The Sweetly Decorated Life: Attending the Maryland Renaissance Festival with K...

The Sweetly Decorated Life: Attending the Maryland Renaissance Festival with K...: Every year in the fall I get gussied up (that's my fancy word for dressed up, make up and all) to attend the Maryland Renaissance Festiv...

Attending the Maryland Renaissance Festival with Kids, the Joy of Both

Every year in the fall I get gussied up (that's my fancy word for dressed up, make up and all) to attend the Maryland Renaissance Festival in Crownsville, Maryland, just outside of my birthplace of Annapolis, Maryland.  I love it.  It's my thing I tell everyone.

At the Ren Fair with Mom in the background

I think it all started with me in high school English classes and then the art of language came into play. We moved into Shakespeare, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet.  In my senior year of high school I took a course I believe was called, Mysteries & Suspense.  I loved it and the teacher was just as disarming.  It was only a few of us in her class but she loved it and that made me love it too. Then when the Lord of the Rings Trilogy came out, directed and written by the talented Peter Jackson, I was the first in line to get tickets.  The battles, the pageantry, the romance of it all.

Those movies, ideology, and the history of the Renaissance period enchant me.  There was certainly pomp and circumstance, luxury in survival, and love, lots of love I imagine.  It thrilled me to wait every Sunday to view HBO's series, The Tudors.  How brilliant a show and well done with costumes.

In 2009 I was blessed to attend in my 8th month of pregnancy the fair with friends and family.  The weather was full sun but a lovely breeze would make its way through the food court and I was in heaven.  Like most people, the Fall is my absolute favorite time of year.  There in October, so close to my due date, fried macaroni and cheese on a stick sounded pretty good!  There all I did was people watch and there is a lot of good people watching going on.  How about how those who chomp on those turkey legs!  Wow!

We made the rounds of the games (we had my stepchildren with me so that was required) and mastered the costume shops; with little space to get around in most of them (my belly didn't help either)!  I believe we even caught a couple of vignettes, one at the Globe Theatre and the other, the name escapes me.  It's location set deep in the woods of this brilliant festival.  Loads of seats and close to the privies just in case, the potty is required.  Laughter abounds here and happy faces.  Mine included.

It's been five years since I've attended the Maryland Renaissance Festival and I do gather it's expanded a great deal.  On our way in this year with kids in tow, a rather large elephant passed us going on his break for the day.  I think the kiddies loved that and it proved this fair was going to be AWESOME and it was.

Mom, Debbie, my niece, my brother, my daughter and Stepfather

In the photo above, we had just finished snacking on our steak on a stick entree and we all agreed it was delicious when I snapped this photo.  We were then deciding what next to do and what direction to take when I saw happy times evolving.  I love taking photos while people aren't watching.  It's brilliant most times and it works out.  I capture them. Here the little Tudor style village housing and tall trees bringing light to a beautiful family moment entrapped my consciousness.  Did I do all the wonderful things I wanted to do that day-no I didn't.  Do I regret it.  No.  We had our children with us and I wouldn't change a thing but I am going back.  I think everyone had a good time including my elegant friend Aunt Jane.

At $22 a person with no Groupon available, I AM GOING AGAIN.  I did not see the jousting and like any good renaissance lady I have to attend the jousting and cheer on the king at 6 pm.  You see the older ones in our group or the less enthusiastic didn't want to hit the millions of cars leaving at 7 pm when the venue closes. I can't blame them and so with that, the show closes and I, full from pints of beer and fried food trample on through the dust and bid adieu to my fine costumed friends and promise I will see them next year.

I have to convince my husband to attend in October and this will be a feat in and of itself.  Merriment always my friends.........

The Sweetly Decorated Life: The thought of having another baby again....at 41

The Sweetly Decorated Life: The thought of having another baby again....at 41: Pregnant at 36 was fine but 41?  I don't know. I've dabbled with the thought over and over again.  My twin daughters are turnin...

The thought of having another baby again....at 41

Pregnant at 36 was fine but 41?  I don't know.

I've dabbled with the thought over and over again.  My twin daughters are turning five in two months and my husband is 43.  We are no Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale.  We are normal people with no nannies, no help and two older stepchildren.  It makes one think:

Would a baby bring the family closer OR would a new baby bring more stress and isolate us from each other?

Those questions and more haunt me.  I can only divulge them to my husband so many times before he actually closes the case and says it's too late.  I definitely don't want another one.  ugh.  How would that make me feel and what would I do then?

I discuss this with my close friend Scarlett who hails from Brooklyn.  She's awesome.  She told her husband whom she met late in life, "Look I know you feel like you'd get lost in the whole second baby thing but I want you to know, if I don't do this, I'll always wonder what if.  I'm not asking for a third and I promise I won't let you down.  Our time together will be there, but my baby carrying abilities will not."

She wowed me with her strength of character.  She knew what she wanted, she put it out there for her husband.  He bought it and they delivered a son nine months later.  He's a beautiful sweet boy and his name is Tristan.  They now together have one of each, a girl name Brisa and a boy named Tristan.  They together make a sweet family.  I've never met a more sincere and caring person than Scarlett.  She is earth incarnate. Did I forget to mention she was 42 when she had him?  She's the Gwen Stefani of Conway, South Carolina!!!

But one thing that Scarlett didn't have to do is go through fertility.  Lucky for me I have one embryo frozen and that means I don't have to go through trying to fake my body into being pregnant, or be there for my hubby's out-patient extraction of sperm, and putting the egg and sperm together to make an embryo. Whew! No not all of that again. That's a whole long process of creation and taking my blood through a tiny vein in my hand (I have tiny veins so getting my blood is vicious!) we'll can anyone say ?!/?*%!^#

According to BabyCenter.com there are several pros and cons to having a baby in your 40's so it's going to be all about my attitude in the game:

Baby Center said, "All these downsides can be disheartening — but don't forget that some women do get pregnant well into their 40s, and many of them have complication-free pregnancies and healthy babies. And while older mothers may be at higher risk for negative pregnancy results, the overall number of such incidents is low."

Another quote to take note of: "Miscarriage rates begin to skyrocket in your 40s as well. From age 40 to 44, the rate is 35 percent, and it rises to more than 50 percent for women 45 and older (compared to 10 percent at age 20 and 12 percent at age 30). After age 40, the risk of pregnancy complications, such as high blood pressure and diabetes is twice as high as it is for a woman in her 20s."

We'll you know what I didn't want a baby in my 20's......and my 30's we'll that idea progressed slowly until I met the right person. I'll be 42 in July of 2015 and I'm hoping to be at least pregnant by then!!

The help part of the equation is to be debated.  I'm hoping to have a mothers' helper in all of this, not b/c I can't manage all of the kids, the schedules, the laundry, being there for my husband or the taxi driver but because I can admit I CAN'T DO IT ALL.

I rest on this debate about having another child.  I want one.  I want another girl, another boy, whatever.  Healthy please!!!

Are you thinking about all the sleepless nights I'm going to have?  I've done that already.  It's worth every sleepy day lying next to my baby in my dream house.  Yep, I dream.  It's okay for you to do it too.

Now back to my being something to everyone.  My 14 year old stepson is coming over for an extended weekend visit.  Oh, the energy that kid has................... I hope I have enough chips in the house.

Pregnant at 36 with twins.  My hubby and stepson.

Having Faith in the Most Tumultuous Times....

Do you BELIEVE?  My friend Anastasia and how she saved me

I don't practice my religion often, although I should.  I'm an ordinary Christian, registered, a believer.  When I'm in church I'm my best ME.  I wish I went more often.  I try.  I watch Joel Osteen when I'm home; to catch up on rest, relaxation, and not be stressed by any hectic schedule with four kids-I love Joel's message. As many people might say, Sunday is my only day off-to sleep in, to do absolutely nothing.  My faith in tact.

After 9/11 I strengthened my faith.  I went to church every Sunday, joined spiritual groups, and grew as a Christian.  Then I went back to a place where I wasn't in church almost close to not-at-all.  This wasn't good.  It's almost as if I just can't stay consistent in my church attendance.  I loose interest, I get bored, my mind wanders and I find I need a break, although I can attest to this one true fact-I BELIEVE.  I carry an unending faith in my Father and the miracles within.  I believe in the ever present concepts of good and evil and I believe in the power and simplicity of PRAYER.  It works.

Both my husband and I have experienced miracles in our lives and it forever changed the course of our belief systems.  I think it gave us the belief that going forward you will never doubt ME again.

Recently my husband has been threatened by an employee who was let go from his organization.  I cannot tell you when I heard that how that made me feel.  My husband is my world and I his.  For someone to even speak of him in any way other than amazing is like sacrilegious.  He is there to help people in his organization, not hurt them.  I say to myself, I have faith.  Keep your faith Stephanie.

It angered me when I heard this news.  He left this morning for a charity softball tournament and I held him close before he left for Philadelphia.  My daughters and husband are my main reasons for happiness.  They give me JOY, they bring me laughter, they brought back the faith in ME but before they arrived I prayed and prayed.

It doesn't matter what I read in the press, or watch on CNN or FOX News, I still believe one UNIVERSAL TRUTH-

Believing that there is a GOD and his son JESUS died on the cross for you to give us LIFE and that it be abundant and good, not the other way around.  You see it's also in our POSITIVE THINKING that a faith arrives and stays put.  When I'm negative and my thinking is poor, I'm not with HIM.

Are we thinking in the positive, with love, and in GOD's name?  Or are we thinking doom, gloom, and negativity?

I don't have all the answers about religion but I know the choice that feels good and right and healthy and I've seen first hand the consequences of such thinking but it started with a SEED and that was my belief in HIM.  I read the good book, concentrated on its principles, and let it be what it would be.  I know it sounds simple but it evolved over time..........

THE MIRACLE: When I experienced a miracle through the other side, I knew it was not through Buddha, karma, or through playing the Lottery, or through atoms exploding in outer space!  It was through my heart felt prayers, through helping my friend who was dying of cancer and praying over her to heal and her eventual passing that she would heal me. When she came to me in the after life, I was able to see the light and I knew in that moment, in my body, my mind, my spiritual gut, it was GOD.

It's hard to explain it to people who've never experienced this lightness but it does exist and it changed me for good.  It doesn't mean I don't have hard days or challenges ahead, but it gave me something on that day in April 2010 I didn't have before: An UNRELENTING FAITH.

There will always be one thing or another that will get your attention and call you to test your thinking and very possibly your beliefs, but where will you stand on the last day, the day you are called to answer, what do you believe?  I know what my answer will be.....................I'm praying for you.

.

Staying Conscious in your Marriage-The First Part

A tiny dance floor.....

This is my second time around in married life so being "present" was very important to me.  I had an acupuncturist friend who once told me that being conscious in your marriage was more important than any other factor, more important than romance, more important than your kids, everything. Fran knew what she was talking about.  I just didn't get what she was saying so she put me in touch with a number of books on the subject and then once my appointment was over, I jumped right into the "conscious seeking" world.

To be honest it overwhelmed me but why I started this blog is to point out that life can be sweet, that it is sweet, but the road for me to get to this "sweetly decorated life" was going to take some work and it did. I'm 41 and I did the work-I sought the self help books, saw the therapists, participated in Re-birthing, took love and marriage seminars in Orlando (yes Orlando!) and managed to at this point come out "sweetly happy".
A Sweetly Decorated Life is more than my love of decorating, ornamental stuff or things I love, it's the life we can all love.  (I want to point out that I do have Christian faith).  :)

I'm here to talk about things that we can discuss and dream about.  It's also about our relationships and sharing.  I'll always revisit the aim of my blog and my goal is for you to walk away inspired.........

When I got married in 2012 it was impromptu, without a lot of planning, and in the backyard of the home we were renting in Pawling, New York.  There was a massive thunderstorm waiting in the wings that hot August evening and it released it's force after we were married.  After I gave my new husband grief that our wedding was ruined by the wine spilled on my dress, the drunk people who arrived late and the wet, wet rain that spoiled the music player and any chance of us dancing on that expensive dance floor we rented, I still didn't feel better!  I now laugh at what happened as it reminds me that life and marriage ARE NOT PERFECT in any way; life is sweetened by the people in it.  There were plenty of good things that happened before and after my wedding that I now choose my brain to focus on:  Aunt Janet and I hunting for flowers in the brush to use in my bouquet, the doves that showed up while Patrick and I were having coffee the day before our wedding, the friends who drove from North Carolina to come to my wedding, my 3 year old daughter during our vows who exclaimed, "Mommy I love you!" and the family and friends falling to mush.

Now it's time to be conscious in your marriage.  Gone are the days where couples sit idly by and watch the world pass right by them.  Gone are the days where the only spouse in the house who worked was the husband and the wife stayed home and raised all six kids (this was my Grandparents!).  Now we have so much going on, very busy schedules to maintain and let us not forget, our Facebook accounts (I digress).   There is much more to maintain but we MUST and should look at our love partners and be kind.

What do I mean by that?  It's fully loaded.  Being aware and being present of your partners' needs, wants and desires in life and most importantly being present in your life.  We sometimes get so caught up in work, life, hobbies, and stress that we loose ourselves, what we want and who we are.  We often loose ourselves in our partners needs, loosing that fine balance that conscious loving requires and that's the neat thing about this equation: being conscious in your marriage means YOU DON'T NEGLECT YOU.  Your present and also aware of your needs, your wants and your desires and somehow both of you need to meet in the middle. My current acupuncturist is quite versed on these concepts and practices as she's on her second marriage, she's happy and she brought three girls into the union.

My reading recommendations on this subject were and are by ironically similar last names:

By Gay Hendricks, a gem of a book

By Harville Hendrix, you'll have homework here but it's worth it!

We are all trying in marriage but when there is love there and you honor your spouse, you get a little something back too and ain't that sweet?

The Sweetly Decorated Life: Heading to the Consignment Store for Back to Schoo...

The Sweetly Decorated Life: Heading to the Consignment Store for Back to Schoo...: Grateful for this Shop I have found love at this shop in my hometown.  Annapolis, Maryland has always been a place where you could shop...

Heading to the Consignment Store for Back to School-why pay more somewhere else?

Grateful for this Shop

I have found love at this shop in my hometown.  Annapolis, Maryland has always been a place where you could shop and find a bargain but never designer duds on a budget: enter Return to Oz Consignments.  The ladies who own this little palace pack quite a punch-they know what they're doing and they get it done. They get your goods entered into their system after you drop them off and they ascertain how much they're worth. Bye Bye bags.....I'll wait. I'm sure it's good news.

I say why not?  I don't mind earning something for the clothes, shoes, and household items that I don't want to turn over to The Goodwill.  I like the idea that whatever they don't take into their store in inventory they donate to charity (a local church mission).  That's good news.

My girls love going to Return to Oz.  They know there is stuff to play with and dress up costumes, books, and a kids' table for coloring.  The employees there all are familiar faces and that makes me feel good because I know when I head up to find out if I've made money, I find a familiar face, ahhh.  They know what they're doing, how the operation works and what if any is the balance due, "Mrs. McCoy, you made $25"!  I love it.  Today I went in for a bathing suit for our trip to Disney World in October-I wasn't looking for back to school clothes in particular or shoes but there were plenty of choices. That's what I love about bargain hunting in thrift and/or consignment stores: you never know what your going to find.  I guess that's why they call it "the thrill of the hunt."

There are lessons in the thrill of the hunt for your children too:  never pay full price for an item you need or love or have to have.  I travel to flea markets, yard sales sometimes, but mostly to consignment shops and this one is right in the center of all things: West Street in Annapolis; it's hard not to stop by.  The clothes and some toys on the front steps of this old house are enchanting; the racks beckoning me in.  For just a little, you can come away with a lot and still have money left over to take to Disney World!  I like that idea.

I got my swimsuit-a mom suit now; it's conservative, it moves and compliments my body shape.  It's not beautiful but it's well made and it'll do.  It's about my kids now, sometimes me, more times them.  I love it and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Smile now, shopping done.  Kids go to pre-k in two days.

clothes galore!

Return to Oz Consignments
2011 West St, Annapolis, MD 21401(410) 266-9390