Cruising Through Panama -- LA to Dominican Republic

What an absolute fabulous time! My brother and I left on Jan 4, 2009 for a two week cruise. Royal Caribbean hired me to come aboard and do my shows/presentations Bringing History to Life for the various ports of call we would be stopping to visit or countries we would pass through. I did five presentations wearing costumes from the 1500's to early 1900's depending upon the history that was being presented. I also had costumes for three formal nights.

For the first time out of doing this type of venue it went well. Just like any dress rehearsal or opening night of a show there are a few things I will tweak for the next cruise, but overall I was pleased. I was prepared for seven topics. I was to do six, but because of scheduling regarding going through the canal I did five presentations.

My brother, bless his heart, is great when it came to taking a bijillion great pictures of the countryside, but pictures of me doing the presentations well I'll let you be the judge of his expertise of inside shots or night shots. To say the least they ___________ (you fill in the blank)

My thanks to my sister-in-law, Annie, for letting my brother go with me. We laughed and talked like we were kids again! But Annie will have her revenge for her lonely time at home when she travels with me on the Alaska cruise this September and John stays home.

By the way if any of you have a skill, expertise or passion that you could present on a cruise ship, check out this link to Daniel Hall's site. You and a partner can cruise free--yes that word was FREE! This is how I got started and if you follow his directions it's a no brainer!
http://www.speakerscruisefree.com/cmd.php?af=890103

At the airport getting ready to fly to LA. I had to wear part of the pirate costume down, to cut down on overweight charges. I did have to pay for one bag. A couple of people wanted to know if I was German.

So what do you do with your hats in a small cabin? You can't leave them in the trunk as you need the floor space and the trunk is stored under the bed and hard to get to.Thank goodness I had
safety pins with me ( what good costumer does not?) and I pinned them to the valance in the room.

For those of you in the Greater Bay Costumers Guild, these are the only decent pictures I have of the swim suit. The others taken at the pool party at night on board the ship did not turn out. (my brother's photo abilities) By the way getting out of a pool with no steps, just a ladder is a very interesting situation. That suit is HEAVY!

Two of the formal nights on board ship. Everyone loved my brother in his top hat!

The following pictures are of the presentations throughout the two weeks. As you can tell my brother, again bless his little heart, needs some camera lessons. Oh well we had the grandest time and I would take him again camera abilities and all.

The Cruising Edwardian Female

The 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition

Maria Colon or Columbus, daughter-in-law to Christopher Columbus, who lived in the Dominican Republic

Crossing the Isthmus of Panama before the Canal

1 1/2 Weeks Till Cruise Date

See this ship going through the Panama Canal, it's the Vision of the Seas. I, well Lady Carolyn will be sailing with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines presenting her Edutainment series aboard this ship for a free cruise! Yep you read right a free cruise,-- welllll. . . I am under contract to provide 7 talks/shows/presentations in exchange for the cruise. So that's 7 hours of doing something I love in order to have a free cruise for my brother and I for 14 days. Oh am I lovin' life, ---out of Reno, 23 degrees, snow and off to Panama! All of this is mine and yours if you have a passion you would like to share with others. I just followed Daniel Hall's recommendations on how to cruise free and so can you! Just click the link to find out more and Happy Cruising, wait-- this is almost Christmas Eve --- Happy Christmas and Happy Cruising, what a wonderful Christmas present to myself and to you.
http://www.speakerscruisefree.com/cmd.php?af=890103

Dickens Fair, Dec 6, 2008

What's like a stage set for the general public? Where can you dress in your finest mid 1800's ensembles and walk the streets of London? Where can you see and chat with all your favorite Dickens characters? Where can you set and have a cuppa when your tired and so badly want to put your feet up? Where can you dance all day long with accomplished dance partners who teach and lead you through all the basics? There's only one place that I know of and that is the Dickens Fair, in the Cow Palace in Daley City, CA. Now some would say that the Cow Palace is in San Francisco, but I have a friend who will correct me every time if I say the wrong city. I love this place!

This year my whole family went, plus a family friend. We took the 34' RV over, stayed in an RV park a couple of miles from the Cow Palace on Friday night. On Saturday morning we drove over to the Cow Palace early went to the back of the parking lot where we could take up space and put the RV slide out for more room. Nine people in an RV and several of them females need hoop room! Plus two of the boys are in wheelchairs and my mom has her scooter. WHEW! Oh did I mention the two dogs and three other people met us at the RV to get dress also? We got the first set of people dressed and threw them out doors and barred the door. Thank goodness San Francisco was fairly warm that morning! As you can see by the pictures below we had a grand time. Getting some of the hoops out of the way by hanging them off the RV mirror!

Josh, one of the first group kicked out of the RV waiting... and waiting... and waiting!
Hurry up Bethany (fiance)!

Lovely Katie

Me in the Green, Katie in Riding Habit, Sara (the littlest one), Maridy in the back
All of were in the costume contest.
Maridy won best overall!!

Ta Da!!!! Lovely Maridy and her Award Winning Ensemble

Joe (son in law) and Sara (granddaughter)

Josh and Bethany dancing!

Victorian Tea and Lady Carolyn

On Saturday, Nov 8, 2208 the Foothills Church of Christ, Reno, NV had a fundraiser for the Village of Hope, in Ghana, Africa. The ladies decorated the tables and room where the tea was held with a Christmas theme. They even had a lovely Victorian store where guests could do some early Christmas shopping.

There were several guests who wore their Victorian or Edwardian ensembles. Everyone was so lovely I decided to include them in a small fashion show before my presentation. One guest told two of my models they looked liked they had "been plucked from a photo of the time period" What a lovely compliment to the ladies and the ensembles themselves.

Beautiful Danae
A few beautiful ladies of our group

Standing in line Renaissance and Victorian Time period

Ummm Tea is hot, but good

Edwardian time period standing line

Somewhere in Time
Victorian, Edwardian and Hollywood's version of Prairie life

Proper ladies and the hussy, my do they look like they are trying to ignore her?

Marilyn Monroe, Melissa Gilbert, Natalie Portman and Sean Connery Visit Integrity Casting

Marilyn bussing Larry Elliot

Marilyn with Melissa Gilbert

Marilyn huggin up the other musician

Toni Suttie with Rick Veldstra

Natalie making music

Integrity Casting, Reno Office, had an open house at their new location in Reno or technically the town of Sparks. What fun to play Marilyn and interact with Katie Mattison who played Natalie Portman, Lindsey Berg as Melissa Gilbert and Jack Davis as Sean Connery.

The open house was a great success and in a beautiful office building. Integrity Casting is a licensed casting agency, in Nevada for film, commercial and print. Toni Suttie, the casting agent, is. . . well there are many adjectives to describe Toni, fun, beautiful, great heart, conscientious and has integrity, which in the film industry can be rare to find at times. Here are some great pictures of this event.