MARCH GATHERING

On March 13, at 7:00 pm, we'll be snacking out at Howayda's home while watching CHILDREN OF HEAVEN, a delightful story about a pair of shoes. In 1998 it was nominated for an academy award for best foreign language film. If a copy of this movie can't be located, we'll watch a different one from our list. Howayda will be treating us to some of her traditional desserts, in addition to chips and nuts. Incidentally, March 13 is Howayda's twenty-first wedding anniversary. We owe her patient husband a word of thanks for delaying their celebration by one day.

What can you bring? Your sweet self, a friend if you like, and any snack food that you'd like to share and business clothing that you no longer need (see below). RSVP to Howayda by email, phone, or through comments here.

Sandy C. made me aware of another women's organization that I encourage you to support. DRESS FOR SUCCESS promotes economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire and career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. We can help by donating our clean, nearly new-looking business apparel (sizes xs, s, and xl are most needed at this time): suits, blouses, skirts, blazers, shoes, and accessories. So rummage through your closet and bring whatever you care to donate to one of our gatherings and we'll get it to the organization or donate directly to the Triangle chapter, www.dressforsuccess.org/.

LOOKING AHEAD -
April 10: Tickets for our April event are $5 (museum members and those age 65 and over pay only $3.50). They can be purchased by stopping by or calling the NC Museum of Art, 839-6262 (ask for the box office). If ordering my phone there is an additional $3.00 convenience fee. The art museum is closed on Mondays. Tickets do sell out, so don't procrastinate. We'll see A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN, a 1945 film based on Betty Smith's fictionalized memoir. The author of her biography will discuss the film adaptation. The movie begins at 8:00 pm, preceded by live music and the lobby wine bar beginning at 5:30 pm. A free guided museum tour begins at 6:30 pm.
May 8: We'll gather for a movie at the Raleighwood dinner theatre or at the Blue Ridge 14 where cheap seats rule.
-Peggy Wolf

photo by Hamed Saber

RERUN 2/13/09

I'm not sure what I expected, especially since SEX is right there in bold letters on the DVD cover of SEX AND THE CITY. No one would ever call me a prude, but for someone who's seen only boy-and-dog and car-chase movies for the past 20 years, I was surprised by how little, if anything, was left to the imagination in this popular film. It was a truly enjoyable flick that featured fashion, fun, and relationships, interwoven with truths, humor, and fantasy.

“But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you you love, well, that's just fabulous.” I don't remember this quote from the movie, so it may have come from one of the TV episodes, but I'm posting it here because of it's pertinence.

Dawn, who endured my cats' dander, and her friend Mary Frances who drove in from Durham, along with Cheryl, Marcy, Kim, Lee, Sandy C., and I supped on soup before we hunkered down for the movie. We took a pause midway so Cheryl could share her chocolate martini kit, a Christmas gift, with us. What's not to like about a chilled martini glass double dipped, first in chocolate syrup, then in cinnamon and filled with a yummy chocolate concoction and topped with whipped cream and a sprinkling of chocolate shavings? Deliciously decadent!

Unbeknownst to Lee, or anyone else, the day before we gathered I finished writing a chapter in my novel, SOLO FLIGHT, that mentions nonpareils and a mouse. So what does Lee bring? Nonpareils! I remained on the outlook for a mouse the rest of the evening.

Due to some miscommunication with Cheryl, I was the only one wearing "outrageous fashion." But it wasn't only the fashion that was outrageous, Sandy introduced us to a local organiztion called SWOOP (Strong Women Organizing Outrageous Projects). SWOOP fills three purposes. 1) To help persons in need: elderly, low-income, disabled, or simply overwhelmed. 2) To better ourselves in body, mind, and spirit, by bettering the lot of others. 3) To build community among women by providing opportunities for networking and fun. Check it out at http://www.swoop4u.org/public and sign-up online if you care to volunteer on the second Saturday of a month a few times a year. In addition to helping persons in need, you may also learn a new skill and make more friends to love the you that you love and maybe even the you that you don't love so much.
-Peggy Wolf

FEBRUARY GATHERING

On Friday, February 13, come to my home in the country to see SEX IN THE CITY. We'll gather for chatting and cocktails (cosmopolitans of course), between 6:30 and 7:00 pm, followed by a souper supper of crab bisque and corn chowder. I hope to get the show underway by 7:30 as it runs 2 1/2 hours. Dessert will be cream drinks served toward the end of the movie.

This film is a follow-up to the TV show that aired from 1998-2004 and continues to permeate popular culture. Even though I haven't seen even a single episode, Kim assures me that I'm going to love it. From what I've heard of it, I think I lived it in a previous lifetime, like during the 1970's.

What can you bring? You, and a friend if you like, a big appetite for fun and food, and pony up five bucks to help cover the cost. Let me know if you own a copy of the film that you can bring otherwise I'll rent it.

Please RSVP by commenting on this blog or by emailing me directly.

LOOKING AHEAD - March 13: undecided - any ideas? April 10: NC Museum of Art from the Winter Film Series, A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN. 1945 film based on Betty Smith's fictionalized memoir. The author of her biography will discuss the film adaptation. We'll need to buy tickets in advance as they sell out quickly. More details later. Thanks to Louise for making me aware of this museum program.
-Peggy Wolf

photo by maggiejumps

RERUN 1/23/09

Seven of us kicked off our first Gal Pal Gathering at my home on Friday, January 23. The salad bar held almost every salad ingredient known to women. We stuffed ourselves before the movie while getting to know each other and nibbled on Cheryl’s homemade cookies while watching AWAY FROM HER. We can thank Barbara for supplying the DVD and her home-canned pickled beets. Howayda treated us to her delicious homemade humus and Louise introduced rice crackers to some who had never tasted them. We almost had to send out a search party for Karla, but after an extensive tour of Rolesville and beyond, she got here just in time for the flick. Sandy C. and Louise, both NY transplants, found they knew places in common from "back home." Another small-world proof is that Sandy's parents live just down the road from me.

Since the subject of the award winning film, AWAY FROM HER, is Alzheimer's disease, as you can expect, it was not a barrel of laughs. This heavy topic was seen through the relationship of a couple married almost fifty-years and how they coped. At age 65, Julie Christie's beauty and acting abilities haven't faded.

Louise, who works with Alzheimer's patients, informed us of changes in the approach to patient care since this movie was made in 2006. Due to Cheryl's keen observation we "got" some things we might have otherwise missed in the film. After preparing a salad "doggy bag," everyone headed out into the night to find their way home.
-Peggy Wolf

GAL PAL KICK-OFF

January 21, 2009

Our first Gal Pal Gathering will be at 7:00 PM on Friday, January 23, at my house. We'll do a salad bar and watch the 2006 movie AWAY FROM HER starring Julie Christie.

If you can't make this one, plan to come to the next gathering on Friday, February 13.
-Peggy Wolf

photo by mikebaird

GAL PAL INAUGURAL

January 20, 2009 - - from Peggy Wolf

Some of us gals from the Triangle Area talked for too long about getting together on a regular basis to see chick-flicks and do other fun stuff. I'm taking the initiative and doing something about it right here and now.

How about gathering for movies-in (my home or yours with dinner or simply popcorn and drinks or cookies and cocoa) and movies-out (Raleighwood with a pitcher of beer and a boatload of popcorn, the cheap seats at the Blue Ridge 14, outdoor movies on the lawn of the art museum, or maybe an opening night of a first-run flick)? It's up to you.

With the exception of this month, let’s claim the second Friday of each month as our Gal Pal night, with flexibility of course. While I'd like to keep the focus on chick-flicks, I can also see us networking and making new friends while seeing a play, going to an art gallery opening, visiting the big cats in Pittsboro, taking a cruise, having speakers share their wisdom, doing a beach weekend, having a board game or card game night, hiking Pilot Mountain, climbing the Alps, okay so the sky's the limit, but maybe not that high.

We could adopt a cause or do a benefit (my favorite is Wake Teen Medical Services annual shoe auction and benefit luncheon in September), and just to stir things up a bit, we could have an annual Testosterone Night by bringing husbands, male friends, or blind dates to the SPCA fur ball in the fall.

I have big plans for us, but most of all it's all about us girls just wanting to have fun. If doing something like this interests you and you think you can fit it into your busy schedule from time to time, we'd love to have you join us.

Our inaugural roster is below. This list is open and ongoing so feel free to bring any friend that registers high on the estrogen scale (present or past). I know we won't all be able to participate all the time, but come when you can to what moves you. If you don't feel these gatherings will fit into your life at this time, let me know so I can remove you from our roster, but do know that you'll be missed.

PRESENT GAL PALS: Barbara, Cheryl, Cyndy, Dawn, Howayda, Karla, Kim, Lee, Lois, Louise, Lynn, Marcy, Peggy, Perri, Sandy A, Sandy C, Sharon, Susan, Suzanne

photo by freeparking