Mardi Gras 2006

Mardi Gras is a great excuse to go out and party. This year, T and I went to Shea's Performing Arts center for their annual "Martini-Gras" fundraiser. There was lots of good food and drink, as well as psychic readings and other forms of merriment. There I learned that some people like to get dressed up, and some people like to get cross-dressed up.

...Some people get dressed up to go out, and some people get dressed up to come out... 

And NO ONE should wear a flaming red leotard.  

Now I'm not the world's most physical guy, but...yeah, you know the song. On a side note...dig that plume. 

Riz and Brett as the Ambiguously Gay Duo. 

Of course, when two girls take a picture like that, no one thinks twice.  

Here's a picture of Riz and Brett where they left room for Jesus. 

Here's a nice one of Brett and Sarah. 

A cover band took the stage a little later in the evening. They played mostly classic rock and British invasion tunes (note the Sgt. Pepper get ups). All in all they sounded pretty great, But then again, by the time they got onstage, everyone was pretty sauced, so I guess there's no way of knowing for sure.

It's funny how your so-called "hip" friends will behave when no one's watching. Well, If you're happy and you know it...

Brett and Sarah later that night... 

The "Martini" Gras fundraiser was a lot of fun to attend. Without a doubt, it was one of those occasions that was totally blogworthy.  

Dinner and a Show

Dinner this week was hosted by Dennis and Teresa. The theme this week: breakfast. The nice thing about having a themed dinner is that it brings about interesting topics of conversation. This week, the subject of "Breakfast of Champions" came about. What is a breafast of champions, you ask? Well, it's essentially the worst thing you'd ever consistently had to jump start your morning. For me, it was coffee and a cigarette. T's was grapefruit, cereal and 30 minutes of pilates.

Before dinner was served, Teresa entertained us with interesting wedding tidbits (Dennis: D-Day is T minus 8 months, 2 days and counting!). Here we see Teresa pointing out bridesmaids dresses. T likes the one Teresa's pointing at. Colors for the wedding are creamsicle orange and seafoam. just kidding. 

Here we see Dennis cringing like a little girl as he tries to open a can of Pillsbury frozen dough. It's okay Dennis, those pressurized cans *are* pretty scary. 

Dinner ultimately consisted of strawberry-banana smoothies (from a Magic Bullet!), breakfast casserole, cinnamon buns, and cappucino pie for dessert (with whipped cream from that SAME MAGIC BULLET!!). It's pretty amazing that we've been consistently doing this for 2.5 years. Having a weekly dinner has been a great way to stay in touch with our close friends here in Buffalo. Every week I'm more glad Dennis came up with the idea. 

Yesterday, Tahera and I took her kids from Families in Harmony to the Niagara Aquarium which opened in 1965. They were the first inland aquarium to test "Instant Ocean" powder, which allowed them to use fresh water from the Niagara River to affordably create an environment suitable for salt water animals. The aquarium had a multitude of really interesting critters, from huge amazonian fishies, to little molting baby penguins (Peruvian, I believe). Here we see three seals who were rescued over 20 years ago.

The last attraction was a 15 minute sea lion demonstration.There we learned the difference between sea lions and seals. Do YOU know the difference?  

I can't believe they pay her to do this. Lucky...