Carmen Goes Off The Hook

July 29, 2015

Posing with some new friends. 

There is one thing this little cannoli really enjoys and that is good…off the hook comedy! So I traveled to Naples with my friends Debbie and Jacob to see some live and in person comedians. What a thrill! We do not have many comedians back in my village.  We cannoli’s are not known for being funny…sweet yes…funny not so much! 

We went to the Off The Hook Comedy Club which is located in Row Seafood by Capt. Brien and Crew. Let me tell ya he has one heck of a crew too.  The drinks are most yummy. Yes I did have my all-time favorite White Russian but the martini’s looked yummy to. The food is also really good. Sometimes you go to a comedy club and you get bar food but not here. One can have dinner and see a show. Now that is my idea of a good time…good food and drinks with friends and a live comedy show. Ahh life in SWFL! 

Me and Frank Del Pizzo

 The opening act was a paisan Frank Del Pizzo. He is a Jersey Boy. Now most opening acts well sometimes they are not so good…but Frank was hilarious! I laughed so hard as he would pick on people in the audience… luckily I am small enough he could not see me. Most were good sports about it but some well they tried to be as funny as Frank and this was an epic fail…never mess with a comedian especially if they are Italian and from New Jersey! 

 

Me and Adam Hunter...what a cutie!

The headliner was a little cutie Adam Hunter…he has that little boy cute look to him and the girls in the audience seemed to find him attractive….judging by how many want to meet him after the show. His show is not for the faint of heart and is rather sexual…lordy the things he talked about this cannoli had no idea people did such things….cannoli’s would never do such things….. ok maybe we do but we never talk about them…ok maybe we do but never in public…At first I thought I was the only one who did not understand his jokes but he did explain them from time to time but then I figured out it was part of his act.

After the show I got to meet both Frank and Adam as well as one of the owners Santo and his lovely wife…Capt. Brien was not there after the show...sigh…as I was so looking forward to meeting him. I also met some fans of Adam. Austin in particular was most interesting and taught me all about MMA fighting. He was a huge fan of it and so is Adam who does podcasts during the fights. Apparently it has a huge following. Us cannoli’s are rather a peaceful lot so we have no such thing back in our village. 

It was a really great evening and I so love meeting famous people, they never seem to mind having their picture taken with me. There were these 2 girls who were really frightened of me. One was from England and the other Alabama. They have never seen a cannoli before and I guess my beauty was too much for them….either that or they have no sense of humor.

I rather liked Off The Hook Comedy club and plan to return to see another show. My next planned adventure is going to be on August 9 when I will be meeting many WWII veterans at a Spirit of 45 event. But you never know where I will be showing up….so when you see me…stop and say hello and have your picture taken with me. I love to have my picture taken. 

Carmen

Carmen Plays Drag Queen Bingo

June 5 2015

I has been sometime since my last adventure but I am happy to say that I back in SWFL and ready for my next adventure!

A few weeks ago I got invited to attend a fundraising event by my friend Eryka. In August she is having an event for WWII veterans and was having this fundraising event so she can honor these veterans at no cost to them. So how could I turn down an invite for such a worthy cause????

The problem for this cannoli was I had no idea what Drag Queen Bingo was…if fact what is a Drag Queen… now don’t laugh…back in my little village I have never seen a Drag Queen but I must admit the ladies from where I come from do have the same fashion sense as these two ladies did!

We do not play much bingo in my village as pinochle is much more popular. They tournaments that last for days. However I have played bingo before so at least that would be familiar to me. Thank goodness though that many other friends were also there! Karyn Brooks was celebrating her 50^th birthday. She looks good for 50!!! So altogether there were about 12 of us who wanted to help Eryka out…. And do some celebrating.

It was a real joy and delight to meet Bootsey Cloverdale and Lady Licious our hostesses and Bingo gals for the evening. I can’t recall the last time I have seen so much bling on one person…and we all know how much I love my bling! Both ladies were gracious enough to pose for pictures with me! I wonder who does their makeup and those wigs…wow!!!!

Carmen Goes Lawnmower Pulling

April 18 2015

I never heard of lawnmower pulling before arriving in SWFL. So when my friend Roger Warren asked me to come by and see one….I just had to go and see what this is all about. Back in my village we do not do such things. Lawn bowling or bocce ball yes but lawnmower pulling never crossed our minds. 

So what is lawnmower pulling? Well basically you know the riding lawnmowers, they attach two together via a long strap and engage in a tug of war. So one driver tries to pull the other over the mark which amounts to a few feet. So I guess you can say it is a tug of war with riding lawnmowers. I was anxious to see what this is all about and why anybody would do this.

On the day I went it was a fundraiser for a local middle school girl who is battling Leukemia. Her name is Katelynn Rich. The Fraternal Order of Eagles organization in Lehigh Acres had a whole day event going on to raise funds for her. They had an auction, 50/50 raffle, food, games and the lawnmower pulling. Oh and a bake sale. I had to stay away from that….my girlish figure ya know!

They had tents sent up and there was a huge crowd. Even the Lehigh Acres Fire Rescue were on hand. I had heard that the fire men in SWFL are so handsome that they even pose for a calendar. Well it is true as these Lehigh Rescuers were real cuties… one was even Italian although he never heard of my village. I just had to have my picture taken with them. I also saw another friend Melissa….she was busy getting people to buy 50/50 tickets. The Eagles really did a great job….they had so many auction items that the poor auctioneer was losing his voice. It lasted for hours and raised over $5000!!!

I got to meet young Katelynn. She is a very gracious young lady and was so grateful for what everyone was doing to help her. Much like in our village the community came out to support someone in need. It was nice to see that. I miss that about my village.

So anyway….There is this group called SWFL Lawnmower Pullers who hold these lawnmower pulling contests so they were on hand and were raffling off a lawnmower for pulling. So I just had to ask them about these lawnmowers because they were of all different sizes. All the lawnmowers including the weight of the driver has to weigh in at 1,000 lbs. That is more than the total weight of everybody in my little village.

The contest involves drawing numbers to see who pulls against who. They do 2 out of 3 in a double elimination. There were 24 pullers that day. I really wanted to try my hand at it but they were all just too big for me. I did find one small enough but there was nobody else to pull against. They do have children pulling over the age of 8, under that they have a parent walk along side. I did speak with one young man of the age of 9 and asked him why he liked it so much and he said it was driving the lawnmower he liked best.

I was not sure why all the others do it…I mean…..picture it 2 1,000 pound machines each pulling in the opposite direction. That is until you see these machines begin to do wheelies, shake, rattle, and jump up and down….side to side… it is something to see. I tried to figure out what one had to do to be the winner of the tug of war…I guess it has to do with being quick on the gas??? Driving skills???

They keep pulling and pulling and pulling until they have winners in 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place. So we are talking about hours of pulling and pulling and more pulling. I was very excited that my friend Roger won 1^st place that day. They also raised over $2,000 on the raffle for the lawnmower suitable for pulling that was won by Sunshine Rethurford. Overall over $9,000 was raised that day. That is a lot of money that I am sure will be put to good use.

So the lawnmower pullers can be found most Saturdays having their tug of wars with 1,000 pound machines around Lehigh Acres and other locations. You can find them on Facebook at SWFLLawnmower Pullers….if you want to check them out. You can find out more about the Fraternal Order of Eagles on Facebook at FOE3983  

She traveled from Sarasota!!!

The Rat Mobile

Even little ones participate 

Tugging for a win! 

Carmen Goes To A Wedding

March 1 2015

I was absolutely so tickled to have been invited to the wedding of my new friends Elena and Steven. I met them several months ago through the nice people of What's Up SWFL. They are a delightful young couple, so much fun and I really enjoyed meeting them. I never expected to be invited to their wedding though.

Back in my village, weddings are a really really big deal. The whole village celebrates together. It is always a day to remember. The wedding party is always at least 20 people....ring bearer and flower girl, junior bride and groom, bridesmaids, ushers, maid of honor, matron of honor, best man. The reason for this is because our families are so big and all our brothers, sisters, cousins are all part of the wedding party. There is dancing and eating and dancing and even more eating. The decorations are all fresh flowers and the wedding favors are candies. The cake is always large enough to feed an army. We can't forget the cookies and pastries either. Even after the wedding reception is over, the brides parents has the 2 families over for sandwiches, cookies, espresso and adult beverages.. Sometimes the bride and groom will join the party as well. It is an all day and night party!!!!
 

So I was excited to see what a SWFL wedding is like. This wedding was an outdoor wedding at a local park. The reception was picnic style. The weather was perfect at first anyway. There were sunflowers everywhere....all blue and yellow decorations...it was nothing like I have ever seen before. It was close to this lake...odd thing about the lake there was no beach to speak of and you can't swim in it. Why have a lake if you can't swim in it. I did hear some one say there were gator's in it. I was not sure what a gator was until I was told it was southern speak for alligator. Apparently in the south they shorten words for some unknown reason. Any way back to the wedding....the ceremony was performed by a Miss Donna who is a friend of the nice folks of What's Up SWFL. The Bride was given away by David of What's Up SWFL and he also made the cake for them. The Bridal Party was small with a flower girl and ring bearer, 2 bridesmaids, 2 ushers, best man and a maid of honor. Funny thing about this wedding, the bride is Italian and the groom is Greek. So I was excited as I had never been to a Greek wedding either.  

The Bride and her girls were so pretty and the groom and his crew were very casual, I guess cause it was an outdoor wedding. The ceremony was very inspirational. There were no dry eyes that is for sure. Right after the 'I Do's' the rain and wind came. They say it is good luck! Good thing we were undercover. So is this sand ceremony thing something done only at SWFL weddings? Ya know the sand, the beach??? I have never seen this before. It is actually very sweet and symbolic of 2 becoming 1.

When it came to the dancing...please explain to me this Chicken Dance thing. Why do people do this? At a wedding no less? In fact all the group dances left me scratching me little head. The grooms family did do a traditional Greek wedding dance but there were no Italian dances. I do like to dance but those line dances were impossible for this cannoli..... hopping, jumping, twerking, flapping, cha cha'ing.....it was great fun to watch!

The food was plenty, the cake delish. No adult beverages however I guess the park does not allow them...sigh! I did try to catch the bouquet but it was thrown way over my head. Overall it was a great wedding and I am glad I got to be a part of it! Everybody was so happy and having a good time celebrating with the Bride and Groom! I wish them much love always...in all ways! 

Carmen.

Carmen Goes To A ParTEA

February 22, 2015  

 There is one thing that I really love and that is coffee. Back in my little village drinking coffee is a social event. We have family and friends over for coffee and pastries. We visit at little café’s and will linger for hours visiting with friends as they stroll by. So when I was invited to a Tea Party, I was eager to go and experience what ladies do at a tea party. 

Upon arriving I was greeted by Connie one of the hostesses. She owns Lightening Appraisal Services. She directed towards where all the ladies were gathered. I was fashionably late after getting a wee bit lost. Helps if I could read signs….but anyway I was then greeted by Karyn the other hostess. Karyn, I have met many times and she is the Grand Dame of Quarter Auctions. She gave me my name tag which I could not wear as it would have cracked my shell…. I was then introduced to Bettyann or BA as she is called. BA is the queen of tea parties. There were so many ladies there enjoying their tea, chatting and nibbling on some divine snacks.

I have not been to the inside of many homes in SWFL yet so I was so amazed as there was a pool and a pond with a waterfall. There was also another area which I think was called an aviary? It was perfect weather to be outside. While chatting with the ladies they explained that the Florida lifestyle involves sitting around the pool sipping on adult beverages with family and friends. In my village we sit in cafe’s, here they sit by a swimming pool. All the ladies were curious as to what my story was as they have never met a cannoli before. I must say I enjoyed chatting with them all. Debbie and her daughter Tenee who do 31 or is it Origami Owl or is it both??? I get so confused sometimes… I also met Diane who makes these mesh wreaths and more. There was also a gal there and I did not get her name who makes her own honey… these ladies sure had interesting jobs.

  

After a bit BA brought us to where her display was. Wow I never knew there were so many different types of teas. I did try a wild berry one that was mixed with ginger ale…. Well I got to thinking that this could be added to some wine to make a Sangria! Now we are talking!!!! I am looking forward to tying that recipe!!!! It was so tasty that I just had to order some. Now I am not into steeping tea. A process BA explained but is not for this cannoli…too much work! However they did have them in their version of a tea bag which is more suited to my cannoli lifestyle. They also have all sorts of other products and even some products you mix with cream cheese for a tasty snack! 

When the partea was over we each were given a sample of one of their tasty snack mixes. I received BLT...gotta love the bacon…and we also received a tea cup with a homemade candle in it. Connie what a tealightful idea! I can’t recall the last time I went to a partea and left with so many gifts….well except for my birthday that is! 

Even though I am a coffee lover, I must say tea has come a long way and I am looking forward to making some sangria with it! Thanks Ladies for showing this cannoli a great time!

Carmen