The "Wedding of the Century"

Well, I had the priveledge of providing makeup services for the bride..........and the bride in CANADA. The weekend was just remarkable. The hospitality of the Winnipeg folks was just beyond measure. I had so much fun that I didn't want to leave; except to get away from those pesky misquitos. I met many of the other guests that traveled afar at a backyard, English garden, party and what began as doing makeup for one became doing makeup for 2. The next day we met for lunch at a very quaint local restaurant. What was 2 people getting their makeup done by yours truly quickly grew to 8. By this time I was over-joyed at the fact that so many women wanted me to do their makeup for them. It was going to be quite the makeup "party" the day of the wedding. That same night, I met another young lady at what was to be yet another backyard garden party and she wanted my help with makeup tips. She wanted to know what colors work well for her; I ended up doing her makeup as well. All in all, I ended up with 11 people in my chair the day of the wedding. It truly was quite the event. Everyone looked ravishing and their makeup was flawless. I had such a great time with all of them. Not only do I really enjoy doing makeup, but I sincerely enjoy getting to know the women I work with. The many stories I hear, the time I spend as their therapist, the great tips they give me sometimes as well; it is all great stuff!

I was trying to decide what to wear to go do the makeup for all of these ladies. I had packed a new shirt I purchased just for this occassion. When I tried it on at the B&B (Bed & Breakfast), Tim told me to try it on with my tuxedo jacket just to see what it looked like. Well, I did and he liked it immediately. I had decided to wear the shirt with my tuxedo and wear another shirt to go do the ladies' makeup. Once all of the faces had been painted, I rushed back to the B&B to paint one more face, then get ready myself for the big night. We got to the Tavern on the Green and were greated with a glass of champagne and several pairs of eyes that focused on who was walked down the stairs and making their grand entrance. We all conversed and continue to celebrate with champagne until the bride.........and the bride began their grand entrance into the venue; mind you all of this is taking place outdoors during one of the most beautiful sunsets.

After the 15 minute ceremony, thank God these girls love to party and got the legal stuff out of the way (but it was still very eligent and very romantic), we were fed some of the most tasty morsels that I have ever had at a wedding. We enjoyed chicken skewers, rack of lamb (yes, you heard me right.......rack of lamb), the freshest sushi, and of course.......an open bar. Just Wonderful!

Once the indoor dining was ready we were called in for even more gourmet dining with cooked-to-order scallops, shrimp, mushrooms, homemade potato crips, fish n' chips (English tradition), the most tender roast beef I have ever had, pickeled eggs (another English tradition), and many other delectible items.

Once dinner was finished there were some very wonderful and memorable speeches from some of the greatest people closest to them; very touching, but funny at times. Afterwards, it was dancing the night away. The music was very nice and kept the floor packed all night long. A lot of the music I had not heard in many, many years, so it was a walk down memory lane for me; great times.

What a great night!!!!!

"We're going to the zoo....we're going to the zoo"

What a great day for the zoo. It was not crowded, the weather was hot, but bearable.

Meet Helga Hippo. No, they don't have silly names like this, but I gave most of the animals names. She was enormous and deciced to go for a swim. It was amazing how long they can stay under water.

Now, I am thinking this was a baby, but this big fella weighed in at over 4,000 pounds........yikes! I didn't mean to infringe on his privacy though while he was either getting ready to go to the bathroom or he just finished. Either way, I didn't notice the picture until I got home and uploaded them from the camera.......HONEST! Oh yeah.....I named him Elton Elephant.

Not sure if this was the same elephant or not, but they send the elephants outside to play and to get some vitamin D from the sun. We were hoping to get to see them playing, but all they did was throw dirt on their backs and drink water. Still nice though. The zoo is also building a new Elephant Crossing exhibit. It is going to be really nice as there is a big bridge where the elephants will be walking underneath of you. It is scheduled to be completed in 2011.

Are you monkeying around?

They were having a great time playing in the hay and waiting their turn to go outside to play. I think they were feeling it was much too hot for them to go outside, either that or they were just plain lazy, because only one stayed outside. The others went back inside to roll in the hay again.

Meet Tiny.......he is a giant turtle; I named him Tiny on purpose. He was too busy eating to come over to say hello. I didn't mind though because it was making me hungry just watching him.

Ringo and Starr heard something off in the distance and they couldn't figure out if it was coming from the right or the left; so they each looked in a different direction to find it.

Let's get this blog started.....

Well, I am finally going to blog. I thought I was going to stay away from it as I have a mySpace page, I can't tell you how many e-mail addresses to check, and then voice mail, etc. I decided I was going to just break down and do it already.

So sit back, relax, and let me know what you think.

Mark