LET'S ERADICATE HUMAN TRAFFICKING

I LOVE to have FUN

I LOVE to BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER and 

I LOVE to do something good for THOSE IN NEED

Last night at my home was a SUCCESS 

Friends cleared out their JEWELRY boxes and found DRESSES in their closets to donate to DRESS FOR A GOOD CAUSE, a fundraising event in APRIL to assist young women and girls who have recovered from a HUMAN TRAFFICKING situation and need help to STAY SAFE. They need lodging, social skills, confidence-building and basic needs of living.  

CAROL METZKER and the STAFF of THE SALVATION ARMY'S NEW DAY TO STOP TRAFFICKING PROGRAM have worked tirelessly to provide assistance and survival skills to these young girls. Many are as young as 13 when they find themselves leaving their family for whatever reason (abuse, broken families etc), out on the streets, wooed by MEN who know how give them the ATTENTION they are craving - to make them feel "PRETTY", make them feel "LOVED" and then they are "HOOKED". Their lives become ruled by these men who actively run SEX TRAFFICKING RINGS right here in the United States.  Yes, there are situations like this all over the world, but right here in the PHILADELPHIA area, even CHESTER COUNTY we have young girls in this situation.

Sooooo, a little food, a little wine, a little friendship in my home...... while CAROL shared stories with 15 OF US and broadened our awareness of the tragic situations many young girls are finding themselves in, right here in our local area.

We gladly PURGED our jewelry boxes and closets to donate to their APRIL fundraiser.  And many were inspired to write a check to the cause.  

OK, OK, of course you want the details of where to send money!! (Yeah, this is a "plug".....)

• Checks payable to - TSA/NEW DAY
• Mail to - Carol Metzker, 1109 Forsyth Lane, W. Chester, PA  19382
• Websites - 
• www.facebook.com/newdaytostoptrafficking
• www.facebook.com/dressforagoodcause
• http://www.facingthemonster.com/
• And if you're a "reader", CAROL'S book, "FACING THE MONSTER" is compelling (available at B&N and AMAZON)

One of the "MOST INTERESTING" moments of a get-together with friends can be facing the kitchen THE MORNING AFTER. You know what I mean?

My FAVORITE "FIND" this morning was this lone WINE GLASS........

CHEERS!!

JOAN

LUNCH WITH ALEX

This MAN can set a table!!

He keeps his home decorated for CHRISTMAS for an extended period of time, so his table was also set with traditional RED and GREEN.

NIBBLES when we arrived -a sit-down lunch, then a unique dessert...........

HEALTHY HEALTHY - quiche, asparagus and roasted potatoes

A dessert I had never heard of - JAPANESE MOCHI ICE CREAM (pounded sticky rice filled with ice cream) with sliced STRAWBERRIES. This MOCHI was a filled with strawberry ice cream (of course). Unique and different (can be found at TRADER JOE'S).

"ALEX'S THING" is to create and place next to each plate, an INDIVIDUAL FLOWER ARRANGEMENT for each guest to take home. How beautiful and thoughtful is this?!!

Don't you wish YOU were ALEX'S Friend??

JOAN

"THE DAY I ALMOST BLEW UP MY BOOK CLUB"

     Photo from Fine Art Photography/Getty images

OPRAH.com shared a comical article today about BOOK CLUBS, written by LIESL SCHILLINGER.  It made me chuckle........

In none of the 4 BOOK CLUBS that I attend have we ever had such a stormy discussion, but I can see where PASSION OF OPINION could occur.

Click HERE to read it. Let me know if you found it as humorous as I did. AND have you read the books that caused all of the ruckus? I haven't. Yet.

JOAN

WE WITNESSED PARANORMAL ACTIVITY IN SAVANNAH!!!

In my last post I began with a description of our recent trip to SAVANNAH, GA and BEAUFORT, SC, two of AMERICA'S MOST HAUNTED CITIES. And I purposely left you with a "CLIFF-HANGER". Get ready, because I'll end THIS post with another one!

Originally I thought we would take a GHOST TOUR while in SAVANNAH, but because half of our group was skeptical, we nixed that plan.

On our own, we DID spend part of one morning at SAVANNAH'S FAMOUS BONAVENTURE CEMETERY. Our intent was to merely visit JOHNNY MERCER'S resting place (noted in "MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL") and wander around a bit.

I LOVE SCULPTURE, so I personally enjoy visiting cemeteries and have been lucky enough to take some of my most favorite photos there - particularly in Europe.

Here are some from BONAVENTURE -

From the MERCER plot, we all started walking down a path leading to the water - the WILMINGTON RIVER.

We later learned that near the end of this path, just before the river, had been a PLANTATION to the right with its SLAVE QUARTERS to the left. JOHN MULLRYNE and his son-in-law JOSIAH TATNALL together had purchased 600 acres of land there in 1771, where they built the BONAVENTURE PLANTATION - which in Italian means "GOOD FORTUNE". Click HERE for a more complete HISTORY.

We were all walking around taking photos. MARIANNE headed off alone toward the water (bearing right at the end of the MERCER path) to take a photo of the water thru the trees. Nothing special, just a peaceful shot with the eery SPANISH MOSS hanging from the trees.

We all headed back to the cars to drive back into town for homemade ice cream at Savannah's famed LEOPOLD'S.

Now, BACK TO THE STORY.........

MARIANNE looked back at the photos she had taken and in the one of the river, there is a PERSON IN THE PHOTO that WAS NOT THERE when she took the photo!!!

I immediately called a PARANORMAL INVESTIGATOR in SAVANNAH and left a message about this PHENOMENON. I called a second one who was not available to meet us, but said we could email the photo to him for his reaction.

I then called a friend in NYC whose partner is a member of the PENNSYLVANIA PARANORMAL ASSOCIATION. She asked me to text them the photo. They got right back to me with some impressions.

MARIANNE had already texted the photo to her sister, who has PSYCHIC ABILITIES and her comments mimicked those of my friends.

SOOOOOOOO, it seems that MARIANNE captured a FEMALE SPIRIT in her iPhone photo. Her name is MARGARET and her last name starts with a "D". She is from the 1880's - 1890's, is dressed in Victorian era clothing and is holding a gold-plated or bronze WALKING STICK (definitely NOT a weapon).

From what we were told from each of these two psychics, she is merely taking her daily walk. Her walking stick was made especially for her - not for her protection from animals. Walking is one of the few times she feels at peace. She is sadly looking toward the grave of a loved one, not her own grave.

She apparently came from money - her family owned a business nearby. She was a very healthy person who suddenly got sick with the Spanish Flu or Pneumonia and died right after WWI.

I have always believed that we live in a MULTI-DIMENSIONAL UNIVERSE, and therefore ANYTHING is possible. Until now, I've never personally seen evidence of a ghost or spirit and didn't expect to on this trip.

We are going to pursue more information from the SAVANNAH PARANORMAL INVESTIGATORS, so stay tuned..........

My NEXT POST will include photos with potential evidence of "SPIRIT ENERGY" in photos that I took in BEAUFORT......

JOAN

A TRIP TO SAVANNAH, GEORGIA

Last year, a group of my Elementary/High School friends took a vacation together to CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA area to do some WINE-TASTING and to learn a little about the history in the area. ANNA bought burgundy t-shirts for each of us that had BIG, BOLD LETTERS across the front - WINE WENCH - which we wore with pride.

This year, the same group +1 traveled SOUTH to SAVANNAH, GA and BEAUFORT, SC. We had a busy itinerary planned and every day seemed even better than the previous one.

Our first evening we "dined" at THE OLDE PINK HOUSE, one of the finest restaurants in the city, located in one of the oldest buildings. I loved their basement bar, where I photographed the spectacular dog sculpture below. 

Dinner was typical SOUTHERN COOKING - most of us had SHRIMP AND CHEESE GRITS - EXCELLENT. We were also serenaded........

The next day we took a FOOD WALKING TOUR with SAVANNAH TASTE EXPERIENCE, which was so much fun. We enjoyed small tastes at 7 restaurants as John shared tidbits of history and local gossip while we walked. A GREAT/YUMMY way to get an overview of any city that offers this.

 We started with SEAFOOD CHOWDER.

A little SAVANNAH HISTORY.........

SHRIMP and GRITS with BACON and CHIVES at our next stop, TANDEE'S TAVERN.........

THE ORDINARY PUB made us PORK SLIDERS, CABBAGE and CORN SLAW and a spot of KEY LIME PIE over a berry compote..........

SHEPHERD'S PIE at MOLLY MACPHERSON'S SCOTTISH PUB.........

A COOKIE tasting.........

And a nibble of SAUSAGE PIE at the PIE SOCIETY

A WHOLE BUTTERCREAM CUPCAKE at MABEL'S CUPCAKE EMPORIUM....... yes, we each ate the WHOLE thing........

And an extraordinary "HONEY TASTING" at the SAVANNAH BEE CO.

In anticipation of the trip I asked my HS BOOK CLUB this month to read "MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL". So, naturally we toured the MERCER-WILLIAMS HOUSE, originally owned by JOHNNY MERCER and later purchased by JIM WILLIAMS. We could easily imagine all of the parties Jim hosted there. I LOVED this house tour and must now watch the movie again! If you haven't seen it, KEVIN SPACEY does a killer job of portraying JIM WILLIAMS - and from the photos we saw, looks so much like him.

Next, we HAD to visit JOHNNY MERCER'S grave-site in BONAVENTURE CEMETERY. The family grave-site was beautiful. 

There is a MARBLE BENCH in the corner with inscriptions of JOHNNY MERCER'S song lyrics.

And THEN, the most UNBELIEVABLE THING HAPPENED!!!!!  Marianne took a picture.......... you MUST read my NEXT BLOG POST to find out the specifics! I DO believe in SPIRITS, but NEVER IN MY LIFE DID I EXPECT THIS...........

JOAN