It's Been A While

It's been a while since I've had the time and/or energy to write anything. SOOOO much has happened and there have been some major changes in my life and lots of adjustments have had to be made. I think I'm past the worst of it and the chaos has finally calmed down, so I feel up to posting a little something tonight.

Eventually I'll get around to talking about all of the changes, namely moving from the apartment complex where we lived for three years to a much bigger condo and also getting a new car! There's also been a ton of other major events I've been dealing with- some good, some sad, some fun - but I probably won't write about those since they're not fully my stories to tell.

But tonight's entry is all about Sacramento Fashion Week. The boutique I work for was a part of the showing last Sunday and I had the privilege of helping them out at the show. Yes, I worked the merch booth, but I also got to schmooze with people, eat some tasty snacks, and imbibe free booze too! Oh yeah, and did I mention sitting front row VIP for the show?? My job is the coolest sometimes.

Below are a smattering of pictures from the show. It was a lot of fun and our boutique, French Cuff Consignment, went first down the runway. My bosses even booked a live singer instead of boring old trance runway music. :) I also got some self-esteem boosts because everywhere I went people asked me who I was walking for and I even got a modeling gig offer!

This hat was something else. Just huge and feathery!

One of the models from our show. Notice the singer in the background. :)

Crooning away.

The singer also had some smooth dance moves.

This was a sneak peek of the designers who would be showing full collections at a later date and time. 

That's a pretty awesome strappy bathing suit, although I know I have seen similar ones before. 

I'd model if I always got to wear outfits like this! Black and sheer and heels!

Me and my boss taking selfies before the show started.

Cheers! The champagne was free!

You can see me off to the right side of the photo…all that blonde hair. 

Me having a good time being front row in the VIP section.

A last silly pic of me and my boss, Mama Darcy. :-P I got a ton of compliments on my spiked headband.

Until next time!

Sacramento Horror Film Festival Day One

An acquaintance of mine puts on the Sacramento Horror Film Festival and he was kind enough to give me a 3-day pass with a +1 for a friend so I could write about the event. Yay for press credentials!

VIP lanyards, flyers, and program! So many little souvenirs to remember this fun festival.

Sacramento Horror Film Festival is a three-day event that takes place at the historic Colonial Theater and showcases independent horror films and shorts. There are also a smattering of other horror-related events, panels, and performances throughout the weekend, including live shadowcast theater.

SHFF will show "Bride of Chucky" on Halloween. Kyle and I would totally be there except for we have tickets for a Danny Elfman concert in L.A. that night. 

Exterior of the Colonial Theater. It's so old-school and has more personality than I do.

On day one, which was a Friday, I brought along my girl friend Kasi, who also appreciates cinema, particularly the macabre.

Movie theater lighting. Queens of darkness. Plus we only come out at night. Not true - it was totally day time and still hot outside. Come on weather…can we have fall already??

The first section of the day started out with a series of shorts and ended with a full-length feature called "Eat," which was about a struggling actress in Los Angeles who develops a disturbing habit of eating pieces of herself when she gets upset. The horror aspect of this film lies in its gross-out factor. There were several scenes where the protagonist's body, namely her toes and fingers, ended up in such bad shape that Kasi and I were both gagging and laughing simultaneously. "Eat" was thoroughly enjoyable with good cinematography and pretty decent acting. It also had memorable effects, although the ending was kinda lame.

After a short break during which Kasi and I grabbed some vegan eats from the restaurant next door to the theater, we headed back inside for some Evil Dead burlesque complete with fake blood and boobies. Score.

Jezebelle's Army with an "Evil Dead" inspired performance. And yes, that's a chainsaw underneath that chair in the center. 

A bloody burlesque performance. This is how the act began.

Hula hoops and booty shakin'.

Bloody zombie faces and hula hoop dancing with nipple pasties. 

Yay - more blood.

Next was a creature and zombie makeup contest. The winner was a "demented Minnie Mouse" as the judges named her, but the runner-up was Regan from The Exorcist, and personally, I think her costume was the best.

Regan costume that took second place. Later, she did an Exorcist-inspired burlesque act.

I can't imagine why this movie disturbs so many people. ;-P

Regan, Little Red Riding Hood werewolf, and the honey badger. Honey badger don't give a shit.

Judges and contestants in their full glory. 

"Demented Minnie" took first place. Although technically that's not what her costume was - she said it was a demented porcelain doll, but the judges called her Minnie, so whatever works.

After all the performers finished up, the shadowcast of Troll 2 began. Kasi had gone home because it was late, so I was there by myself sitting on the aisle seat during the intro credits with all the cheesy dancing trolls and I got spooked by an actor dressed as a troll touching me while I was not paying attention! The trolls came prancing up the aisles to get to the stage and messed with people along the way and although the trolls themselves are the farthest thing from scary, I was very much not expecting that interaction and was caught totally off guard.

Dancing trolls.

I left after the "piss on hospitality" scene because the audience got squirted with super soakers and being that I was on the aisle, I got pretty wet. Plus it was late and I was tired and Kasi had ditched me, so I called it a night before the show finished. I wish I had the energy to stay because two actors from the film, Darren Ewing and Deborah Reed, were both there to do a signing and Q&A session afterwards. I love Troll 2. It seriously is the "best worst movie" ever.

Next up is day two of the Horror Fest.

Until next time!

Our last days in Hawaii and Snorkeling with the Manta Rays

The last day before Mom and I headed home was a Sunday and we were scheduled for a night swim with the manta rays. We were supposed to do it earlier that week, but it had gotten cancelled while we were on our way there. Imagine our surprise when we went to check in Sunday night and the company had a fully booked excursion and we were not on their reservation list! Luckily for us, the receptionist was able to call some of the people who had booked and rearrange their excursion so we could take their spot. So it all worked out in the end.

The boat ride out to where the mantas were was long but fun. We saw some spinner dolphins swimming alongside the boat and doing their acrobatic jumps out of the water. Spinner dolphins are smaller than Bottlenose dolphins and spin while they do their out of water flips. I wasn't able to get any good pictures of the dolphins because you never know where they'll jump out of the water and they disappear so quickly.

Me and Mom taking a selfie on the boat. Eden didn't want her picture taken. 

Before the sun went down, the blue sky was so pretty and the ocean seemed to go on forever.

Mom and Eden sitting at the back of the boat for a bit.

Mom at the front of the boat looking for dolphins.

The sun beginning to set.

The sun colored the clouds so pretty when it was setting.

When the sun had finally gone all the way down, we all suited up in our wetsuits, collected our snorkel gear, and jumped into the ocean. Because the water is so dark at night, the way you see the manta rays is through a floating surfboard with very powerful lights attached to it. You basically hang on to the board and float while the mantas do twirls underneath you.

Mom and I had bought underwater cameras, but Mom couldn't get hers to work and when I got my film developed, the techs told me that the film was blank, which is apparently very common when using underwater cameras. So unfortunately, we have no real pictures of the manta rays that we took ourselves, but I Googled images and included them so at least you can get an idea of what we saw.

This is a picture of snorkelers hanging onto the floating light boards.

This is what I saw swimming up at me when I was looking down. Mouths wide open and jaws flapping. Also lots of white, speckled bellies.

The manta rays eat plankton and are filter feeders with no true teeth, so they are completely harmless to people. However, at first, it is a bit disconcerting to see a 15 to 20 foot long sea creature swimming right at you with its mouth wide open. They do ballet dances in the water, spinning in circles and doing back flips in order to catch the most plankton they can. Sometimes they hit the boards or the snorkelers while flipping, although you're not supposed to touch them.

We got wine, beer, hot chocolate, and snacks on the boat ride home to end our night snorkel. What an amazing experience and such a great way to spend our final night on the island.

Aloha Hawaii! I'll return soon…hopefully to visit my Dad once his houses are built. :)

A big thank you goes out to my Mom for inviting me along and planning all the excursions. I'm glad we got to do such fun things together!

Until next time!

Some Hawaiian Market Shopping and Dinner at Huggo's

We wanted to find some souvenirs for friends and family back home, so we hit up some of the local outdoor markets to see what types of wares they offered the tourists.

We got to stay dry on shopping days, so I wore my Blackcraft Cult Poe tank.  

There were little green geckos running around everywhere at the market. One of the ladies had a jewelry booth and she told me that she'd send me gecko photos. She leaves her drink cans out at the end of the day and takes pictures of the geckos that comes to drink the leftovers. Photo taken by W. Greenfield. 

Photo taken by W. Greenfield.

This is my favorite photo she sent. He's just peeking over the edge of that can so adorably! Photo by W. Greenfield.

Photo by W. Greenfield.

Photo by W. Greenfield.

Photo by W. Greenfield.

This is a picture I took. I love how the geckos aren't really afraid of people.

Another gecko picture I took. 

Dinner that evening was at a restaurant down the street called Huggo's. Every time we drove by it during the day, it was hustling and bustling and busy with people, so it seemed like a cool joint to spend a few hours.

Sign outside of Huggo's.

The restaurant was all outdoors with umbrellas as the "roof" and a few awnings set up with grass hanging down. There was even a sandy area where the tables and chairs were outdoor patio furniture-style.

We all got alcoholic drinks. Mine was a traditional lava flow, while Mom got a lillikoi-flavored one.

There was a live band playing cover songs. People were dancing in the sand.

Grilled mahi mahi fish tacos with Hawaiian potato chips - my dinner.

Mom and I with our alcohol. No trip to the tropics is complete without an umbrella drink, am I right?

Up next - a horseback ride, botanical gardens, and ANOTHER car crash.

Until next time!