Look Who's Coming to Dinner...

So the Hubster and I were enjoying a lovely late supper at one of my favorite restaurants when all that loveliness was completely interrupted by some "home folk."

It was Saturday night and it was already after 7 o'clock when we decided that we would venture out for supper. I got ready, the Hubster got ready... at this point it was after 8 o'clock and we both were slowly starving.

We decided to go to one of my favorite restaurants in the entire world. It's a hip little oyster bar and seafood restaurant in the only city in our county. Trust me when I say that their blackened Mahi-mahi is the best that ever was, and ever will be.

So we arrive at the restaurant and we decided, since it was close to 9 o'clock, that there was no need to get a big ole' table for two, that we'd eat at the oyster bar instead. It wasn't crowded at all-- just a couple of couples still peppered the bar.

A little more than about half-way into my Mahi, two couples belly up to our end of the oyster bar. It was the "home folks."

You remember a few posts back I wrote about a wedding I attended and there was this girl with the giant hair? Well, Giant Hair (GH) and her husband and another couple happened to be the "home folks" that ruined my meal.

Now, I've been known to pull an 'Aunt Mildred' from time to time. For those of you not familiar with my Aunt Mildred, she was a tiny, haughty lady that didn't put up with much. She completely and utterly personified the term "passive aggressive" and she certainly had a way of making you feel bad about yourself if you didn't live up to her standards. As soon as they walk in and sit down beside the Hubster and me, I began to feel the cold hand of Aunt Mildred reaching up from somewhere hot below…

I survey the damage. Good, I think to myself, her hair isn't big tonight. Must not be a special occasion...

I was a little taken aback when Giant Hair openly insulted her husband. I felt sorry for him. However, he doesn't seem to mind. He also didn’t seem to mind when she out and out refused to sit next to him and chose a seat four spaces down.

GH's husband comes from a good family. There is a little money there and it appears that GH's husband is well on his way to operating a very successful business. He is well mannered and, most importantly, well behaved. Unfortunately I can't say the same for his trampy wife.

As the two couples sit down we make polite talk. GH doesn't talk to me or even look me in the eye, which is rude considering that we went to high school together and all.

I’m not really familiar with GH’s upbringing or background. We had friends in common, but we were never friends. I remember in 9th grade she was engaged, which I thought was right out of Deliverance—who in their right mind would let a 14 year old get engaged?

However, it has been implied to me, on more than one occasion that she didn’t come from much. And after seeing her in action, apparently her family didn’t train her on how to act in polite company either. Unfortunately, GH must have missed the passage in Emily Post about not making racist comments in public places, less one wants to start something.

It turns out GH is a pretty major racist. Apparently she works as a cashier of some sort in a county government office (not in the county I live in, thankfully) and this year her boss is running against a black man for the elected position of sheriff. During dinner one of the people they were with mentioned that he was going to vote for the black man and she started dropping the "N" word all over the place.

In a public place, mind you!

In a public restaurant with many different colors of people!

And here she was making racist comments (I'll spare you the details) for all to hear!

I have never been so ashamed and uncomfortable in all my life. I realize that there is still hate in America and I realize that I can’t change someone’s beliefs. Unfortunately, we live in an area where narrow minds seem to be more common than the stomach flu and people like GH run rampant with their ignorant talk and ignorant beliefs, however, not in all my years have I ever experienced such an outright and public display of rascism.

But I will not, nor will I ever, tolerate and condone that sort of behavior. Luckily, by this juncture in our meal we were through and had paid our bill, so I demanded that we leave. And with one grand sweeping motion we were out of there.

If I were braver and if I were stronger, I would have told her to shut her stupid mouth—but I hate confrontation and I’m horribly passive aggressive, so I’m getting my frustration out on blogger. If she was smarter and if she was more compassionate she would have thought about what she was saying and how unjust and unfair she was being. But she isn’t smart and obviously not compassionate in the least.

A few years ago her boss made some tasteless remarks about Hispanics and the press went wild. If I were mean person, I could make a few phone calls and let the right know about this little incident-- the types of people that are in that county government office. I wonder what her chances would be of having a job come next election…. But lucky for her, I’m not that sort of person.

They are Getting a Plate--Like it or Lump it...

Last week the Hubster and I got an invite to a post-wedding reception for one of his many distant cousin's.  This distant cousin, who, by the by, I've never met in the 10+ years we've been together, has recently married a quiet girl from the lowcountry of South Carolina and to honor their marriage, his mother is throwing a party.  I've been told, about four times, that she is quiet which is why I included that specific adjective in the previous sentence, because, it must be of some importance.

Like I said earlier, I've never met the guy... or the girl.  I don't know much about them other than he is somehow related to the Hubster and apparently she could or could not suffer from some sort of social anxiety disorder. 

When we received the invitation I immediately scanned the bottom to see where they had registered.  Apparently they had registered at several places, most of which I was familiar with: Belks, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, etc.  But one place was rather new to me:  http://www.thehoneymoon.com/.

Over the weekend I tried out the site.  My dirty mind kept thinking it must be something to do with lingerie or sex toys... but then again, I had been told over and over, that she was a quiet girl and I seriously doubt a quiet girl would get the nerve to register for such... but you never know, do you?

Either way, I just had to check it out and what it is, is this:  A site where couples can register for things on their honeymoon.  This couple had registered for bottles of champagne, couple massages, cocktail inspired pedicures, and romantic dinners for two. 

When we got the invitation they were currently on their honeymoon and only one person had bought them a gift.

I probably will get them a plate from their pattern, because I'm a good Southern girl and that is what good Southern girl's do...and I'm not helping someone I've never met get his groove (yes, I said groove) on by buying him a couples massage session.  Heck no, they are getting a plate and they are going to like it... something they can cherish for a long, long time.

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin' is all.

We Saved Target...

Today started off as any other Saturday.  I woke up, when I wanted to.  I got up, cruised the internet for some deals, watched a little TV and then I got ready to for my weekly trek to Target with my mom and sister.  Getting ready consisted of putting my dirty hair up with the bobby pins I found on the floor of my bathroom, brushing my teeth, slapping on some makeup and putting on a crappy outfit and then dashing out the door.

As we were pulling up to the Target, we were on the road that runs beside the building and we noticed two dumpy white guys running out of the fire exist with merchandise and craming said merchandise into the back of their crappy SUV as fast as they could.  My sister was the first one to say something.  Something along the lines of, "I think those guys are robbing Target."  My mom, who secretly wants to be a private investigator, wheels the car around so we could get their tags as they drove away.

We got the plate number and went into the Target.  We spoke with a customer service rep who quickly put us in touch with a store manager who told us that they've been having the same trouble with these guys for a long time.  We gave her a quick description of the guys and their SUV along with the plate numbers and Target called the police.  I don't know if they caught the guys, but I do know that the information we gave them sure will help in finding them.

Today started off as just an ordinary Saturday-- who knew we'd get to help save Target.

Wedding (Better Late Than Never) & Hair Helmets (Love that AquaNet)...

*please note I started this post over a week ago...

So the wedding was last night.  I ended up wearing a purple dress that I've had, in case you are wondering.  I was all geared up to wear the black dress, but with the air being so dry, try as I might I could not combate the static cling and the purple dress became the front runner.  I styled it up with a pair of lacey black tights and a pair of suede booties.

We decided to only attend the wedding ceremony as we had dinner to attend as well. So we got dressed and headed out the door about 40 minutes before the ceremony was to begin.  I was hoping to pull an "Aunt Kay."  My Aunt Kay is notroious for being late to weddings but ending up with great seats.  She'll breeze in at the last minute and get sat just behind the family.  I don't know how she does it, but we were willing to try.

So we get to the church around 5:30pm.  The ceremony was to start at 6:00pm.  As soon as we get to the front we are told that the church is full and to go to the fellowship hall.  I'm okay with that.  We got to watch the ceremony on a projector screen and the bonus was that we got to see everything from the preacher's perspective.  Instead of looking at the back of the couple, we actually got to see their faces... which was interesting.

When I got married I refused to have the "overflow" room, much to the dissmay of others.  I refused to invite a whole gaggle of people to a ceremony and not have a place for them.  When the Hubster's college roommate got married some years ago I remember being shocked to see people lining the walls of the church, just standing there!

I decided then and there, that I would have a small ceremony, just family and friends and a large reception.  So for my wedding, we invited about 180 people to the church, which is all my church would hold, but our families are large.  And about 400 (including the orginal 180) to the reception, which could easily hold everyone.  Yes, that meant two sets of invitations, but in my opinion, it was well worth it.

But back to last night's wedding.

It was interesting to get to see the expression of the groom, who was completely goofy with excitement.  It was heartbreakingly sweet to see the face of the father of the bride as he gave his little girl away and it was funny to see the bride's expression when the groom forgot to repeat after the pastor.

The bridal party was straight out of David's Bridal, which I have to score down.  But as the Hubster pointed out, the bride is not a fussy girl, but a practical one and she probably didn't need the pampering or the designer label to feel special.  And with that being said, the dress was absolutely perfect for the bride. 

Being a simple girl, the dress was bright white and head-to-toe lace and very beautiful.  The dress was straight with no train and strapless.  It looked good in a formal church setting but it would look just as good on the beach.  The bridesmaids wore an almost cream color that I was told was 'pale gold.'  Again, straight out of David's, but they do carry a very varied array of dresses at a reasonable price... not to mention, they are easily obtainable.

The dresses were straight with a slight empire waist, knee-length and strapless.  The material appeared to be some sort of silk satin.  At the waist were two rinestone covered buttons/buckles which gave the dress a faux-belt look.  Very tasteful dresses.  And the bride, being a non-bridezilla bride had allowed her bridesmaid's the luxury of picking her own shoes, as long as they were a gold metalic.  All but one got the memo.

The flowers were mostly pinks.  It was near Valentine's day and the colors did create one of those "timeless" appearances in that this could have easily been a summer wedding or a spring wedding.

I wish now we'd have ventured to the reception.

The only thing I could have done without had nothing to do with the wedding or the bridesmaid that wore black shoes-- but had more to do with one invited guest with the jacked up "big" hairdo.

Big really doesn't describe this poor girl's head and we live in the South were the motto is: the bigger the hair the closer to Jesus.  Her hair was shortish-- but she had it sprayed out at least 7 inches on each side of her head.  To quote Steel Magnolia's, it looked like it had been "teased into a brown football helmet."   If the helmet was for a giant head, that is.

I found out later that this was her "going out" hair.  In fact she dons this 'do quite often.  I was told later that this poor girl did the exact thing, but worse (can you imagine) at another friend's wedding which made that bride cry because she didn't know how to tell her friend that she couldn't be in any wedding pictures with that horrible jacked up hairdo.

I would have loved to have gone to the reception to see if the football helmet held up... I would have asked her what her hairspray was.... maybe not, but I would have tried to snag a picture at least.