GAH! I get chill bumps when I reminisce on this setup for Lilah. The day had finally arrived. It was OPENING NIGHT! And I HAD to do something special for all of my girl's hardwork. This opportunity was the FIRST time I was truly living vicariously through ANY of my children. The movie ANNIE is MY FAVORITE movie. As a child, I literally watched it over 1,000 times. No lie. The movie was just so well portrayed that sometimes, as a kid, watching it... I felt like I was there, but invisibly there. I always wanted to be in an Annie play. AND, there would truly be NOTHING better than MY DAUGHTER being in it instead. So, I wanted to created a little pre-party FUN to help show her how proud I was of her and to create as much enthusiasm in her as possible for opening night. My entire "party" was planned around this ANNIE image. I had to have it. I found it onETSY at a shop called "Sheer Bliss Designs". It was the PERFECT starting/focal point for all of my other ideas. I will say... if you choose to go with this idea, keep in mind that finding a company that will print this image for under $125.00 is next to impossible. Sheer Bliss Designs advertises this purchase for a size 42x72. That's HUGE. So, I just settled for an 18x20 size. I got it at Sams Club. I think I paid $12.00. Our play had a song in it called, "NYC" aka New York City. I think that is wear Daddy Warbuck's also lived in the movie. I found these beautiful letters at A.C. Moore. One of the scenes in both the play and the movie includes a movie scene and/or a song called, "Let's Go To The Movies". I knew I wanted to supply some food for Lilah (after all, this would be presented to her after school and before opening night). So I created a fun, movie scene on one area of the table. Time was such a factor for me, so I did have to purchase and or "borrow" some things for different bloggers. I truly made the overall look, of this party, my own though. I didn't want to just COPY someone's party. I desired to be UNIQUE and DIFFERENT. The movie sign came from the blogger, "House Of Hargrove". I already had the popcorn bowls. The movie theater popcorn came from Sam's Club. This little cutie pie was BEYOND excited. You'll be able to see her reaction down below. (Above): The Annie dress was actually Lilah's. When she was 3, she was Annie for Halloween. I pulled it out of her childhood storage bin and used it for a display. (Below): Along with the popcorn served, I thought it would so fun to offer the mini coke, glass bottles. It really was a great addition in the "attention to details" world. Lilah was casted as "TESSIE" the orphan. You know, the orphan that all too often says, "Oh My Goodness! Oh My Goodness!" I purchased these water bottle labels, from a company on ETSY called, Bushel And Peck Paper. The only dilemma with this company was that these water bottle labels were made for birthday parties. So they said, "Happy Birthday". I was down to the wire before Lilah was about to arrive home and had to QUICKLY work my own magic, using B&P's jpeg to create my own look. I added Lilah's cast name. B&P was willing to change it, but she wanted another $5.00 and I was unwilling to pay $5.00 more for something that I new I could fix. I purchased this adorable, antique coffee cup for Lilah as a gift. Instead of "gifting" it to her, I decided to use it as a decoration for her party table. I purchased chocolate coins from Big Lots and used some Melissa & Doug Play money to create a fun, rich, Daddy Warbuck's section on the table. The mini sign also came from House Of Hargrove's Blog. When I spotted these red velvet, mini cupcakes at Sam's Club, I thought... why invent the wheel. Why home make them? I got like 24 of these beauties for $4.96. I brought in one of my favorite patterns, buffalo plaid, along with some red licorice. Does anyone go to the movies and NOT eat licorice?? YUM! And of course... it goes perfect with the color scheme. Okay, enough with the junk... chocolate, cupcakes, licorice, and popcorn... I needed something healthy. SO, I provided some fresh fruit: strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries (Lilah's favorite). I was enamored with these ADORABLE, "Hard Knock Life", mini bucket and brooms. I purchased (10) because I wanted to be able to use them for both this party and possibly a "goodbye" gift for the other orphans. I got these from Festiva Party Design. The etsy listing was for a set of 10, but I needed 12. The owner of Festiva Party Design was kind enough to throw in two more for FREE, in exchange for me advertising her Etsy Shop on both my Blog, Pinterest account, and Instagram account. The powdered sugar donuts were just a little extra. I used some black and white paper straws and "strung" the powdered donuts onto them. I used as many quotes or tag lines from the play that related to the parts of the play that Lilah was in! One of the bigger scenes in the play was to the song, "You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile." This was actually the part of the play that Lilah was granted a mini solo dance. And now... her reaction. She was so uber excited and I felt all warm and fuzzy inside for being able to make her feel extra special and ramped up for (9) amazing shows.

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I'm clearly working a little backwards, but hey... I'm BLOGGING again. LOL! When you are involved in theater or any tight knit community event, you spend a ton of time together. The bond is very unique. You have quite a bit of down time, if you are not in the show the ENTIRE TIME. SO, Lilah not only had the experience of a lifetime by getting to do ANNIE, at Attic Productions, but she ALSO was able to meet so many new friends. It was very hard to say goodbye. We wanted to leave our orphan friends with some sweet mementos from us related to the play. Since it is close to Christmas, I wanted it to be all about Annie with a touch of Christmas! So I stuffed everything into a Santa tin from the Dollar Tree. I purchased a collection of shortbread cookies from a woman NO WHERE close to home. As soon as I retrieve her info, I will place it here. She is INCREDIBLE AND CAN do ANYTHING, cookie wise, that I know of! The cookies were an NYC scene, Annie with Sandy the Dog, the iconic Annie dress, and just Annie's name. I can't even pick ONE favorite. I love them ALL. Inside the Santa bucket, I reused the cutest "Hard Knock Life Buckets" that I use forLilah's OPENING NIGHT, PREPARTY, (still to be posted about...) that I created just for her. These are truly the PERFECT addition to ANY ANNIE themed party. I just inserted a little chocolate cash and gold coins to sorta go with the "Daddy Warbuck's" million theme. Each bucket came complete with a "mop" Oh I as obsessed with these. I purchased them from the cutest little ETSY shop called, Festiva Party Design. Each girl received a special Annie locket from Justice. I desperately wanted to buy ALL of the girls the same locket. I loved the red locket featured below, but they didn't have 12 lockets all the same. The only other thing working against me were that some of the orphans were slightly older and I believe the red locket may have been a little too childlike for them. SO, I purchased a nice selection of them. Our Daddy Warbuck's, Jeff, was just the sweetest man EVER! It was hard seeing him in such a touch/bold character, for a time, but eventually his heart was moved towards the love he had for Annie and eventually became a softy. Hehe. I am not saying he is a softy in real life, but he is a sweetheart. I designed a million dollar, Russle Stover, chocolate bar after him. More cookies and lockets.... Finally, each girl received ONE collectors pin related to a scene in the Annie musical. These were also so amazing that I could NOT pick a favorite. I did however buy Lilah every single orphan pin. This was her LAST ANNIE gift! Since the show was three weekend, back to back, each opening night, I gifted her something special. Stay tuned... YES! I will share each gift. NOT ONE is better than the other. They are all unique and sentimental. These pins were also found on an ETSY shop called, Musical Keepsakes. "Oh My Goodness", literally, if you are in theater or have a family member or friend in theater... this is the ETSY SHOP for YOU! She has ENDLESS, creative, unique, and sentimental gifts for all ages. And there you have it. It was truly the sweetest bucket of Annie goodies I could have imagined giving out. The orphans, young and old, were so very appreciative. We even saw "Molly" out the other day and she had her necklace on. Momma said, "She barely takes it off!" I attached this little tag to each bucket! That morning, our elves left MINI Annie cookies in the car, the "Oh My Goodness" pin, and a Sandy the Dog ornament from Altard State. Man those elves are creative and have amazing taste in stores [insert crying emoji here]. Lilah wished for ONE thing from Santa. She wished for a sister. I think this production beat what Santa could ever give to her. She not only received one new sister, she received 11 new sisters. This was the greatest experience to date, since she's been alive. I am not sure anything will ever top this. Ok, we all know there are more good things to come, but this is a HUGE moment in both HER LIFE and MINE.

Halloween was like any other holiday around our house: I had too much makeup on, The G was wearing my clothes, and 2 out of 3 little ladies were crying. the sleeping beauty cast I kid. Sort of. Back story: Sleeping Beauty, of the Disney variety, is obviously the best...

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Enjoy this Annie the musical coloring page featuring a picture of Orphan Annie and her dog, Sandy. Have a ball bringing these characters to life!

It+ACYAIw-8217+ADs-s contest time kids+ACE ??It seems like forever since we+ACYAIw-8217+ADs-ve had ourselves a ticket contest and I+ACYAIw-8217+ADs-m pumped that our first one in a long time is for St. Vincent tickets. ??So I+ACYAIw-821…

Hello again. I was in NYC this week for my father-in-law's funeral. It was nice to see the extended family, but it was also good to get home...

Marc de la Concha, Allyssa Schmitt, Eleanor McCormick, and James David Larson. Photos provided by Millbrook Playhouse. THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE is currently playing at Millbrook Playhouse and it is full of talent. This is the second time this summer that I have seen ...SPELLING BEE... and I am not sure how I feel about the play itself, but I am positive about its ability to showcase talent. The plot is simple; eleven middle school students have gathered to compete in a spelling bee. The audience gets a chance to get to know quite a bit about them as the contest progresses. The unique thing about the play is that it depends on the cast to be able to improvise freely. In fact four of the “contestants” are randomly chosen from the audience, requiring the hostess of the Bee to use some very original biography material about them. Many of the cast members have been regulars at Millbrook and it was fun to see a different side to some of them. Space does not allow for me to go into the details that they deserve. Moderating the Bee were realtor Rona Lisa Perretti, played by Jamie Beth Weist, and Vice Principal Douglas Panch, played by Jon Erkert. The two of them were responsible for most of the ad libs required by the show. The student contests were David Raposo, Allyssa Schmitt, James David Larson, Marc de la Concha, Stephanie Mieko Cohen, and Eleanor McCormick. If you think that you have seen any of this group before, wait until you see them in this show. Marc de la Concha, Allyssa Schmitt, Eleanor McCormick, and James David Larson. Photos provided by Millbrook Playhouse. Brandon Hanks had the fun job of not only playing Mitch Mahoney, the man doing community service, but several of the fathers. The details that each actor brought to his role made each adolescent stand out. I am sure that much of the credit for the freshness of this production goes to Dax Valdes, the director and choreographer. The season is almost to an end so I should not be surprised what these people are capable of. THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE will run until July 31st. Following it on the Main Stage will be The Odd Couple. Fat Pig opened July 28th on the Cabaret Stage. The final show will be Ain’t Misbhavin’ in the Cabaret.

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Annie Idibia threw her husband, Innocent Idibia, who is popular by his stage name 2baba, a surprise birthday party on Saturday, 19 September 2020, and pictures from the party are lovely. Nigerian music icon, Innocent '2Baba' Idibia's wife, Annie threw him a surprise party to mark his 45th birthday. The music star's wife took to