Crawfish Festival 2011

We spent most of our last Saturday of April in an area of Columbia known as Rosewood. Each year (this was my 3rd) they shut down the street and host the Crawfish Festival. It comes with most things that other festivals have --- bands, vendors, food carts, beer trucks, bouncy houses, cloggers, and, of course for this one...crawfish.

Last year they added a 5K and early the week before a friend, who is very involved with Camp Kemo (a camp for children with cancer), put out a call for volunteers for the 5k. If 35 people volunteered then $1000 would be donated to Camp Kemo. And, you'd get a tee shirt and wristband for the festival ($12 per person savings for us!) The SC Pest Control Association also sponsors Camp Kemo so I figured I had a little leverage to get Glenn to do this too. Ben, Glenn and I all did it and were assigned to "direct traffic" in front of Owens Field DURING soccer games! We had a good time, got a great walk in to and from our location, enjoyed the rest of the day at the festival. BUT, I learned that: soccer parents in Columbia can't read (S.T.O.P means cease moving the car, people), don't use blinkers (yes, I could have let you turn during that lull, but I thought you were going straight), are very impatient (really? Its soccer for kids NOT World Cup....5 minutes late for the safety for others??) and THEY ARE MEAN!!! I got yelled out, ugly hand gestured and even called a not so nice name by a guy who pulled into the runners and ran about 20 of them OFF THE ROAD. When (at the very end of course) the policeman pulled up to "help" I think he thought I would be the next inmate at the city jail I was so fed up with these people. I was shocked by how these people acted and had no concern for the safety of these runners who were interfering with their soccer game. (By the way, the Y had asked them to come early to avoid this issue, but 5th lesson of the day about soccer parents: they don't follow directions either.) I've always heard the "soccer mom" sterotype, but really didn't think it was a truth.....ummmm.....now I see why they've gotten such a bad rap. Those bad apples have ruined the bunch!

After the race we walked to turn in our signs and vests, get our wristbands and relax at the festival. We ate lunch at Rockaways and walked a few hours before heading home. Ben, however, ran into his buddy, Cullen, and stayed ALL DAY. I went back to get him later in the afternoon, but he ended up going home with his friend and I sat for a little while with some friends before heading home to get ready for the night's festivities.

the boys did a lot of playing until time to work!

Great Sales and Crawfish!!

I've needed a few clothing items and as luck would have it last weekend saw some very good sales at Coplon's, Pink Sorbet and online. Some of the sale prices were unreal and I ended up seriously boosting my wardrobe for not a lot of $$! Here goes: I got a great pair of black slacks and a black skirt--staples of any closet, a wonderful summer Lilly Pulitzer dress, a pair of Nicole Miller jeans (these were the most unbelievable price of all), a pair of pink Theory sandals and I've ordered a dress for an upcoming gala from Neiman-Marcus that I'm hoping will turn out to be a perfect fit! (A BIG thank you to Ben for being my shopping wingman and offering his, typically VERY good, opinions on what to wear and what not to wear...he picked out the Lilly dress, by the way!)

On Saturday, after lunch at LaBrasca's, Glenn, Ben and I headed to the Rosewood Crawfish Festival for an afternoon of fun and music (but no crawfish for us...although I had a shrimp po' boy at Doc's later in the evening...YUM). We met up with the Montgomery family so that Ben and Tripp could have fun together, while we also go to hang out with our friends. We saw so many friends and had a blast! We ended the day by stopping at our friend Hiram's house to see his new dog and Ben was excited to be invited to spend the night with Tripp.

Ben had fun at the karate "lesson"! And, riding the whirly-thing and slide with Tripp and Andi.We saw real crawfish at the Crawdaddy race (I love the look on Ben's face in this picture!) and the Crawfish mascot!

On Sunday Glenn and I had volunteered to help with the Cinco de Mayo fundraiser (for the new sound system) lunch at church. Van made his homemade tacos and we all ate soooo good! Unfortunately, there are no pictures as I left my camera at Hiram's house!

Another GREAT weekend!

Rosewood Crawfish Festival '09

In an effort to be a better blogger, I decided to go ahead and blog about today. After working around the apartment and watching some TV, Clay, Ben and I headed out to meet Kellie and Stephanie (who was in town from Spartanburg), two Phi Mu's, and Paula, my friend, for the Crawfish Festival. Although we didn't actually eat any crawfish, we enjoyed seeing friends, hearing the bands (Mudfish, Tootie & the Jones and Better than Ezra were the ones we caught!), having dinner at Rockaways and just being outside on a beautiful day!! me, Kellie and Stephanie with the Crawfish!

Clay and Ben

Paula and me ( and Ben!) while listening to Better Than Ezra