Monday, March 7, 2011

Drag queens, marching bands, fingernails and farm life

(*Advance apologies for the poor quality of the following (iPhone) photos... I'd like to hope that they add a little something to the overall silly atmosphere of this post. *)

Scenes from a festive weekend

Time: Friday night, March 4th, 2011
Location: A Thai restaurant, Oasisba, in downtown Portland, Oregon
Claim to fame: Good food. Oh, and all the servers are drag queens:

The servers take your order, serve your drinks, jump up on stage to sing a quick number and then run to the kitchen to pick up your meal:

My son and his girlfriend received lots of attention:

This may or may not be me...:

... on a stage with three new friends:


Time: Later that same Friday night
Location: The Crystal Ballroom, downtown Portland, Oregon
Claim to fame: March Fourth Marching Band. They are a Portland-based band that travels the world but comes home to Portland to play a birthday/anniversary concert every March 4th:

And, wow, what a show...they sing, they play incredible music, they walk on stilts, they perform daring acts with hula hoops and long poles:

Towards the end of the night, hundreds of balloons fell from the ceiling and the band sang Happy Birthday...to the world, which of course, included me. This was very cool, especially since March 4th had now turned into March 5th:


Time: Saturday, March 5th, 2011
Location: My mom's house
Claim to fame: Well, she's my wonderful mom. And she wanted to throw me a party. I don't think it's possible to laugh more than I did on this night.

Look at the beautiful chocolate cake my son's girlfriend, Alana, baked me:

Oh, and the fingernails? I got quite a few remarks on my last donkey post about my painted fingernails, all of which made me giggle. Why are they painted? Well, in case you haven't figured it out yet, it was my birthday on Saturday and I felt quite festive about the whole event. :-)
Just as an FYI: this is a combo-color of two different shades, "High Def" (blue) and "Virtual Violet" (purple). I also *love* to paint other people's nails, so if you'd like a home visit from me, chime in any time:

I haven't had polish on my nails in probably over two years - it just doesn't really go with farm work or farm animals, does it?
Hard to imagine that I used to be that girl who not only wore polish, but wore acrylic (gel) nails shaped just so to lend that professional look to my business attire:

Anyway, hopefully this explains why the heck I was mucking out the donkey/llama paddock with pretty-purple-painted fingernails:

I really had a wonderfully fun weekend.
I ♥ ♥ ♥ my family and friends.
:-)

24 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday March Baby!!

    Nail polish is a great way to hide the dirt under your nails.

    But your hands don't look farm hardened!!! You could be a hand model.

    The place with the drag queens sounds like a hoot! Thanks for sharing it all.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So you see, getting older is so much fun. I keep telling you this because I'm 21 years older than you and my life has been getting funnier by the day.
    Seriously, though, it was finally YOUR day, and we helped make it special. We learned from you because when you celebrate one of ours, you have the best ideas and surprises.
    Happy birthday again, Daniella!

    ReplyDelete
  3. LOL what a great weekend! Happy happy happy birthday :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh Danni you were being sneaky... Happy Birthday!!! Love the nail polish, I think I have something quite similar called Eggplant!
    LiBBiE in Oz

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey, it was fun seeing what happens when you get away from the farm! :) Love the nails, and belated happy birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy Birthday! I like your fingernails! I stopped painting them all the time too... it didn't work out.

    ReplyDelete
  7. And the winner of most intriguing title for a blog post goes to...
    the Birthday Girl with the painted nails! I hope your birthday month continues in similarly grand fashion.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sounds like so much fun - purple nails and all!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. This must have been a very special birthday, or do you always go out on the town to celebrate? And I must say your beautiful manicure show off a beautiful hand, so unlike a farm girl's hand . . . you clean up good! I'm so glad you got to have a super fun weekend, you certainly deserved it!

    ReplyDelete
  10. It looks like wild times are going on there! You were dancing with drag queens, eating yummy cake, and mucking out stalls with painted fingers, wow! next think you'll be painting the donkey's hooves purple...
    Lol! And I'd love to see it!
    ~Lynn

    ReplyDelete
  11. that looks like it was a wild and laughter filled night! And your nails are lovely, but I totally understand what you mean about colored nails and farmwork. I manage to grow my nails out while we driving, and then as soon as we get home or to the ranch, they start cracking and breaking off. I'd have uncolored, cracked nails over polished and shined ones anyday if they were the product of good hard farm work!

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a wild and fun weekend you had! What was on your morning birthday tray this year? I love that tradition your family has.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I can sooooo relate to the fingernail situation. The animals just won't let me keep them the way I used to. Good picture of you with the singers, which one was you on stage with the hula hoops and long poles?

    As I read deeper and deeper into this post I was dreaming up a snarky idea of saying something like; "No animals were injured (or even pictured) in the making of this post", but the last photo foiled my cunning plan!

    Happy belated birthday.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Happy Birthday a little late! For a while there, reading this post, I thought you went to Mardi Gras. I didn't know you could have that much fun in Portland. Love that nail color. Have a wonderful year.--Inger

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Paula! Thank you! And you are SO right about the polish hiding the dirt - though these days, with all the stuff I touch and scratch (lol), I really hate to think of all the stuff that might be *under* my nails, so I keep them really, really short. :-)

    Hi Zitrone (Mom) - Isn't it fun that we enjoy celebrating our milestone occasions (and all others, too - lol) together? ♥ ♥ ♥

    Hello Mrs. Bok - and thank you!

    Hey there, Libbie in Oz, thank you so much! Eggplant, huh? If I had to give my concoction a name, that would be a good one! lol

    Thank you, Rural Rambler! :-)

    Hi Knatolee - I know, right? I'm thinking once a year is more than enough for THAT level of excitement, so it's probably good that I don't get away from the farm that often. lol

    Hi Autumn - thank you!!

    Hey 7msn - Thanks for appreciating the title. I worried for a bit it might be just a bit too... much. :-)
    And yes, I have a feeling the rest of my birthday month is going to be just as spectacular!

    Hi Pattie - It was SO much fun. :-)

    Hey CaliforniaGrammy - This was a special birthday - I can't remember the last time I went out to celebrate! And I have to say, I was soooo tired after my weekend festivities, I don't think I will have the need to go out like that for at least another few years! lol
    Thanks for all your good wishes!

    Hi Lynn @Razzberry Corner - How funny - wild times! lol
    You know - regarding those painted donkey hooves - I just don't think I could do that to Chet and Beau. Maybe if I had some pretty, party girl jenny donkeys, that might work - but I don't want to embarrass those big guys. :-)

    Hey Sarah - It was all just so.much.fun!!! I often fret about the state of my hands and nails - I mean, I seriously don't pay any attention to them usually other than to cut my nails super short. So, it was a funny and happy treat to be "all girlie" again. :-)

    Hi Farmer Jen - Ah, my morning birthday table was a delight. I had two great big boxes waiting (that had beautiful Adirondack chairs waiting to be assembled), a couple gorgeous, big barn muck buckets (yay!), a lovely bottle of wine with sunflowers on the label, a dvd, my favorite chocolate, and a German peppermint liquor "Rumpleminze". Oh and kisses. Lots and lots of kisses. :-)

    Chai Chai - you're cracking me up! If March Fourth had invited me up to participate in the hula-hoop-long-pole act, I would have jumped at the chance. You know how we wild children are...

    And you do KNOW that last picture had your name ALL over it, right? :-)

    Hey Inger (Canyon Girl) - It did sort of have a Mardi Gras feeling to it, didn't it? And it was a surprise to me, too, that Portland could entertain me so!! Thanks for your kind wishes!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh Danni, I'm so glad you had such great birthday celebrations! And laughing a lot is one of the best presents someone can get!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow! Shades of Mardi Grai and San Francisco. Was that really you up there on the stage??
    I knew there was something going on when I spotted the purple fingernail polish in the barnyard.
    Happy, happy Birthday to you Danni. Each year is very special and celebrating yourself is what life is all about.

    ReplyDelete
  18. You are one wild birthday girl! Glad you had a great time.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow - what an awesome fantastic birthday celebration with the people you love most! Are you part of the act at Oasisba's now? You looked like a natural on stage :) For many years I had acrylic, painted nails too - when I worked in an office. I don't often paint my nails now, but I do paint my toenails in the summer, and the chickens go crazy pecking at them. Much more fun reaction than I ever got to painted nails at the office ;)

    ReplyDelete
  20. happy birthday! looks like we share the same birthday weekend. :) Mine wasn't near as much fun though! ...I got muck boots, too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wow! Happy Birthday!! It looks like you all had a wonderful time and stories to share for years to come. The cake looked beautiful too. How very sweet.
    Happy belated Birthday!
    Staci

    ReplyDelete
  22. So glad to hear you had an awesome weekend of partying on your birthday. I always figured Portland for a sleepy, granola town...guess not!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I hope you have a wonderful birthday my friend! :-) If I ever make it back to Portland I will ask you to paint my nails!!

    ReplyDelete

I ♥ it when you leave a comment.