Back In Time

This past Saturday, Jeff and I went back in time to the Middle Ages. The NC Renaissance Faire in Raleigh was incredible!!! I'd never been to one before and was extremely excited about going. I haven't had that much fun in a long time! There was something to see everywhere. Jugglers, magicians, acrobats, storytellers, sword fights, jousting, dog races, exotic animals, palm readers, gypsies,equestrian shows, vendors galore, displays, belly dancers...you just couldn't take it all in at one time. Everyone was in costume and speaking in Elizabethan English. We got there right after the village gates of Kingston Upon Hull were opened and were greeted royally by the villagers. It was just ...wow. There was royalty, peasants, gypsies, fairies and pirates galore. The food was great and we got a TON of pictures. I got my palm read not long after we'd gotten there and she was extremely accurate on a lot of stuff, but I'll have to save that story for another time since I left my notes at home and because it's lengthy.

We watched the coursing of the hounds and visited the greyhound tent a few times just b/c they were too cute and sweet. . The acrobats called Barely Balanced were extremely talented and funny also . Most places you go, you pick and choose what you want to see...but here, you want to see them all. They were all really entertaining..not one thing was bad.

Towards the end of the day, I did something completely insane. I have a purple velvet skirt at home and I was trying to find a shirt to go with it. Originally, I was going for a peasant or gypsy kind of look, so I stopped at this one vendor and looked around. All she sold was corsets and the skirts to go with them. Well, she talked me into trying one on and then the other girl said that since I was playing dress up, I might as well try on the skirts too. She made it look bustled and added the hoop skirt too. I looked awesome! I was uncomfortable, but I looked great..lol.

So..after parading around in front of the mirror and watching Jeff drool over me, I asked how much it was. My jaw dropped, but Jeff told me that you only live once and that I looked great and reminded me that this was a one of a kind piece. No two corsets of hers were alike....they were all different and reversible..so I'd be getting 2 corsets. Soo..I said I'd take it, and Jeff surprised me by offering to buy the skirts. He wished me a happy early anniversary and we paid for it all and left to see the rest of the equestrian show.

Here's where I should mention that what we paid for the corset and skirts would've fixed my car or gotten both of our cats declawed. Or bought a Wii. I still can't believe it. We're going back in a couple weeks to take Hailey and Natalie, so I'll wear it then. And, since we had so much fun, we're planning on going to several others in the area...Atlanta, Charlotte, Virginia and Pennsylvania..which is the large one, so I will get to wear it quite a bit. Now we just have to find Jeff something to wear. I'm thinking a knight, or a pirate...or a swordsman of some sort.

Once we returned to reality, totally broke..and wearing my corset, we made a stop at CompUSA since the store was going out of business and the printer ink would be cheap. I had to wear my corset into the store..totally revealing my farmers tan I'd gotten that day. I had 3 male clerks tell me to find them if I needed help..lol. After that little excursion, I put my regular shirt back on b/c I knew we were going to go eat and I couldn't stuff anything else in that corset. We went to the most awesome greek restaurant...Taverna, Agora. It's on Glenwood Ave. in Raleigh for those of you who want to go. It was just..Oh my God..good!! This is what we had...for an appetizer, we had bread with lemon garlic EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) that everyone gets..even it was out of this world! And Jeff ordered:

Flambéed Greek CheeseSaganaki
Seared kefalograviera cheese with EVOO & fresh lemon over tomato slices. Flambéed with brandy- OPA!! 7.95

For dinner, I had:

Chicken Fettuccini Helopites Me Kota Lemonata
Lemon chicken fettuccini with sautéed spinach, garlic, tomatoes, & fresh herbs in a white wine lemon sauce with manouri cheese 13.95

It was to die for!!! I'd never had greek food before..and gyros don't count. It needed more manouri cheese..but I cleaned my plate.

Jeff had the special which was chicken with shrimp in some kind of red wine sauce with vegetables. For dessert, they had Baklava Cheesecake, Chocolate cake w/ Mocha frosting, something I don't remember and then we got tapas filled with custard and honey, topped with whipped cream. I wish I'd gotten my own instead of sharing it...lol

Sunday was supposed to be a day of painting the den and getting everything back in order, but we were so worn out from the day before..that we got nothing done. Uploaded pictures and talked about the faire..that was most of our day. I can't wait to go 2 weeks from now. I think the girls will love it! I should've been going to these longggg ago. It was nice having something new to do with Jeff that neither of us had done before. It was a day of firsts for me. My first Ren Faire and my first Greek food. Such a great day...I need to have those kinds of days more often.