Yesterday, Jake and I woke up and had the dawning realization that things were going to be a lot harder than they had been the past week. Grandma was gone. NOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Grandma Jolene left Saturday afternoon and we all had a hard time saying goodbye, especially the girls, who had been spoiled rotten all week. At least her leaving on the weekend made it an easier transition for me since Jake was there to help out. Once Monday morning hit, however, it was back to reality as I transitioned from having help with the girls, laundry folded and dinner made to flying solo.The days following Grandma’s departure always seem like the days following a grand vacation…one day you were in paradise, sipping smoothies and reading your favorite brainless book club novel, and the next, you are back at work, bracing your sanity as your boss yells at you (or in this case, two little bosses demanding your attention!)
Grandma with Amelia.
Without Grandma here last week, we never would have been able to put together our costumes for the 1920s-themed murder mystery costume party to which we were invited. After finding inspiration for our costumes online (thanks, Kati!), Grandma watched the girls for an afternoon while we tore apart Goodwill looking for the perfect outfit. Jake found his hat and large mobster-looking suit coat, while I found my dress and shoes for under $15. Since the party was outdoors, I also picked up a 20s-looking fur coat at Ross.
Later in the week, Grandma and I took the twins out for a field trip to Hobby Lobby to find some fringe and beading for the dress. It was a good thing Grandma was here, because there is no way I could have sewed the fringe/beading on myself…I probably would have ended up hot gluing it since I have no sewing skills whatsoever. I literally had to buy straight pins, needles and thread for my mom to sew with since I didn’t have any in the house!
Anyway, in between cuddling, feeding and playing with babies all day, Grandma sewed the perfect touches onto my dress and voila! Transformed into a flapper dress! I absolutely love how it turned out and hope I can use it on another occasion!
After buying a cheap set of pearls and cigarette holder off Amazon and sticking some feathers in one of the girls’ headbands I borrowed, my transformation into “Flirty Flapper” was complete! Yep, that was the official name of my assigned character for the party. A few weeks prior, the hosts had sent us an invite to “Murder at the Juice Joint” along with our assigned character descriptions. Jake was supposed to transform into Mugsy Malone, the second in command to Chicago’s lead mob boss, Notorious Nick, while I was assigned Flirty Flapper, a thoroughly modern woman of the 20s, hungry for power and the object of Mugsy’s affection.
Even though the girls didn’t come to the party with us, they had fun dressing up for some 20s-themed family photos!
After we tearfully sent Grandma off back to Utah on the plane, we were fortunate enough to have the girls’ Great Aunty Lynn and Great Uncle Steve come over to babysit the twins while we were at the party. We had the girls bathed and ready for bed when they arrived at 7:15, and hoped the girls would go right to sleep. This was Samantha and Amelia’s first time being watched by someone other than Grandma, and even though I knew they were left in very capable hands, I still found myself checking my phone every five minutes at the party!
Apparently, after we left, the twins were almost asleep when Samantha started screaming. Amelia chimed in a few minutes later…bless my aunt’s heart…when I texted her to ask if the girls had fallen asleep, she replied they had and to not worry, but to have fun at the party! Fortunately, Great Uncle Steve had the magic touch and managed to calm both of them down enough to fall asleep. On the bright side, lots of bonding happened!
We were so grateful that the girls were being cared for by their Great Uncle and Aunt, allowing us to have a blast at the party. Upon entering our friends’ backyard, we were catapulted into the 1920s. We had to use the “back entrance” since the party was located in a “speakeasy” (an illegal bar selling bootleg liquor). Walking past the prohibition posters up everywhere, we had to give the password “bees knees” to the bouncer before being let onto the patio which was decked out with amazing string lights, a 1920s-looking bar, and a real 1920s phonograph that our friends, amazingly enough, found off of Craig’s List. They seriously went all out! There were tables set up outside for us to enjoy our dinner and dessert, as well as mingle with the other sixteen guests. I really wish we had pictures since the decor and other costumes were amazing, but since it was outside in the dark, my phone didn’t really take any good ones.
After chatting with the “bartender,” the joint’s owner, Rosie Marie, the detective, police chief, rival mob leader, Southside Sal, and other characters, we were each given an envelope which contained information we were supposed to divulge at some point during the party. I was supposed to tell Mugsy that even though he was sweet on me, he wasn’t the”big cheese” I was hoping to attract in order to advance my own power. I was also instructed to tell the Mayor’s wife that her husband was “doing a great job.” Hmmmm…interesting….
Everyone was supposed to act their part and speak in 20s lingo. Jake (or, should I say, Mugsy) took his role seriously and could be found calling me “toots” or “dollface” at any given moment.
Halfway through dinner, “Notorious Nick” got up to make a speech and was shot. From then on, the detective character showed us a bunch of evidence (the murder weapon belonging to one of the other guests, Nick’s payroll ledger, and other incriminating evidence against others who had motivation to murder him) and we were given new envelopes with information we needed to divulge as we mingled with guests to try and figure out who the murderer was. I had to yell loudly to Mugsy that murdering was no way to get my attention, which led many guests to believe he was the murderer. It was pretty hard to narrow down whodunnit with so many different characters and motivations. I’m pretty uncompetitive, so I just mostly chit chatted with the other guests, while Mugsy interrogated everyone for information. In the end, neither Mugsy nor myself guessed that it was, indeed, the police chief who had murdered Nick. Gasp! Dun…dun….dunnnnn.
The party really was the “bees knees” and we had a great time! It was nice to come home and kiss our sweet angels (event though they hadn’t been angels for their sitters!) in their little cribs too. The next morning, the twins told us they were pretty disappointed that they didn’t get to come with and show off their outfits, but were glad mommy and daddy had a nice break. Maybe next year, girls!
Lots of love,
This is all so amazing!!! What a fun time! You look phenomenal!
Thanks Kati!