And There's A Monkey On The Desk!

Yes, we had a great time at the Creatavita Birthday Party yesterday.  No, there wasn't a monkey on the desk at the party.  Or on a pedestal (musical theatre fans, what's the reference?).

As you can see from the smiling faces below, it was a small party.  Hey, Creatavita is a toddler and you don't want to overwhelm toddlers, so I kept the guest list small to begin with.  But I forgot that guests have other commitments, especially if their livelihood is in the performing arts.  Then there were the technical glitches with the contest.  Yee haw, I was really messing this one up, or so I thought.  

In the end, it was delightful.  Cynthia Heininger, the illustrator of Annie The Artist, and Jackie Lacinski, one of the BD Party contest winners, joined me at the World Headquarters for the celebration.  As you can see, we had drinks, games, food and fun!  The three of us swapped travel stories with glee, because you have to be a traveler to truly appreciate other people's mishaps and adventures.  If you tell these stories to non-travelers, they're not as funny.  Cynthia's wacky story about the monkey on the desk in a Indian hotel room was probably the best story we heard, but Jackie's story which included crying while laying down in the middle of the road also in India, came darn close.  I've not yet been to India yet.  The closest I could get was an extraordinary encounter with the Egyptian travel police.

I bought the sweet treats at Bryn Mawr's newest local business, Sweet Freedom Bakery.  I really liked the Salted Caramel cupcake (to the left, with the chocolate frosting).  The other two enjoyed the Cinnamon Sugar Cruller (bottom of the photo).  In full disclosure, I ate the Raspberry Crumb Bar after the guests left.  Very tasty.

And another plug for local business, because I believe in shopping local.  Guests received a gift bag, including gifts purchased at our fabulous independent bookstore, Main Point Books.  Main Point recently celebrated their first year anniversary.  Of course with my propensity towards celebrations, I had to attend.  I bought a few books, a few gifts and I won a prize!!

Amber and Emily of Main Point Books (I hope I got those names right) are friendly and very helpful.  Clearly, this staff LOVES books.  Check them out!

Thanks again to every single one of you that reads this blog.  As I communicate with you, whether via the Internet or in person, you help me figure out what this blog wants to be.  Here's to another year of creativity!