Pleasant Evening Outing

We had a pleasant outing yesterday evening. It started at 5 p.m., when we went to the local community college for an event aimed mainly at women. Various businesses promoting their goods and services offered participants chances to register for prizes and gave away sample goodies like chocolates, chocolate dipped strawberries, sparkling drinks, and finger foods. We were good and resisted eating or drinking anything.

The vendors competed with each other in presenting elegant booth displays, and most of them gave little token gifts, like notepads, pens, pencils, purse-size sewing kits, sample packages of scented bath salts, sample tea and coffee packets, bite-size wrapped chocolates, silk butterflies, and even a tape measure with a built-in level. Mother won a small prize at one of the bank boothes...a device for hanging sunglasses on a car visor.

The two-hour event included a fashion show, but we could only stay for an hour before we needed to leave and go to the local hunting lodge for dinner and a "stay the course" talk by a financial advisor. The advisor's job was to quell investor fears about the current downturned economy.

As usual, the meal at the lodge was very good, if not in line with our diet. We knew the food here would be richer than we're used to, and that's why Mother and I didn't indulge in the yummies at the women's event.

The menu included a mixed greens salad with sliced stawberries, Craisins, and walnuts tossed with a sweet dressing, pork roast slices, chicken breasts with a cheese topping, herbed mashed potatoes, whole kernel corn in a cream cheese sauce, cut green beans, and yeast rolls. Dessert was a choice of strawberry shortcake, or brownie topped with ice cream and chocolate sauce. Since we hadn't indulged in the chocolates at the women's event, Mother and I opted for the chocolate brownie dessert.

Door prize drawings followed dinner. Mother won a package of Starbucks Vanilla Coffee Bean Truffles. Hubbie won a ball cap. Moi won nothing again, but Mother said she'd share her truffles with me.