This is my job. I do what I have to do.

We began our night at the Saint Agnes Caritas Gala. There was a silent auction; I bid on salsa dancing lessons for $50...but someone outbid me by another $50 and I had to let it go...so sad...

And then the shawl comes off...

Have you ever seen fire and ice? How about Amish outlaws? The American Visionary Art Museum’s Afterglow party was full of oxymorons, but it couldn’t have been more entertaining.

On Saturday night, the American Visionary Art Museum (the same museum where you’ve seen me at The Steps for the Cure) held its annual fundraising dinner for museum members and friends. After the dinner, came the AfterGlow! I saw the shiny, the shimmery, the day-glo, the go-go and even the battery-operated! Complete with glow-in-the-dark hoola hoopers, glow-in-the-dark girls on stilts, black lights and glow-in-the-dark body painters, the party was a cross-pollination of a circus act and Mardi Gras. The open bar and beer hut completed the evening with free libations for all hippies young and old.


There were a few firsts for me here. For one, until Afterglow, I’d never been painted glow-in-the-dark. Also, I had never eaten a chocolate-covered marshmallow. I had never seen siblings dressed as jellyfish. I had never tasted mango rum before. I had never seen a topless woman painted completely glow-in-the-dark with only stars covering her nipples. Or a bald man with a glow-in-the-dark eyeball painted on the top of his head, for that matter. Well, check these off the list of things to do before I die.

All in all, the event was quite a spectacle, but tons of fun and very entertaining. I can't wait until next year's!



The woman who painted me!:

All done!:

Amy Burke & I at Afterglow:


xo,
Bridget Marie

Ah, the roller coaster of life

Life can be such a roller coaster. I know you’re probably rolling your eyes right now, as this could be the ten millionth time you’ve heard that metaphor. But the truth is, you don’t really get it, until it really happens to you. I just experienced my first, real-life, pain-staking, breath-taking, stomach-in-your-throat drop off of this metaphorical 950-foot-high roller coaster. For the uninitiated, it’s not as fun as it sounds. Okay, perhaps 950-feet is a tad dramatic, but that's certainly what it feels like when you're in the middle of the mess of it all.

Here’s the Reader’s Digest version: Girl falls in love with boy. Girl and boy get two dachshunds. Girl, boy and dachshunds make a great family. Girl and boy decide to buy a house together. Girl and boy find dream home. Two days before settlement on dream home, girl and boy are absolutely devastated to hear paperwork has gone back to underwriting. Girl is heartbroken to find out that her credit, or lack thereof, is partly to blame.

All of a sudden, because my credit score (nearly perfect of 786, might I add!) is “invalid” because there were only two lines of credit on the report. I just went from the first person, to the third person, and then back to the first person; still following? Anyway, there were only two lines of credit, because well, that’s all I have. Then they tell me that I need two additional lines of credit (something I’ve been paying money on monthly for at least 12 months). What am I supposed to do? Grab these imaginary lines of credit right out of thin air? So after scraping the bottom of the barrel, I came up with my apartment (which I pay rent for every month), and my Baltimore Gas & Electric bill (also monthly).

I feel as though I am being punished for having good credit. I never wanted a credit card because I never wanted to get myself into a debt situation. Meanwhile, 7 out of 10 people my age are up to their ears in it. Still, because I have no debt, my credit score is unacceptable. In what world does that make sense?

Now, I’m not sure at this point how the Reader’s Digest version will end; no one ever really does. I pray that it ends in “happily ever after,” but could it be too good to be true? Hold on to your knickers; this roller coaster may be taking a turn for the worst. I’m not sure I trust the calculations of physics on this ride…

Buckling my seatbelt and pulling down the shoulder bars,

Bridget Marie


xo,
Bridget Marie

P.s. This is my 55th post! ; - )
I've taken a very long blog break, but I just wanted to give everyone an update on what's going on with the home-buying process. I'll keep you all updated as things progress. If you're looking for constant, minute-to-minute updates, you can follow me on Twitter @ twitter.com/bridgetforney (just click on the title of this post to be redirected there). Keep us in your prayers!