Thought I'd take a moment to draft what I am going to write in my next entry. I'm using Beth's computer.
July 10, 2006
Wow! I’m home! Peggie didn’t tell me I was coming here! As much fun as I’ve had, I must say, I am very happy to see Beth, Miles and Hunter (Beth’s son and dog). Beth got a chuckle out of my journal, which is fat and thick with pictures and all the things that my hosts and I have written. Can you believe it?? I am already writing in my second book!
Thought I'd take a moment to draft what I am going to write in my next entry. I'm using Beth's computer.
Today Beth went to work and I rested. She says that Tuesday and Wednesday will be spent cleaning the house, washing the car and getting ready for our guests. OH MY GOSH! I had completely forgotten! This is the week of the “Crissy & her Friends, Groovy Get-Together!” So that is why I’m here. I wonder if the guests know I’m here! I can’t wait to see them (c:
11:35 p.m. Beth was woken by some disturbance in the living room. Looks like Miles just got home and oh no! Has he broke his ankle? Beth is going to the ER with him. I’m kind of worried.
July 11, 2006
Poor Beth got one and a half hours of sleep. Miles severely sprained his ankle and is holed up on the couch. Beth already cleaned the living room for the GT and now he’s making a mess. There she goes, it’s 6:15 a.m. and she’s off to work.
While Beth was at work, I visited with my friends in the archive. I hugged Hunter and my cousins Velvet and Cinnamon (who looks more like me cuz she has reddish hair). It was nice to chat with them. Then I took a little nap with Hunter.
Today Beth is on vacation from work. But wow, she sure is busy to be on vacation! Right off the bat, she got busy on two new incoming dolls. First they got baths. Boy did that redhead need one. Yuck. I don’t know how she could see through all that crud in her eyes. Then Beth dressed them in outfits that she didn’t even know she had! She makes me laff sometimes. Have you seen the archive? Shoot, I live here and there’s stuff I’ve never seen. I heard her mumble, “Mental note: re-shoot the 1973 Eaton’s pic for the site.” I guess that means she found a ’73 outfit that needs to be shared with other collectors. May I just say, she LOVES what she does? I can tell. (Smile)
Oh, sorry, I seem to have wandered off topic.
Don’t they look good now? Did I mention that I helped? (grin)
After that, Beth started on a cleaning frenzy like I’ve never seen. I’m sure this is for my Get-Together. People are going to arrive tomorrow. How excited I am to see my old friends! At any rate, Beth bleached the white paint off the toilet seat in the main bathroom. I don’t think she knew that she could do that. I had better not say anything. She seems a bit irked, mumbling again, something about not having time to buy a new one. Can I ask you something? What are baseboards?
I tried to be helpful. Beth let me dust her bathroom chachkas. I think she likes rubber duckies or something. She sure has a lot of them. But it’s a fun bathroom. I will give you that. Did you know the ceiling is blue and there is purple beaded fringe at the ceiling line? Beth calls it a Hollywood Bathroom befitting a Princess. I would have to say I agree.
Next we are going in to the sunroom to set up the charity auction. The living room, foyer and piano, kitchen, and the two bathrooms are done. I’ll let Beth finish. This Princess needs a nap. I jumped up on the bed with Miles. Beth is washing his sheets. I wonder if she realizes that the guests won’t have a clue if his sheets are clean or not. LOL
After my nap, I found Beth in the kitchen, sorting out items that will be used as prizes for the games that we play during the Get-Together. Several folks have made generous contributions so that we'll have plenty of things to give away. Beth is very grateful to everyone for their generosity.
Here we are sorting and looking over the prizes! It's almost showtime!
Here is Deby and Cheryl.
Here is Anthony and Linda. My friend Tracy was going to meet a friend of hers that lives near here. Tracy came in by taxi later (just in time for our Pizza Party!).
We forgot to get a pic of Georgia! But you'll see pics below of her. She is so cute! The reason we forgot is because her flight kept getting bumped or delayed and finally she got here. I got a little tired and forgot to get the digital camera out. I'm sorry!
Also that night, my friend Karyn was driving in. She lives just the next state north of me. Saturday, we were expecting Lucy and Nikki to meet us for lunch and then for the Get-Together itself. They live the next state to the west of me, so they drove in too. My other guest, Cindy, has a sister who lives in Atlanta. She visited with her after she arrived on Thursday. I got to see her the next day!
On Friday, July 14th, we have a BIG day! First we went to the Georgia Aquarium but darnit!!! They closed the tunnel for maintanence. In my opinion, that is the BESTEST part! I could tell Beth was a bit annoyed too. We had lots of fun anyway!
I saw Beluga Whales!
They said I couldn't climb on the display but being small has its advantages. They didn't notice!! -Giggle-
Here I am with Beth in front of the main display. The fish is named Deepo. You probably think that is because of "deep" water, but no... they named him after Home Depot who paid lots of money with other big companies to bring the aquarium to Georgia.
I hope my guests didn't forget to look up! The glass sculptures are beautiful!
Here is our entire group minus Cindy, Lucy and Nikki.
Can you believe that they have a tank full of piranha!? They looked kind of friendly but I have a feeling that would all change if someone stuck their hand in the water.
I saw sea lions. They bark like a dog sometimes. That was funny!
Each exhibit has the neatest and most colorful signs!
Here is Beth and I in front of the native Georgia water exhibit.
More glass sculptures, this one of a very funny looking turtle. I needed a "lift" cuz I'm so short, so that we could get this picture. It was at this point someone yelled out, "Hey! That's a Crissy! I had one of those. No, I just had the head. No wait, I guess I had a whole doll." Huh? I was confused. All of my friends were giggling. Another girl came up to Beth at another time and said, "You know what that is don't you? (Pointing at me) THEY are very valuable." Beth replied, "Not really, they are very common and only fetch about $20 a piece at the most. I have over 800 of them." Beth invited her to our website for further clarification.
Before we left, my friend Karyn gave me a lift so I could model in front of the aquarium logo.
I don't look so short here do I!
Do you remember TV personality Nipsy Russell? He got his start as a car hop at The Varsity! If you stay long enough and look at all of the pictures in the dining rooms (plenty of those!), you will find pictures of him.
Clockwise from the left front, Cheryl, Karyn, Deby, and Anthony.
From the left, Linda, Georgia, and Tracy. Beth and I were taking the picture.
Here we all are except Beth in front of this landmark. Oh, it's called The Varsity cuz it's right there next to the Georgia Tech campuses. Don't ya just love those paper hats! LOL
From the left: Georgia, Linda, Tracy, Anthony, Deby, Cindy & I, Karyn & Cheryl. Beth was taking the picture.
This cat must be the friendliest cat ever! Just anyone can touch him and he loves to be petted. His name is Squeaky cuz in the morning when the store owners arrive, he doesn't MEOW but he squeaks his morning greeting to them. He is the resident mouser in this particular store.
Beth let me try her Penne Rustica. She would not let me have a sip of her pinot though. I might be short, but I am NOT underage.
On Saturday, July 15th, we all got up and some went shopping, some slept in... but Beth and I got up and started sprucing up our place. We had to meet our friends at the Golden Corral near the Mall of Georgia and Lucy and Nikki were there too!! I was glad to see them again! Remember, they hosted me on my vacation to the Mardi Gras. I think they were happy to see me too (c:
The Golden Corral is some sort of weird tradition that started the first year of the Get-Together. It isn't even that good, but there is a nice variety of stuff to eat. I guess that bread was pretty good. I've never seen such a huge plate of bread disappear so fast! Beth said the grilled salmon was good. Tracy had that too.
Here we are eating.
After we ate, Cindy met up with us all at Beth's place and the party began.
One thing that we do is play lots of games and hand out prizes. Another thing is we like to give each other a little something. About half of us create souvenirs to give away. Our friend Karyn works for a major department store and always brings us GREAT makeup items! You should see the fur fly when she tosses those in the middle of the floor!! Too fun!!
This photo is courtesy of Karyn.
Beth's dog Hunter just could not stay away from the festivities. He was always underfoot. Even after being stepped on so many times, he still hung out. Deby is his favorite guest, as you can tell.
This photo is courtesy of Karyn.
The doll exchange is BIG FUN for everyone! The theme is really played up here. Everyone that participates brings a doll dressed in the theme, wraps it, then the exchanges are made.
The exchange photos are courtesy of Karyn.
I think perhaps the highlight of the Get-Together might be the bride doll door prize. This year, Perla of Highway Dolls created a beautiful 50's era inspired ensemble. Beth designed the jewelry. The doll was donated by my friend Shannon who could not attend this year )c:
Beth tries to think of creative ways to choose the winner. This year, she put a random note into her gift to the guests (a DVD with all 5 of her Crissy commercials burned onto it, in a case decorated for the GT) that said, "Guess what? You are the winner of the bride doll." After she announced to our friends that they were all receiving a copy of the DVD as a gift, she shuffled the cases containing the DVD and handed them out randomly. She hoped that they would look inside, but no one did. So finally she said, "Ummmm, could you check inside your DVD case to make sure that I put one in there? I'd hate for you to get all the way home and not have a DVD." After about 15 seconds, finally someone said, "What's this?" It was Cindy from Canada! Boy was she suprised!
The above three photos are courtesy of Cheryl.
The above two photos are courtesy of Karyn.
Wonderful Lucy, who works PFM on Crissy family dolls (that would mean Pure Frickin' Magic) was invited to do a demo where she could show the guests her ingenious way of "popping" new eyes into a doll's head.
The above eye demo photos are courtesy of Karyn.
We always shoot a group shot. This year seemed to give us trouble...
In this pose, there was alot of squinting.
In this pose, Hunter told Beth he didn't want to get in the picture.
So Hunter left, a bit disgruntled (probably cuz he wanted to party too, but kept getting stepped on) and then we shot this final pose.
We have preliminary plans for the next two. I hope that you can arrange your life's affairs to attend the ninth or tenth annual Groovy Get-Together. Cuz after that, they won't be annual anymore. Please plan to not miss out.
I'd love to meet you in person!
Love,
CRISSY xoxo