Sometimes, girls just wanna have fun!!

The Crimson Capers do just that, whenever there is a chance!

Who are or what is The Crimson Capers you may ask? Only the best chapter in all of the Red Hat Society! (My chapter, of course!) I am the founding Queen Mum, aka Queenie-Martini, although where that moniker came from is beyond me…*Ü*

I first registered the chapter in October of 2004. Originally, I formed the chapter because my mother found the whole idea so much fun. Unfortunately, she was only able to attend the First Annual Holiday Tea & Fol-de-Rol in December that year before she became ill. But let me tell you, she enjoyed every minute of it! I can still see her holding court (Hey...I’m the Queen, Mom!) in her gorgeous purple suit & stylish red hat! Her spirit of fun & frivolity lives on in the chapter even today!

Now 3 years later, we are a group of mostly strangers who have come together to form a sisterhood, and I mean that in the literal sense of the word. We are sisters; in silliness, in caring, and although I dread the day it comes, even in sorrow. I would never have had the joy of meeting most of these women had it not been for the Red Hat Society. These are my best girlfriends, the ones I want to “come out & play” with! We range in age from 34 to 81. If you are under 50, you wear a pink hat & lavender clothes instead of the red hat and purple clothes – because you aren’t ripe yet! Our pink hats help to keep us on our toes, and they give us a chance to “share” from our accumulated uh, err…wisdom!

Some activities we have enjoyed over the years are:

• The Crimson “Cazoo” Caper – to celebrate National Kazoo Day. We had dinner out & serenaded the restaurant patrons on our “Cazoos”, for which we received thunderous applause! Who wouldn’t clap for “God Bless America”?




• A Red Hat Bridal Shower for Queeni-Martini




• A lantern tour of the Old Sacramento Cemetery for Halloween

• One-Stroke painting class/Pottery painting at Petroglyph



• Reverse Trick or Treating – we dressed in our finest regalia and handed candy to whoever answered the door!

• 3-day camping trip to Coloma Resort



• Building our (gingerbread) Dream Houses

We don’t need an excuse to have fun – we just do it! It is good to give yourself permission to play dress-up, to eat dessert first, and to enjoy a great time with good girlfriends doing whatever suits your fancy! Most of us have raised families, worked jobs and been loving companions and wives. Some of us still do these things, especially the “Pinks”. It just feels pretty darned good to get to the place in your life where you can have fun without any specific purpose except for fun’s sake!

If you need some fun in your life, and don’t know any girls you can play with, give the Red Hat Society some consideration! Find a chapter near you on the RHS website -www.redhatsociety.com.

Better yet, start your own! It is wonderful to be Queen. It is your chapter. Make it yours. It can be as much or as little work as you want. I personally do the things I like doing, hand off those I don’t to willing chapter members. I am blessed to have Lady Duh…, my Queen of Vice (second-in-command) who is a whiz of an organizer and will always step up to the plate when I need her! What would I do without her? Be sure to get yourself a really great soul sister to help out!

I wish you much laughter & joy this season! I also hope Santa brings you a Red Hat! It’s an invitation to more Merriment & Mirth than you can imagine!

Chris

HRH Queenie-Martini, Queen Mum of The Crimson Capers

Closet Clutter!

When we lived in our last home, Ed & I each had our own walk-in closet. Mine was even big enough to set up the ironing board, with room to spare. I got spoiled! I was never forced to sort and toss old or out-of-style stuff. Isn't there some saying about "always expanding our possessions to fit the available space"?

Then, we moved to the country, into a house we love. Except for a couple of things: One master closet, half the size of the smaller of the two we had previously! Yikes! What a mess! And then, there is the fact that the door into our bedroom is smack-dab in the middle of the family room wall, allowing a direct view into the room from the kitchen and my comfy chair!

Ever the planner, I hit upon an idea one night when I couldn't sleep! Why not build a decent sized closet off the back of the bedroom, and move the bedroom door so that it enters through the former closet, creating an anteroom or foyer into the bedroom? For once, Ed didn't look at me like I had lost my last brain cell and agreed that the idea had merit! That was at least a year ago!

Here is my idea, marked on our floor plan.

Finally, a few months ago, we spoke to our favorite contractor about building the closet. He said, much to my delight, "if you're going to the trouble/expense to add the closet, it won't be much more money to make a sitting room too!". Now, if I had suggested that, I don't think Ed would have been so agreeable. It does make sense though, so...this is what we designed. It's a new closet AND a sitting room.

We are almost finished with the project! I have to say I am loving it! Here are a few pictures.
This is the door from the MBR into the new space. We removed the window and it is now in the new sitting room wall.

This is the door into the new closet, the new sliding glass door and a view into the closet.

Finally, a couple of pictures of the new paint color. (SW6211 - Rainwashed; it's on the same color strip as the bedroom color, which is SW6213 - Halcyon Green) I love the new color, and I am anxious to start cutting and sewing that 30 yards of fabric I have for these rooms!

California Wildfire Relief!

I have always been proud to be a Tupperware Consultant!

I gladly offer the products and systems that can truly save consumers time, money, waste and space. But now I am especially proud to participate in Tupperware's relief effort for those affected by the California Wildfires!

For the next couple of weeks, 100% of the proceeds ($8.50) from the sale of our Heartbeat Sandwich Keeper will be donated to the fire relief efforts. The goal is to raise at least $100,000! If I know Tupperware consultants, it will be much more than that! Tupperware Corporate is also working with The Red Cross to distribute essential care packages to those who have lost their homes, been displaced or are otherwise affected by these devastaing fires.

These are such fun! The heart design is holographic & it looks like the heart is beating when the container is tipped. The containers are useful for more than sandwiches! Think mini first aid kit, purse make-up or sewing kit. It would be a cute small gift container. Last Valentine's Day, I filled them with chocolate truffles and heart-shaped cookies for my girlfriends.

I am going to order a bunch to have on hand for future use. Won't you help too?

Please follow this link below to view the container and the product details, and to place your order!

Thanks so much for helping! Chris

http://order.tupperware.com/pls/htprod_www/tup_show_item.show_item_detail?fv_item_number=10054987000&fv_item_category_code=20000&fv_section=highlights