good weekend

After a pretty crappy month with Charlie's health crisis and a couple of weepy weekends, I can finally report that I had a good weekend. Yeah, I'm as surprised as you are!

I wish I knew what the secret was, what made this weekend pleasant and fun with no tears. If I knew, I'd bottle it and drink it every Friday because I certainly don't enjoy crying. I actually cried myself to sleep on the couch at 8:30pm last Saturday.

But this isn't about that, this is about the good weekend I just had.

Saturday I traveled 50 miles south to attend The Fancy Flea, a flea market/vintage fair. I love these kinds of shows. The first time I attended one, back in California, I literally walked into the show and exclaimed "I have found my people!" I love the lace and the rust and all the beautiful wooden furniture, farm equipment, bunting, cow skulls - all the shabby chic loveliness. 

 You put French on anything and it sells like hotcakes!

I walked all over the show and enjoyed every single minute. Although Mr. T and I have been to this show many times together, it didn't feel especially weird to be there by myself. I know vintage stuff wasn't his cup of tea and he just went to make me happy so it wasn't so bad to wander around, sometimes going to the same booth several times, knowing that I wasn't dragging anyone else along and boring them.

 It's no fun to go to a show and not be able to buy anything so I gave myself a budget of $20, which isn't much at a show like this but I scored. I found this cabinet door which had been turned into a picture hanger for only $18. I'm going to paint it pink and print out some really nice pictures of Mr. T and me to hang in the kitchen. Even if I'd had a larger budget, this still would have been my choice. I walked away from the show happy.

On Sunday I attended Dapper Day at Epcot in Disney. This is a twice a year event that encourages people to dress up (either vintage or modern) as an homage to the early days of Disneyland when people visited the park in their Sunday best. 

 Mr. T and I attended this event 2 years ago and had a fabulous time. Honestly, we both had big smiles on our faces the entire day. He always loved dressing up and he had this new jacket so he was thrilled to be able to wear it there even though I feared it would be too hot. It was Florida, after all. He swore he wasn't hot the entire day. I'm so glad he had a chance to wear it that once.

We had such an awesome time that I knew I wanted to go back this year. But, as usual, I almost talked myself out of it because I knew it was going to be a bit daunting to do it by myself. However, on Sunday morning I got up, got dressed and headed to Epcot without giving myself too much time to think.

My dress was a Valentine's Day gift from friends, from the Disney Dress shop and featured pictures of all sorts of Disney movie dogs, including Mr. T's favorite character, Stitch. My hat was from my favorite hat shop in Carmel, purchased on our vacation last September. I was supposed to wear it at our vow renewal in February and it's not the sort of hat you'd wear on an everyday basis so I was thrilled to wear it for Dapper Day. I added a band of pink flowers to match the dress.

One of the best things about Dapper Day is that everyone is very complimentary of everybody else's outfits. Since I've been feeling pretty low these days, it was a balm to my soul to get so many compliments. I wish every day was Dapper Day!

After lunch outside of the park with friends, I went back in for ice cream from France which was delicious. I ate it in the shade in Morocco and for a few minutes, with my hat and fancy dress in that exotic place, I felt like a character in a book or an Audrey Hepburn movie. It was my favorite moment from the day.

I look forward to the next Dapper Day in November although I must admit it was a little lonely, kind of felt like I was the only one participating by myself. Most everyone else was coupled up, some even had matching outfits - so cute. The people that weren't couples were in groups, laughing their way through the park together. That stung a little but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the day. I hope I'll have a partner in crime in November but, if not, I'll go by myself again and still have a good time.

I've tried to figure out what made this weekend better than the last 2 and the only thing I can come up with is that I was busy with outings that were totally my choice. I attended two  events that I have a history with and that I would look forward to whether I was alone or not. But practically speaking, it's not going to be like that very often during the year so I have to figure out other ways to keep the tears away.

Wish me luck.