it is always awkward at first. I think she is trying to figure out how I got out of the computer.  I took the cover off the costume and showed her. Her big eyes got bigger and lit up as she said, “Peter Pan”.  Well, this old girl just melted.

The Cutest Peter Pan Ever!

When I returned home I couldn’t wait to tell He-Who about Ellee’s reaction.  Before I had a chance to say anything he asked me if I had seen the picture of the newest member of our family, my Grandnephew, baby Logan.

Baby Logan’s First Halloween

Today as I was reading Sweet Mother’s post I received a picture via message on my phone. One of my older sisters is the “Queen of  Costume” and dresses for every Holiday and theme you can think of. She had someone at work take this and sent it to me.

The Costume Queen As A Baby Carrot

Halloween is alive and well as long as there are people around who still embrace the spirit of the thing and the fun of it all.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

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