Ah, the pre-F2F build-up; one day the hugging conversation, the next porny edibles...

As Fay would say; Bless.

I am having a terrible time making up my mind swag-wise.

What swag-advice would you like, Trudy?

Shirt advice.

Which is your FAVORITEST shirt, Pete?

I'm partial to the black... but I want the back as well.

Well, if you can stretch to it, grab a black shirt and a white one too. I'm not sure about the grey ones as they may not show the design as well as white. The black shirt's design was given a little contrast & saturation boost to ensure it looked good and from what I hear it's worked. I don't actually have any myself yet (something i need to do).

Ultimately, if you can only do one shirt, I think the black one is going to be the most striking.

I love my white shirt with black sleeves. The painting is beautiful on the white, and the black sleeves frame it. And I like the World Tour list. But that style of shirt runs smaller than the usual CafePress average, just as a data point.

But I think I'm going to order a black shirt also.

In case that helps you in any possible way, Trudy.

I should get a black shirt and a white shirt and SEW THEM TOGETHER.

Because that won't look weird at all.

Actually, it would be sorta fun. And possibly confusing.

There were four giant candy necklaces in the 75% off Easter candy, so I bought them to bring along. They are titled "The King of All Love Beads."

OK. I'll be ringing up Lilibeth for a lookover and note-taking session, meeting the chef, etc, sometime this coming week. If anyone has any questions or problems, the next couple of days would be the time to let me know.

And question, about food:

1. I'm going to start putting the list of what will be out to greet people in the hospitality suite. I know juliana offered to bake, and I know Vortex is planning a cheesecake; I'll be doing a decent mixture of things, salads, citrus, probably something in the way or charcuterie (organic, Pete, no nitrites), plus cheeses and chicken. Beverages will also be taken care of, along with paper plates, bowls, etc. There will be trash bags aplenty, as well as separate bags for recycling. There will be a corkboard or whiteboard for messages; there will be ingredients lists for all the food I provide (I leave the rest of the ingredients lists up to the individual cooks). There will be wine, and glasses, and a corkscrew; there will be bubbly, and paper towels. There will be stern reminders, issued with my usual lack of tact, to please pick up after yourselves as much as possible, to minimise the issue.

I'm thinking I really only need to do one dessert (see above, in re juliana and Vortex), and with this crowd, my suspicion is that a tequila lime tart is the way to go. Yea or nay?

Other question is in re the Sunday thing at our place. I could use a headcount of within five or so attendees; so, if you're planning on coming over for the BBQ at our place, could you email me? Profiile addy is good.

Oh, and I suspect that it will go on nicely into the evening; at some point, either we'll have to boot everyone out and go feed the southcats in San Jose, or else poor Nic willn have to go do it on his own. But the Sunday, a headcount, even just a basic one, would be good.

Merci.

...er - count me in. Obviously. Although I'm also heading out for the Baseball match, so it won't be for the whole time. (Wish could split self into Suave!Fay and Dorky!Fay and do both, damn it! Or maybe Regular!Fay and Vamp!Fay would be good. Well, apart from the whole 'Sunlight! Argh!' element. Hmm.)

wrt food, I'd been planning on bringing some Egyptian pastries, but there's no hope in hell of me giving a detailed list of ingredients, beyond 'honey and nuts and flour of some kind'.

It occurred to me last night (whilst out with parents drinking mint tea and smoking apple sheesha under the stars) that perhaps some people might like to have a crack at sheesha at the barbecue/at some other point, and that I could bring one out, with a range of flavoured tobaccos. And then I thought about it some more, and seemed to remember that in California, smoking was roughly equivalent to eating pork products in Egypt. So - probably not a good idea, I'm thinking, Deb? Health issues and all that?

Am VERY excited. Still. Obviously.