RenFaire in town!! FINALLY!!

[maherwoman]

I don't know how many of you remember, but we took our daughter to the Southern California Renaissance Faire for the first time last year, and we all three had so much fun!!

I've been waiting to hear when it started up again this year...and just heard today that it starts this weekend! WOOT!

So, since we cannot go this weekend, as we have plans to visit Danny's grandmother (story for that in another post), we'll be going next weekend! I'm so excited...

I've printed out the map, the show schedule (and circled things I thought we might like, so we might have in mind if we're nearby to check it out), we're going to check out the glass blowing and reptiles and various really neat things. Last year, when we visited, we didn't check out the site ahead of time and really plan our day...and when I got home, I realized just how much we missed! Maybe we'll make it a weekend, and visit Saturday AND Sunday, or some such!

Why, I've even printed out the section on Faire Speake section on the site, and I'll be practicing with Em during the week, during school, so she can have a really neat experience!

We don't go so far as to dress up, really, mostly due to losing track of time to buy things during the RenFaire off season. I do have a flowy white skirt I wore last year and such...but we're still in the process of building costumes for the future. That's kinda hard to plan for Em, though, what with her being a growing eight year old!

I can't wait! I'm so happy it's back! YAYYY!!!

Here's their site if you'd like to check it out...

Southern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire

And some memories from last year. We didn't have our 1G memory card for our camera then, so we didn't get any pictures of the Faire itself, but we'll be sure to take PLENTY of them this year!!

Here are a couple pictures of what I had done with my hair last year:

And a couple pictures of the earrings we bought:

They are the Union knot as noted on the following picture, with an amethyst stone at the top:

And the beautiful puzzle ring I bought:

I hope to have even MORE fun this year!!

 

[Roxie]

I am going to one in Irwindale on April 25 for school. We are studying the Ren. and get to go to one. We all have to get costumes and it is graded. Pretty much it will be a fun day with not a lot of supervision!:biggrin2:

 

[maherwoman]

Oh wow! How fun! Wish we were going the same day...I'd find you and say hello!

 

[TinysMom]

Belrose costume rental actually supplies costumes for several faires - one of which is yours. I need to check my information but I want to say that children's costumes rent for $8-$12 and with Emily growing from year to year - that might be the best way to let her have a costume when she goes. Adults are higher - and for royalty type costumes I think they can rent for up to $65....but they start out at about $18 for the peasant type clothing.

If you want more information I'll try to find my flyer and look up the actual prices....since they do our faire also.

Ah...never mind - here is their information from their website...

[size="-1"]We offer authentic and quality adult and children's costumes.
Rental prices for children size (complete costumes) are $8 to $20
Price range for adult size (complete costumes) are $18 to $65
(we offer a limitted supply of shoes and boots/boot covers for $3 and $6.)
If you have comfortable shoes,boots or sandals that resemble renaissance, bring them.

We have peasant to royalty.
Size range from small to Xlarge.

We have the largest selection in the country. We will not "run out" of costumes, and no one has a better quality selection and rental price.

To see the type of costmes we rent, please go to the Northern California renaissance faire web site. www.norcalrenfaire.com. Click on galleries.

That is from their links page here: http://www.thebelrose.com/links.html

Art & I were talking last night - I think we went to our first RenFaire 11 years ago in Alaska....we went a couple more years after that and then never lived anyplace where a RenFaire was within 6 hours drive. (It still isn't within 6 hours drive now). My kids were 12 when we first went - and they still talk about it to this day. They didn't learn a whole lot of "educational" stuff per se - but as a family we were all fascinated by the craftspeople and the experience made Eric want to work with chainmail (sp?), Robin and Art want to work with leather....and me want to work to have more money to buy things! :biggrin2:

Peg
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[JadeIcing]

I missed last year but will be going this year! I may buy the season pass! :biggrin2:

 

[missyscove]

I've never been, but I've always wanted to go.
I know my Physics teacher goes a lot (he's also the fencing teacher and has his own fencing/ sword-fighting school in Van Nuys)

 

[maherwoman]

Ok, so it looks like we've got a plan forming now for this coming weekend's fun at the Faire...

Danny found online that they have deals at nearby hotels that include breakfast, shuttles to the Faire, etc. We were thinking of taking advantage of one of the deals there, staying there on Saturday night, and going to the Faire on Saturday and Sunday both. (You can read about the hotel deals here.)

Also, we're taking Peg's advice and renting costumes for Em and me (Danny's not a costume-wearing type guy, and that's okay ), and will possibly begin buying pieces for our costumes for next year (I intend to do one for myself, and we'll look for various accountrements to add to Em's rented costumes until she's grown and can have a full costume of her own).

We'll have a lot more money this year to get little things here and there, and we have our wonderful 1G memory card in the camera this year...so prepare for LOADS of pictures! LOL!!

YAY...I'm so excited...thinking about the Ren Faire got me through last weekend. Just that hope, and now that Danny found the hotel deals, I'm even MORE excited! YAY!!

*sigh* I really needed this fun this coming weekend...

 

[TinysMom]

Have you already picked out the shows you want to go to? The map of the faire area is very interesting - looks like there is lots to see and do....the schedule looks jam packed too....

I hope you have a great time - the rest of us will live the faire through your eyes later on...

 

[maherwoman]

Yep! I've got the map all printed out and highlighted the different stages, etc.

I wanna see the following:

Adam Crack the Whip Master
Suspended Reality
Owain Phyle
MooNiE
Country Garden Singers
Merlin
Oojahm
Clan MacColin Dance
Babaku
and of COURSE the Closing Parade

I printed out the show schedule, and have circled where each show is playing and when, so while we're venturing around, we can say, "Hey..is anything playing here anytime soon? *checks map* Ok...let's go see it!"

I'm excited! :biggrin2:

 

[maherwoman]

I just got done making our reservation for staying at a hotel for the Faire on Saturday night! YAYYY!!! I'm so excited!!!

I SO needed this...something fun to do. Last weekend was so stressful for us, and so difficult. This weekend needed to be a break, and something that we don't normally get to do. I'm so excited!

 

[TinysMom]

This is really great that you're going and staying at the hotel, etc.

I'm surprised you're not gonna try to drag your bunnies along - I know you worry about them and care about them so much....but trust me...they'll be ok for a bit while y'all get out and play - and they'll pick up on the changes in you guys after getting some relaxation and be so happy for you that they'll think "it was worth it for them to be gone..".

I really hope y'all have fun.

Our Ren Faire weekend isnt' until October - although I am considering trying to talk Art into us going away to the Scarborough faire some weekend before Memorial Day too.....if we can find a way to afford it. I'm going to work on the maps and stuff this morning to see how far away it is an if it is do-able.

But to change this back to YOUR thread and not hijack it too badly......I can hardly wait to see pictures of your weekend at the faire..

 

[maherwoman]

Hehe...yeah, we definitely need the time away, if only for a weekend. And we'll be driving back real quick to pet and feed them before staying at the hotel...so they will have a few minutes with us even during our mini-vacation. Hehe!

But...yeah, it'll be so worth it to be away. I need to get some sunshine (note to self: don't forget the sunscreen!!) and have some fun dressing up. I'm going to go for a basic look this year, and the pieces I intend on buying will be really basic to start off with, too. And then I was thinking of either replacing them slowly over the years with things that are more regal-looking, more beautiful...or learning how to do beadwork to do some to them myself. Something like that. It's exciting!

We haven't stayed in a hotel since I think our honeymoon almost three years ago, so this'll be really fun. I learned my lesson with that hotel, though...we'll be bringing our own blankets and pillows, since we're so used to them, we can't sleep without them! LOL! And Em will have TONS of fun sleeping in her sleeping bag. We got a room that has a sofabed, and she's SO EXCITED to sleep on it!! Hehe! She's so cute...

Tomorrow, I get my nails done...and then the next day...REN FAIRE!! SQUEE!!

 

[maherwoman]

We're home!! (Well, actually, we got home last night, haha...)

We had SO much fun at the Faire, guys. Granted, it got into the low 100's in F this weekend, and we spent much of the time dehydrated (despite how much fluid we drank) and just overheated to the nines, but we had so much fun, despite that!

Here's what the front of the Faire looked like (as if you were entering a pirate ship...was kinda cool):

On Saturday, we drove on over, and rented costumes for Em and me. Here's what we rented!

My costume (see my HRS tote bag in the background? hehe):

And Em's (she was a girl pirate...and had SO MUCH FUN being it!):

You can tell that we're already a bit overheated, due to the changing room they had at the costume rental place being BLAZINGLY hot. I was sweating so badly in the changing room, I got sweat in my eye! Ouchies...

So, we walked around, bought little things here and there. I bought a necklace to match the beautiful earrings I bought last year (of which there are pictures above in other posts I did). We also bought a beautiful crystalline mug:

We also happened upon a crystal/rock/geode booth...so I bought a couple things. The first was a bracelet made of pieces of amethyst:

And the stones, closer up:

And I bought a little bonsai-sized tree made of wire, and pieces of amethyst (for those of you that don't know...I'm quite the purple lover, and amethyst is my favorite stone):

So, we went wandering on, and came across one of the many different places that sold pieces to buy your own costume, so I checked out the price of getting my own bodice (the corset-type portion of my costume). And we found that the price was good enough, so we bought one for me. Here I am wearing it:

By this time, I had my hair up and was DYING...it was so hot, and the sun was beating down really hard. (I think it was about 1pm at this point. You can see how intense the sun was in the pictures.)

A bit later on, after eating, sitting in the shade, etc., we decided that we'd had enough for the day, and were tired and overheated enough to call it a day. But we decided to go back to the same place I bought my bodice and check out the price of their full-piece dresses. Turns out, that was an acceptable price, too, so we bought one!

Here's a picture of my full outfit. (I don't know why the skirt went up in that spot...but it didn't do that the next day. Pictures of that to follow.)

So, we drove home, fed the buns, then headed to our hotel, and just vegged.

The next day, we went back to the Faire...yay! This time we were better prepared, brought our own water, so we had more to drink, and didn't have to pay NEARLY as much for our drinks. I arrived with my hair done already, so I didn't have to die trying to do it in the heat. We had in plan to buy an umbrella (hand made and painted) at the Faire, so I could shade myself as we walked (pictures to come).

So, here's me that day (you can see my new necklace):

And a better picture of what I did with my hair...just simple little pigtail/bun type things:

This time around, we got there right when they were doing an all-you-can-eat feast (of course, for a price, lol), so we decided to partake. It was WONDERFUL! It included a wonderful salad with a vinaigrette dressing, awesome garlic bread, and an array of smoked meats. We tried one of every meat on the platter, and they were all AMAZING! Here's the platter (after we'd already taken some of the meat):

We then went over to the kid's section, where they had kid's games and shows, etc. and Em got to look like a REAL pirate!

Then we went over to a show they were doing, called Fairy Tea Time (or something like that), and Em had lots of fun pretending and acting out fun stuff with the Fairy Godmothers.

I don't remember the Fairy Godmothers' names, but here's what they looked like:

Then we went around, played some games, and had a sit-down in the shade to relax and rebuild our energy...and I got some pictures and a video of Em...

YUMMY WATER...

Then she wanted to check out/play with my umbrella, so I took a few of her doing that...

SPIN!

While we sat, we also did some people-watching, and I noticed this guy, in a really neat costume:

And a couple of obvious nobility:

And then Danny bought me a little bouquet of flowers...and of course, at the Ren Faire there's only ONE PLACE to put such things...

And that was pretty much it for us and the Ren Faire this year! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Oh...and I mustn't forget...we saw a time machine on the way home!

Yes, it was an actual DeLorean...and part of the back lit up when the guy started the engine. And, you can't see it really in the picture...but the license plate says "FLUXED". LOL!! Only in LA, I tell ya!!

We had so much fun this weekend...it was so perfect in so many ways, and I even have my own outfit for next year! I'm going to be buying little accessories for Em and I both throughout the year, too...and might even take my crystalline mug next year as my drinking cup!

Hugs!

Rosie*

 

[slavetoabunny]

What fun!!! I love the costume that you bought. Some of those other ones look really hot; I couldn't imagine wearing those in 100+ degree heat. Em looks like she had a blast too. What, no pictures of Danny?

I'm so happy your family had a much deserved, fun weekend!

 

[cheryl]

Wow...it looks like you guys had so much fun....i just loved looking at the pictures...and oh my goodness just look at those mountains in the back ground :shock:

Your costume is so pretty Rosie....and Em is just a little cutie!

Cheryl

 

[maherwoman]

Aww...thank you, guys! We had so much fun...

And yeah, I was noticing that as I went through the pictures that there weren't any of my hunka man! What a doofus I am! But, in his defense...he wasn't too into the idea of dressing up, so I'm sure he wouldn't have been much into getting a picture taken of himself, either, hehe!

But it sure was fun! OH! And I forgot to mention...much of what we bought for me was for an early birthday present. My birthday is a week from today.

My husband spoils us...

 

[BlueGiants]

You look like you and Em had SO much fun! I'm jealous! Our Ren Faire doesn't come around until August! My daughter was admiring your dress! She likes purple too! You looked wonderful. Now I can't wait til the end of the summer!

 

[maherwoman]

Aww...thank you, Cathy!! You're so sweet...

It sounds like most places' Ren Faires are being held around Fall...so I guess my post gives y'all something to look forward to?

Hugs!

 

[TinysMom]

It looks like you had so much fun....I'm so happy for y'all. Emily looks so cute in her costume.

Unfortunately - you made me want to go to the Scarborough Ren Faire which is running till the end of May......(here in TX we have two faires - one in the spring and one in the fall....but in different areas of the state).

Anyway - I'm so happy you had fun.....glad you wound up buying your own costume too...

 

[MsBinky]

Oh I love the purple with the bodice! :biggrin2:Em looks like she had a total blast.No hubby pics? I wish you had a family pic! I must ask... The hair in the first pic, you didn't do that yourself did you? I am so amazed at what people can do with their hair. I feel like such a dork. I can't do anything!