Blackout Night at the GLP!

Me at my old job.

No, it's not an event where you're supposed to drink until you do something stupid that you regret in the morning after you see all of your friend's cell phone pictures and Facebook posts. That's the office Christmas party which should be coming up soon so make sure you wear your cutest panties that night. You could technically use tonight as training for that event. 

Linda got the pink slip the next day.

So what is Blackout Night? Starting at 6pm there's going to be this year's batch of Great Lakes Blackout Stout for drinking and the Lodge will be under blackout conditions;  just candlelight. Scoats "claims" that the idea "seemed a lot more novel when I originally planned it, long before Hurricane Sandy". And there might be luting, if they can find a lute player. (Luting? Looting? A clever use of homonyms/homophones??? What the hell Scoats??) This is a poor attempt at covering up a "Celebration-of-Mother-Nature's-Fury-Party" isn't it??

Luting is an art. Looting is, well, not an art....

Alright anyway, so there will be candlelight, possibly a lute player and alcohol. Wait a minute. What kind of scheme is this? I mean seriously....can we PLEASE just call this party what it actually is?? The "Let's Get Everyone Pregnant Party"!!!

I've decided to name the baby Scoats! Don't you love it??

Great Lakes Blackout Stout and several other great Great Lakes beers will be on tap. Mark should have some Great Lakes give-a ways too. 

CUSTOMER PARTICIPATION REQUEST: If you have a sizable collection of candles, received as gifts over the years that you didn't burn through during Hurricane Sandy and you want to get rid of them; drop them off anytime at the Grey Lodge Pub. 

 

And don't forget about this Sunday! Mayfair Christmas Village Craft Fair from 1pm to 4pm at the Frankford and Cottman intersection. 30 plus vendors at your doorstep with great handmade Christmas presents!!

Mayfair Christmas Tree Lighting events starting at 4pm. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be arriving at 3:30pm and the St. Hubert's chorus will kick it off with some beautiful carols at 4pm sharp followed by the lovely and musical Tricia Paffen and her dad, Glenn.

More details here at our Facebook events page. Mayfair Christmas Village

Mayfair Christmas Village and Christmas Tree Lighting

 Did you get all your Black Friday shopping done? Did you leave your shoe prints on the backs of the unlucky shoppers in front of you in a mad scramble to get $20 off that new flat screen TV? Did you booger hook that old lady in an attempt to swipe the last Xbox from the shelf? I'm sure she deserved it, the old hag. She'll be dead soon so what does she need a new Xbox for? Pffffttt...high five bro!!

Admittedly, I've never been a Black Friday shopping disciple but I know some people SWEAR by it. I just can't see getting up that early and standing in line for hours to save myself $10 off a toaster. My minutes are far more precious to me than that. My idea of "Black Friday" is watching the insides of my eyelids for as much time as possible the day after I've consumed more calories in a 24 hour time period than I probably should have. And seriously, don't even talk to me if you're one of those "year round shoppers" who had their Christmas shopping done in October. When I rule the world I will reserve a special place for you. I won't tell you where exactly but it't probably somewhere in the Middle East or Sub-Saharan Africa. I mean does NO ONE in your family change their minds about what they want or you just say "You know what? Aunt Lucille's getting this clearance bikini for Christmas...I don't CARE what she SAYS! She can suck it."?

So for those of you who are slackers like me and don't have all your Christmas shopping done already, you'll have a chance to get a jump on it this Sunday 12/2/12 from 1pm to 4pm at the intersection of Frankford and Cottman at the Mayfair Christmas Village/Craft Fair!  This is kind of an offshoot of the Farmers Market/Fall Festivals we had in September and October with several of the vendors returning.

RETURNING VENDORS

 Wild Flour Bakery-award winning breads and baked goodies.

 Desiree's Desserts-yummy seasonal sweet treats!

Volta Organics-organic soaps and bath and body products make great stocking stuffers.

Cardinal Hollow Winery-more delicious blueberry wine anyone?

BellaLisa Hair Studios--Lisa D will be bringing more of her festive handmade jewelry. Note to self--must get earrings!

Grey Lodge Pub-holiday themed beers and growler fill-ups.

Great Awakenings Coffee-hot drinks to warm you up while you shop!

Philly Dog Biscuit Company-the doggies need Christmas presents too! Woof!

Headquarters--new art from Adam and Bill (congrats on the new baby girl, to Bill and his wife! Hope you won't be too sleep deprived!)

Steel Your Idea-artisan Frank Mifflin is bringing you his specialty handcrafted wine racks.

Tacony Gear-those awesome neighborhood themed t-shirts for everyone in the fam!

NEW VENDORS

Tastefully Simple brought to you by Nikki--great gifts and probably not lasting til Christmas. Beer Bread and Toasted Sesame Terayaki Sauce? Sold!

Lannette Wismer Jewelry--a little sparkle just in time for holiday parties!

Judy Smith's handmade origami star ornaments--Trust me. I have several of these. They will knock your socks off.

Thirty-One Bags courtesy of Melinda Mulvenna--Do you have anything from Thirty-One yet? NO? Have you been living under a rock? Get some!! They're awesome!!

 Fandomware by Rynn Ailes--Rynn makes tons of stuff for the Harry Potter, Dr. Who and Pokemon fan in your life. Find the perfect gift for them here!

Anita Briggs--beautiful crochet goods; hats, scarves, blankets and pillowcases. Tons of care and craftsmanship!

Head to Bow by Danielle and Deana Gayda--the cutest hair accessories for your little Christmas princess and all year round! Stock up!

 Kate McCaffrey--handmade pillowcases and blankets for those cold winter nights!!

SoyLiscious Candles from Christine--You know you burned through all the ones you had when your power went out during Hurricane Sandy? Time to restock!

Colleen Beounitis--even more homemade candy and cakes for your pre-Christmas consumption! Yum!

 Rose Melchiorre--gorgeous hand crocheted items!

Jim Ortlieb--not only does he head the Mayfair Clean-up Committee but he takes great photos around the country and sells them!Those empty spots on your relatives walls need filling!

 Michelle Buchanan Jewelry--can you EVER have enough jewelry? The answer is no.

 Ginny's Candles--can you EVER have enough homemade soy candles? Again, the answer is no. They are one of the most perfect gifts! Everyone likes candles!!

 Renee Cohen Crafts--simply, beautiful handmade crafts!

 Pretty Cool Crochet by Toniah--more awesome crochet! Wait til you see some of her adorable hats and headbands!! My wallet is already screaming for mercy!

Mayfair Dog Park--Adorable bandanas for your doggies!!

Mayfair Civic Association--Information and T-shirts!

 So there you have it kids. Goodies galore and a good ole' fashioned Christmas village right at your doorstep. Please note that most of our crafters, if not all of them, are local Mayfair/Tacony/Holmesburg residents or have a close neighborhood connection! We'll also be having several of the local neighborhood organizations passing out information and applications to join. Holmesburg Civic Assoication, Tacony Town Watch and the Pennypack Creek Bridge, and Councilman Bobby Henon will be there with information, t-shirts and calendars.

Starting at 3:30pm Santa Claus and the Missus will be there to meet and greet your little ones. At the kick-off of the Christmas Tree Lighting at 4pm there will be free hot chocolate and cookies for all and musical entertainment by Tricia and Glenn Paffen and Nick Giannetti. Topping off the whole festive day will be the lighting of the official Mayfair Christmas Tree by Mayfair Civic Association president Joe DeFelice, Tacony Civic Association president Mary Benussi, and Holmesburg Civic Association president, Rich Frizell.

Also, please consider bringing a new, unwrapped toy for our Toys For Tots collection sponsored by Anne Marie Muldoon, MBA member and owner of Avenue Chiropractic. We'll also be collecting gently used children's books and children's DVD's for Children's Hospital of Philadelphia at the event. It's a great time for Mayfair to give back to those less fortunate and a way to make some room for all the new goodies you just bought!

This Week in Mayfair (11/19/2012)

There are so many things to be thankful for. First, here's a list of things I'm not thankful for.

NOT AT ALL THANKFUL FOR:
1. The NHL lockout and Andy Reid

2. The fact that liquor stores in  PA aren't open on Sunday.

3. Quakers (see above).

Not so funny you peaceful jerks.

 4.  I don't have a lake house. (Let's rectify this situation Santa. Pronto.)

5. That the Unholy Trinity of Trash ( Real Housewives, the cast of the Jersey Shore and the Kardashsians) make more money than they should.

6. There aren't more hours in the day.

7. The fact that a salad will only fill you up for a half hour MAX and that sitting in front of my tv thinking about going to the gym and watching sports won't burn more calories.

8. Manatees (Gentle sea cows my ass. Never again will I be unprepared.)

9. People who use public assistance to pay for their groceries while sporting a brand new manicure, designer purse and an iPhone 4.

10. When I'm out of coffee

11. Call of Duty Black Ops- I'm a "weekend war widow". (Where's your husband? Oh saving the digital world from the bad guys for 10 hours a day. ;)

12. Not working for "The Onion".

13. The fact that I'm no longer in college.

14. The fact that my membership to MENSA clearly got lost in the mail.

15. This picture:

No Grandma!! Bad Grandma!!!NOOOOOOOOO!!

SOOOOO THANKFUL FOR:
1. Vodka

2. Whiskey

3. Beer

4. Tequila

5. Let's sum this up.....BOOZE!!

6. Trashy celeb mags (OMGZ you guys, Selena and Justin BROKE UP!! WTH??)

7.  Push up bras

This is an apology to all the men for the Ryan Gosling and Daniel Craig pics coming up soon.

8. Having to turn in my geek card because I just don't find "The Big Bang Theory" funny and I'm not afraid to admit it.

Take aim, geeks. If you dare.

9. Illegal mind altering substances. Lying

10. Daniel Craig in very tiny blue swim shorts. Did you forget what that looked like? Oh, by all means, allow me to remind you.

You. are. welcome. ladies. Told you boys.

11. Living in Mayfair (Awwwww!! Baaaaarf. Get a room!)

12. My twisted sense of humor.

13. The military, police and firefighters who put themselves on the line everyday to keep my sarcastic ass safe.

14. The fact that the "Elf on the Shelf" will make policing my kids much easier over the next couple of weeks because nothing screams Christmas more than living in a tinsel covered Nazi-state.

15. This picture:

An aside: Do you know how much crap I'm going to catch from the hubs for this? He is inexplicably jealous of my love for Ryan Gosling in a suit (ONLY in the suit--otherwise, meh.). Because clearly RG and I will meet one day and run off together. HA!

16. The Grey Lodge Pub's random beer events and the fact that Quizzo is always on Wednesday night at 8pm. When you're finally hungry again on Friday, November 23rd from 6pm – 9pm the GLP is hosting the "Oskar (Blues) the Grouch" beer event. Oskar will be coming to the Grey Lodge with his (or is her) garbage can and grouchy attitude. Wait a second....please note, this is NOT a kids event. It's a BEER event. Scoats is going to be so confused when tons of kids start filing into the bar and they start yelling about how the MBA blogger told them Oscar the Grouch is going to be here. No little green grouch in a trash can but there will be Oskar Blues beers in cans and on draft. Brought to you today by the letter A for awesome and the number 6, for the minimal amount of beers you should consume.

17. The fact that Sue Tanzler was Torresdale Flowers winner of the Candy Corn Contest. There were 987 candy corn in the jar and Sue guessed 982. Lucky Sue will have a beautiful Thanksgiving centerpiece sent to her home on Wednesday. Do not forget to order your Thanksgiving flowers from Torresdale Flowers. They will be delivering all day Wednesday. Call Torresdale Flowers at (215) 338-5990. 

18. The upcoming Mayfair Christmas Village/Craft Fair. Thirty plus vendors with great holiday gifts! Candles, baked goods (that probably won't last til Christmas), bags, handmade ornaments, handmade jewelry, organic bath and body products...come and get it! Sunday, December 2, 2012 from 1pm to 4pm.

 19. Mayfair Christmas Tree Lighting right AFTER the Mayfair Christmas Village/Craft Fair. Festivities will start at 4 with the tree lighting at dusk. A great family friendly event with songs, Santa Claus and holiday cheer. Make sure to try and spread the cheer by bringing a new, unwrapped toy for our Toys For Tots organized by MBA member  and Avenue Chiropractic owner, Anne Marie Muldoon. We will also be collecting gently used books and DVD collection for Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. A great opportunity to make some space for any new Christmas goodies and put the older ones to good use!

Christmas. You're doing it right.

20. I don't work retail on Thanksgiving or Black Friday anymore.