The Annual " Great Fall Festival "

A few weeks ago my girlfriends and I hosted our annual " Great Fall Festival" once again. We hold this event every year in late October. It started several years ago as a simple day with me and a friend of mine spending a day with our other girlfriend's daughters baking & carving pumpkins. I blogged about it here and again here.

Over the years it has evolved and gotten bigger and bigger. Each year we have invited a few more children here and there and now we just turned it into a full fledged party ! You know how we do.


So now we have costumes, games, giveaways, food....the whole nine yards.

Here are some pics from this years event


I got some really good ideas for treats for the kids from Pinterest. They were simple & fun to make. We had a "Prep Party "AKA "Adult Baking party"  the night before to decorate & setup for the event which included lots of wine LOL

Treat Table

We kept the food menu very simple since it was just kids: Hot Dogs, Chili & Cheese for the Hot Dogs & to make Frito Pie, chips & drinks.  One of my girlfriends also made candied apples the night before.

Food Table

The big surprise this year was we hired a Clown. She came about an hour into the event & surprised the kids with some games, songs, dance contests, face painting, balloon animals, popcorn and snow cones. It was quite a hit.

Clowning with the kids

Games

Dance Contest

Face Painting and Balloon Animals

Of course we had Pumpkin Carving this year too.....

Seriously focused on those pumpkins

Mommy can you help me ?

We also had a costume contest and lots of participation too. We had several winners: Ike & Tina Turner & Old Lady &  a Boxer. People were so creative this year !

Ike & Tina & their little ones !

Beautifully Complex as Bat Woman !

This Little Old Lady on a Walker..........

...actually looks like this in real life !

Our Little Boxer was one of the winners !

My girlfriends and I have grown this into an anuual event that we are really proud of and look forward to each year !  The guest list continues to expand. We love traditions, we love making memories and we love partying and having fun. We are blessed to be surrounded by so many beautiful children and it has been a pleasure to watch them grow and learn and develop.

The other 2  Hostesses with our Suprise Guest the Clown !

How do you celebrate the Fall Season or Halloween ?

Parties ? Family Gatherings ? 

Did you Host or attend and fun events this year ?

Did you see any creative costumes ?

Thoughts ? Comnments ? Questions ?



Beautifully Complex

Musical Monday - " A Night of Love & Soul"

I am a HUGE Lalah Hathaway fan (since day one) and discovered Eric Roberson several years ago.   So I was super excited to hear that they were coming to Houston along with Ruben Studdard. Tweet also performed, but I am not really a fan of her music.

My husband and I had a  really nice time.  I really enjoy dressing up & going out somewhere special such as a concert.  The show was really good. Eric Roberson is a really creative & funny guy.  His set was way to short in my opinion.  My husband is now a fan too.

Lalah & Ruben were basically co-headliners, which surprised me a bit. This was more of a concept tour in which they both sang several remakes of some old school soul standards. They sang several duets and basically tag-teamed, coming back & forth to the stage to perform.  I was only disappointed that Lalah did not perform more of her original music, but this is not that kind of tour. Even though I have seen her several times, I never get tired of her or her music. She is a vocal beast and FINALLY a Grammy winning artist.  If you have not heard the song that won her the Grammy this year. Check it out below. The band Snarky Puppy actually started in Texas where several of the members attended college. What is cool about this song "Something" is that it was actually on her very first album  back in 1990. I remember when she came to my hometown on her promotional tour to perform. This lady is a vocal acrobat. I am amazed by her range. Toward the end of this video, she really shows out, LOL.  I follow her on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram and she is pretty funny/snarky, LOL

Take a listen.....



Honestly, neither of us were impressed with Tweet. She sang a lot of songs that neither of us recognized & I am still puzzled by why she did not open the show instead of Eric Roberson. I am not sure how many shows she is doing with them on this tour, but I just don't think she fits with this tour concept.  She actually complained about having to sing the song " Oops Oh My" stating that she feels like the song is too old & she doesn't want to sing it, but the fans still want to hear it. I can tell you that probably 75% of the Arena that night only knew that ONE song. She did have some rapid fans, that obviously came out to see her & knew the songs, but they were a very small minority that night.

Ruben has a very nice voice. The sound system was not the best on his mic that night, so his voice sounded somewhat different than usual. But I know he can really sing and his new album is really good. Check out the reviews on Amazon. He is getting 4 1/2 stars out of 95 reviews !

Here is the trailer for the concert.







Have you attended any recent concerts ?

Are you a fan of any of these artists ?

Thoughts ? Comments ?  Questions ?


Beautifully Complex

End of the Engagment

Well, Blogland, my sister arrived last night. She, myself and one of my other Bridesmaids polished off 2 bottles of wine, so it looks like this week is off to a great start ! LOL

By the time I post again on this blog, I plan to be hitched. So this is technically ......... the end of the engagement.  I have honestly enjoyed a lot of this wedding planning & I am so excited to see everything come together this week. I will be back to share after the weddinging/honeymoon & a nice little break.

Just wanted to share a few of our engagement pics that were taken a few months ago.

Thoughts ? Comments ? Questions ?


Beautifully Complex

The Art of Love

A couple of weeks ago, my friends in Houston came out to help me celebrate my upcoming wedding. My wonderful Bridesmaids who live here, hosted me and several friends at Pinot's Palette.  I was super excited as this is a place I have literally been trying to go to for almost 3 years !

My lovely Bridesmaid

Me & my cousin

Painting with a purpose

The theme of the shower was, " The Art of Love" and I must say I truly felt loved on this day. I have wonderful friends who care for me.  The two Bridesmaids who hosted brought a nice spread of food, decorated the place and paid the fee for all of my guests to paint. My guests bought plenty of wine for us to share & I got some lovely gifts that I will enjoy on my honeymoon.  I ended up putting my painting up in my utility room. It really looks nice there.

A nice spread

My beautiful hostesses !

Having a blast

We had a really cool instructor who was funny & cool. As the wine flowed, we got a little rowdy and a little risqué and she hung right in there with us. We got to bring in our own music, so you know it was going down ! We had a nice little private party.

Me & another girlfriend

Yummy Cupcake- Wedding Cake Flavor

I was giving her tips on the technique

The finished product !

More good friends !

Showing off our artistic talent

Of course all of the Wineaux's in the house had to keep the party going !  We left there & because we were not ready to go home ended up at the Tasting Room & did some " Patio Parlaying "  into the early evening with more wine & more laughs. I had a very nice time.

Have you ever been to one of the paint & wine places popping up all over the country ?




Thoughts ? Comments ? Questions ?


Beautifully Complex

Birthday Blessings

Last Friday my best friend celebrated her Birthday, we hosted a Happy Hour that started at 6P that morphed into a party that ended at 2 AM LOL . Birthdays are such a blessing and we love to celebrate them to the fullest. If you are able to surround yourself with good friends, family, have good health and provisions and live to see another year, then you are truly blessed !

Here's a few pictures from the night .....

Christmas Christmas Everwhere 

The "Cigar Lounge" on the Patio !

TiffanyinHouston & her Hubby came through 

The Birthday Girl ......25 Again ! LOL 

My friend and BFF's daughter 

Besties !

Let's Have Cupcakes ! 

Happy Holidays !

Me & TiffanyinHouston 

They were getting it in ! LOL 

Old School Slow Draggin ! 

Fellow Aficionados 

Sisterly love !

Lovely Ladies !

Mr Mixologist was holding court & giving lessons ! LOL

Me and my love :) 

Thoughts ? Comments ? Questions ?


Beautifully Complex