Still More Mardi Gras

Let's see ... where were we.

On Saturday, we went off to the local PJ's (coffee shop) to get some good coffee and check our email. (This so-called wi-fi throughout the city? Not so much. But at most coffeeshops and restaurants ...)

We also got some superglue to fix Eddie, the gnome.

After we grabbed some late lunch/early dinner, I got a call from Michael: could we please go to the grocery store and pick up eight bottles of chianti, for the tables? Sure, no problem, I said.

Dick and I ran out and picked them up. We put them in the trunk, and as we started to drive off, I heard a "clink" in the trunk. I immediately stopped. "Should we put them in the backseat?" Well, we hemmed and hawed and finally Dick said, "I'm sure it'll be fine." I drove very very carefully the short distance back to the house.

The next thing we know, after having an entire lazy day, we were suddenly pressed for time to get ready for the big event. Not helping were the lack of mirrors in the house ... "Who's stage managing this thing?" Shelley quipped.



Finally, we were all dressed in our formal wear (and I have to say, it all travelled very well, without incident or wrinkles!) and headed out the door. We thought it might be worthwhile to at this point move the wine into the backseat just to avoid possible trouble ...

... too late. One bottle had bitten the dust. We now had seven bottles, and a trunk full of chianti.

So there we are, in our formal wear, trying to blot it all out with paper towel, trying desperately not to get the RED WINE on any of our clothes ... and mmmmmmmmm the car smelled really good after that! (ahem. not.)

Quick phone call to Dane: Which is more important? Us arriving with eight bottles of wine, or us arriving relatively on time?

On time.

A little bit like old home week inside the Alario Center - got to see Mary Lee Gibbons, Lara Grice, Kara Hadigan, Leon Contavesprie ... even Steven Marlborough!

The ball began, and everything I had ever been told was correct: gay balls are way more interesting than the straight ones. (Feel free to insert any joke there.)



Shelley made the comment that if we just swept up after the crystals that fell off costumes, we could fund our theatre for a year.



After the ball, we headed back to Dino's (where the Parking Easter Bunny did us proud and quite impossibly got us a space right in front of the bar!) and hung out there till we just couldn't any more.



Here we thought this was the big night of our trip: who knew, there was so much more still to come ...