Steve and Ginger had their first annual Kentucky Derby party. 
It was great to see all of everyone all dressed up
It was great to see all of everyone all dressed up
Christina & Brooke
and of course the fabulous hats! 
Elen & Janet
Elen & Ginger...the hostest with the MOSTEST
We enjoyed eating, visiting, and watching the race…all two minutes of it :-D 
My fabulous HH!! I love that smile
We placed a bet and our horse came in 14/19; as if I needed a reason not to gamble, that was definitely reinforcement. Travis and I are obviously not very good at it. Good thing it only cost us one dollar!! And, surprisingly, I won “fanciest hat” in the contest that was held. 
My prize was the authentic 2009 derby cup
I was delighted, however Travis said since my hat was prize-worthy I didn’t need a new one next year! :-/ HEY!
Elen & Connie...she won "most creative" hat
and along the way we were lucky enough to see the 
Also, an interesting fact that I learned is that they don’t actually get their recognizable white heads until they are 4-5 years old. 
That makes it easy for young birds to be mistaken for other birds of prey from a distance. We stopped along the way for dinner at Chili’s. They have a great idea for mini-dessert dishes that come in a trio…perfect! Christina got the chocolate and enjoyed every bite. 
The next interesting travel item was an Alabama 
Mao was amazed that we traveled under the water instead of over. 
We finally made it to the beach 
and, unfortunately, it was spring break for some colleges and cold! Bummer! 
But the water was beautiful and the time away was relaxing. After a few hours of braving the cold wind under a blanket the following day we decided to scrap the “beach” vacation and head to the 
Sounds fabulous, right? Well – in one word it was “interesting.” For starters parking was not very well thought out. We arrived 30 minutes early and were still deferred to the Albertson’s parking lot where we had to ride the 
Okay, we got over that pretty quickly and moved on in hopes of a better experience – hmmm, still waiting! Food was sparse, drinks were warm – although I was asked for a photo op by the coke reps for their 
I also have a beautiful strand of black glass beads that were my grandmother’s and matched perfectly! And every girl needs to wear bright red lipstick at least once! I watched a few tutorial videos on finger rolls and make-up tips then hit 
Teeny has been dreaming about her first dance and last night she got her opportunity. She attended BRHS’s Winter Formal with her boyfriend. So I had my very own live fairytale princess at the end of the shopping/dressmaking/hair styling/and makeup drama week!! GIRLS! She couldn’t have looked more angelic when it was all said and done, though. 
How perfect is that for the very first try. 
And her boyfriend was quite dapper in his new tuxedo I might add. 
"I had a lot of fun tonight. First, my boyfriend took me to eat at 
That was shocking :-D I saw a few of my soccer teammates and my friend Brenna was there, too. 
I was a little surprised that there was no decoration or anything, but I still had a nice time. The music was good; they had a D.J. hired from the station 
It was a vintage dress from the late 60’s or early 70’s that my grandma found and we had it altered to fit with a few changes to update it a touch. 
It was perfect when it was done!
My mom let me get my hair and nails done since I did not get a “new” dress (which I’m glad I didn’t anyway). 
And my hairdresser, Angela at Salon Boheme, did a GREAT job! 
It looked amazing and just like the style I picked out! I also spent a long time picking out shoes. We went to several different places and must have tried on a million pair, but we finally found my glass slipper at Dillard’s. 
They are about 4 inches, which my mom was a little concerned with because I am not that graceful. That put me over 6’ tall…good thing my boyfriend is tall too! 
My mom even let me borrow her diamond and pearl earrings and pearl bracelet! 
I felt like a princess…Thank you Mom & Dad."
