M is for...

M is for...

Meet me in the Woods (with ManBearPig)!

We have a lovely tradition in my family where all the ladies (aunties & cousins) get together for "girls weekends" to celebrate our major birthdays (and sometimes for no good reason at all).

This September, we went to The Woodlands Inn in the Poconos, whose slogan is (a little ominously) "Meet me in the Woods!" My 40th birthday is in December, two days before Christmas, which pretty much makes it impossible for any kind of large-scale gathering. So instead we celebrated on a beautiful autumn weekend, dancing up a storm, shopping, swimming, going over to the Casino (I won $30!) and just enjoying each other. Each girls weekend seems to get bigger and bigger- more costumes, more flair, more goody bags. For my Auntie Skip's last major birthday, we found her a crown, a scepter and a fur coat (she is the "Queen Mum") and now the fur coat has become part of the birthday flair. (Yeah, it creeps me out a little and it's heavy as all get-out.) We do love dress-up. I remember home movies of my mom and her sisters at my grandma's house, going through her closets and parading through the house adorned in the treasures they found.

Grey Gardens, Part II

Anyway, I'm so very, very lucky to have a group of generous, crazy, wild, spirited, funny-as-hell and kind women to pal around with. I'm so proud to be related to all of them.

And this is really a story best told by pictures, so here you go.

Okay, this is the ManBearPig of the title. In the lobby, there's an 8-ft fossil cave
bear skeleton from the Ural Mountains in Russia. Nope. No idea what it's
doing in the lobby of a resort in the Poconos. When my cousin Jennifer saw it,
she exclaimed, "Oh, Al Gore will be so happy to know we found ManBearPig!"

Angry Birds girl was also celebrating a birthday. She was going to
meet up with us later to do SoCo shots, but she stood us up. Too bad.
She understood flair almost as well as us.

We love props.

"Whale tail! Off your port bow!"

The DJ sucked, so Susan took over.

We're a surprisingly athletic bunch.

Ahh, Lewis. We came to the conclusion that this fine gentleman trolls resorts
like The Woodlands looking for bachelorette parties and such. He liked us a lot.
Especially Susan.

Appropriate attire must be worn at all times.

And the piece-de-resistance: