2012 International Red Hat Convention, Las Vegas, NV

The International Red Hat Convention took place June 28-July1, 2012 in the Hotel Paris Las Vegas, Nevada with over 1500 attendees enjoying the festivities. The theme was "The Golden Age of Glamor"  and the convention certainly lived up to this theme in a big way. Doug and I drove from Alamogordo, New Mexico and had many adventures along the way. The convention was the middle of our trip and I'm writing about it first because many are anxious to see the photos. Doug said, "Packing for this Red Hat Convention is like preparing for a road show of Hello Dolly."

Hotel Paris Las Vegas swimming area just below our window

Eiffel Tower Number 2

Carla, ready to see Jubilee! at Bally Hotel

Jubilee! is one of the very few shows left on the strip with honest to God beautiful dancers and costumes. Costumes are created  collaboratively by Donn Arden, Pete Menefee and Bob Mackie. This show has won top awards for 30 years. They do a Samson and Delilah skit and a sinking of the Titanic skit with fabulous effects that keeps one absolutely spellbound. This is glamor and glitz at its finest! If you are ever in Vegas, don't miss this one at the Bally Hotel right next to the Hotel Paris Las Vegas.

Friday A.M. costume change to join Miss Kitty

's Social Club

Miss Kitty asked everyone to dress as saloon girls or Victorian and to meet at her booth in the Hat District to parade around the aisles letting people know about us as well as her Red Hat magazine, Miss Kitty's Journal. The social club is a world wide Red Hat Chapter that is fun to belong to, especially if you love the dance hall and Victorian eras. To learn more about this, just email Pam Krantz, Operating Manager at:

pam@misskittysjournal.com

 

Melanie with Miss Kitty

Melanie with Rhett and Scarlett

We had a Hollywood themed costume
contest and I entered as Melanie from
Gone With the Wind.
 

Carla as Melanie (Olivia de Haviland) 

On the way to the costume contest Carla (Melanie) greets Debra "Ladybug" 

Melanie with one of the cute pink hatter volunteers

This contestant made her dress and her bra hat. Fantastic!

Are these two glitzed and glamed to the nines or what?

This is "Carmen Miranda" and was she ever cute!

Donna Hope and Miss Kitty having a grand time.

Wanda Cook aka Cleopatra with Melanie. She made her costume and won first place.

Three of us have sashayed around the stage for the judging at this point.

We are all awaiting the judges' decision.

Winner Wanda Cook aka Cleopatra wearing the lovely hat awarded to her.

Another shot of the entrants with winner Wanda in the middle.

Left: Shanda Taylor-Boyd with her co-workers; they donated the prize hat

Pat Robinson, Carla (Melanie) and Toni Posey

The ladies above (Pat and Toni) are from the chapter I belonged to in Weatherford, Texas, Wild West Women of  Weatherford. We moved to Alamogordo, New Mexico March 15 of this year and it was so good to make a connection with them again. This is the great thing about conventions, you see so many friends you haven't seen in a while besides making lots of new friends in the process.

It is now Saturday morning and we are all headed to the FUN pajama breakfast. Red Hatters really get creative when it comes to our pajama breakfast attire as witnessed  below:

Stunning Pink Hatter from Perth, Western Australia

I tend to be a bit more conservative at the Pajama Breakfast

Didn't catch her name, but I did rearrange her derriere before she floated away.

Aurgh! A motley crew of pajama pirates!

Pat and Toni from Weatherford and Carla. Where's the food?

Hope she left some for us!

What are the odds that you'd find four of a kind in Vegas?

The breakfast was great and the speaker was Candy Spelling talking about her life in Los Angeles with her husband, Aaron, and about losing him and how she managed to get through it. She was very touching as she spoke about her trials and tribulations. She is a gutsy gal and is moving onward and upward with her life.

Next on the agenda was the coronation of the chapter Queens and since I've formed a new chapter in New Mexico, I am now known as Queen Ladybird of New Mexico Roadrunner Chapter as Queen Mother Sue Ellen Cooper dubbed me with her scepter. It was another fun event and well attended.

Doug took this shot in the room before the coronation ceremony.

Of course I had to be photographed on the throne!

An elegant Queen from Houston, Texas

CEO Debra "Ladybug" and  Vice Queen Linda Murphy

Debra "Ladybug", Queen Mother  Sue Ellen and Vice Queen Linda administering the oath.

Seriously repeating the oath!

One of many coronations this day and so much FUN!

"The Queen Mother is not pleased that thy scepter is larger than hers."

VQ Linda Murphy, Carla Kerr, Queen Mother Sue Ellen Cooper and CEO Debra Granich "Ladybug"

 The last costume change is coming up with the gala dinner and ballroom music and, yes, we danced the night away. Red Hatters know how to have FUN and thoroughly enjoy each others company. Convention is in Atlanta, Georgia next year April 25-28, 2013. Y'all come now, you hear!

My glamor shot in the room and I forgot my camera so no  photos of the ball.

After the lovely dinner, dancing and visiting, I went to the penthouse for The Southern Belles open house. They completely decorate their suite at every convention in the colors "Pink and Red" and it is indeed a sight to behold. I simply had to take some pictures after I retrieved my camera from my room.
 

Our hostess, Patty aka Queen Fabu

Co-hostess Suzanne aka Princess Fancy Pants

Can you believe what they've done to a hotel bathroom!!

Note the rose petals in the bidet!

There is just so much, words escape me!

Isn't this a joyful looking creature???

And one final photo from the Pajama Breakfast that I think is just too funny. A Red Hatter (not in the photo) walked up to the lady in the center of the picture and asked, "Why do you have that big belly hanging down in front of you?" To which she replied, "Because I'm fat!"

Too funny!

Well, folks, this was just the middle of our road trip and we did and saw many things so when I get over posting this one, you'll be hearing from me again.

This is all I have to say for now.

Quilt Show, New Restaurant

Today, we went to the Southern New Mexico Festival of Quilts at the Otero County Fairgrounds here in Alamogordo. There were some beautiful, quite artistic quilts on display and we each voted for our favorite. Along with all the quilts, there were a number of vendors presenting quilting machines, regular sewing machines and embroidery machines. Several quilt shops were set up in their booths with stunning arrays of fabrics along with samples of quilts they, themselves had made. It truly was a feast for the eyes.

It's always interesting to note the names proprietors create for their quilt shops such as, Sew Many Visions, Sew What's New and a personal favorite, The Stash Sisters. If you hear of a quilt show coming to your area, you should check it out. You'll be surprised at the artistic abilities of the women and, yes, men too.

After our visit to the quilt show, we decided to try out the new restaurant in town, Carino's, just as Italian as it sounds. We kept hearing about it from various friends and we were not disappointed. Doug started out with Minestrone Soup that he said was quite enjoyable, but could have been a bit warmer. Then, he had the Green Chile Chicken Lasagna and he couldn't stop talking about how good it tasted. He said, "It is nice and light, yet it has plenty of chicken and the sauce is delicately delicious."

I led with the house salad and then had Shrimp Scampi with angel hair pasta and artichokes. I was in food heaven with the first bite of the Scampi. The shrimp were cooked perfectly and the seasoning was superb. We were offered the dessert menu, but we were unable to finish our entrees, asking for to go boxes, so no dessert for us. I highly recommend Carino's for a delectable Italian meal. Alamogordo finally has a class A Italian restaurant and we trust they'll be around for a long time.

This is all I have to say for now.

Santa Fe, New Mexico Trip

On Sunday, June 17, 2012, Doug and I drove to Santa Fe, NM because I had a doctor's appointment the next day. It is about a four hour drive from Alamogordo and for the most part the roads are good. There is some highway construction and at one point, out in the middle of nowhere, there was a traffic signal because the highway had been shrunk down to one lane. You must wait for the light to turn green before proceeding. Evidently, a guy on the other end got antsy and ran the light. When he saw us as well as other vehicles, he pulled off on the shoulder to let everyone pass. His face was an interesting shade of red! Once we checked in at the Super 8 Motel (actually nicely decorated in a Southwestern theme with a well appointed room), we decided to take a drive to the Nambé Pueblo (an Indian village style of living inNew Mexico). Doug was ready with his camera.

Some interesting rock formations in the Nambé Pueblo

We actually drove there to see the waterfalls, but they are only open Thursday through Saturday. On our return to Santa Fe, we stopped to look at "Camel Rock" and found a little friend.

Carla with the camel

Doug with the camel

I named him Stumpy because someone or something had grabbed his tail.

  

We drove back into Santa Fe and decided to dine at Outback Steak House. Some of the kids had given us gift cards to this establishment at one time or another. There is no Outback in Alamogordo so we decided to take advantage of being close to one. Being Father's Day, it was busy and we were asked if we would like to sit in a booth at the bar. Good decision. Great place for people watching, right near the door and the food was great. We started out with one of their famous blooming onions; Doug had steak and a fully dressed baked potato and I had a half slab of baby back ribs and fries. We were waddling by the time we consumed all that food and didn't even have room for dessert!

My doctor's appointment wasn't until 1:30 p.m. on Monday so we decided to drive to downtown Santa Fe and went to the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. I was pleasantly surprised when the lady at the counter told me I would not be charged the entrance fee because I am a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. We saw some lovely creations, some of which Doug photographed for your enjoyment.

Buffalo Sculpture by: Frank Buffalo Hyde

Beautiful necklace titled: A Stone and a Prayer for Mother Earth

 by: Fritz Casuse

Dreaming of  Sculptures to Make by: Roxanne Swotsell

After touring all of the galleries, we went outside to view still more exquisite creations.

Water Carrier by: Allan Houser

Carla is standing inside this maze titled "Edges of the Ephemeral" by: Anna Tsouhlarakis

Metal sculpture titled "Spirit of the Wind" by Allan Houser

View of the Allan Houser Art Park along with some Santa Fe architecture outside the walls

This is a downtown parking garage-just exquisite!

I went to my doctor appointment and am relieved to be able to say that there is no evidence of any recurrence of tongue cancer. He told me to come back in a year for a check up. On the drive home, we stopped at the world famous Clines Corner for lunch. This place started doing business in 1934 and is on the renowned Route 66. The food was surprisingly good and while we were eating we were treated to viewing a couple of barn swallows feeding their young in a nest up under the overhang.

As we came through Carizzozo, NM, we were able to see the smoke billowing up to the sky in the mountains from the Little Bear fire. We are fortunate in that we've only had smoke blow our way.

Little Bear fire

New Mexico truly is the "Land of Enchantment" and any drive you make in any direction is never boring. Next Monday, we leave on our longest drive yet, to the Grand Canyon and then on to Las Vegas for the International Red Hat Convention at the Paris Hotel.

This is all I have to say for now.