A Femme Christmas (and Adventure #11)

Merry Christmas from the Fearless Femmes!

Tonight we celebrated Christmas, Femme style!  A few weeks back, we drew names for a Secret Santa gift exchange and Alli suggested a clever and playful way for us to reveal ourselves . . . by singing a self-written song for, and about our recipient.  Thus, the evening began with musical hilarity as we rapped, caroled, and serenaded each other with our personalized original lyrics!  I think we were all thoroughly impressed and entertained by the creativity and wittiness of each others' songs, while the vocal talents were slightly less impressive. :)

We then arrived at Lidia's for a delicious Italian dinner, and while we waited for our food to arrive we exchanged gifts.  We are definitely girly girls as almost every gift involved some sort of fashion accessory . . . lots of purses, jewelry and cosmetics!


Femmes full after a delicious meal at Lidia's

After dinner we headed to Crown Center for an ice skating adventure, chosen by Brandi.  Brandi said she had not been ice skating since childhood, and recalled being too terrified then to ever let go of the wall.  But, that was before she became Fearless! 

Posing in our skates while the zamboni clears the rink

From the moment we stepped onto the rink, it became apparent that there was a divide amongst the group in our comfort level on the ice.  Brandi, Amy and Alli started off by clinging to the wall, but one by one began to brave the "no hands" technique.  Jessi and Meghan were fairly comfortable on their blades from the get-go and kept a moderate pace, while Lisa and myself were definitely the most daring on the ice; skating a little faster and more wrecklessly than the others.  Everyone did great and once again there was a group concensus of, "That was more fun than I expected it to be!"


Warming up to the ice

Alli

Amy

Brandi

Meghan

Jessi

Destiny

Lisa

We look forward to our one year anniversary and upcoming adventure in January . . . and the initiation of a new member!!!  Stay tuned . . .

Adventure #10 - "Come over here, Big Boy!"

This, our tenth adventure, was one I've had in mind since the conception of our face-your-fears club.  As it's only seasonally available, I've been waiting for many months to execute this ghastly plan, and could think of no better adventure for a chilly October night.  This month's adventure was paranormal investigating!!!

For this adventure, we drove to Belvoir Winery in Liberty, MO.  The winery is housed in the former Oddfellows Home, claimed to be "the second most haunted place in Missouri."  The property has formerly served as an orphanage, an "old folks home," a medical hospital and a school.  Visitors have reported hearing voices and footsteps, seeing shadows and apparitions, doors opening and closing, and some touching. 

The main building at Belvoir Winery

 We arrived early and headed to the bar for a wine tasting . . . it would be a shame not to take advantage of the fact that we were at a functioning winery, right?  After our sampling, we all decided we liked one particular red wine the best, and bought a few bottles to last the rest of the night.  We then congregated in the meeting room with approximately 40-50 other people who were also there for the investigation.  We received a brief history of the complex and introduction to the ghost hunters that would be leading us throughout the night.  We divided into small groups and headed out to different spots on the property in search of paranormal evidence. 


Notice the orb on Jessi's (the most apprehensive of all of us about this adventure) head!  She didn't feel good about it when she saw the orb show up on my camera's playback

Our first stop was "the bunker," formally used for supply storage.  We sat in the dark room with several motion-activated lights around us, pointing away from our group and towards the emptiness of the surrounding space.  Our guides encouraged any spirits present to make their presence known by activating the lights, which happened over and over again.  The guides tried to communicate with the spirit by asking simple yes/no questions and accepting a light turning on as an affirmative response.  Supposedly, the spirit present in the bunker was that of a "big boy," and at one point I was asked to try and encourage him to activate a particular light on one side of the room.  My simple request came out sounding like a suggestive comment, and consequently became the title of this blog post. :)

The entrance to the bunker

Inside the bunker

Femmes inside the bunker- nervously chewing on that stir stick was Jessi's coping mechanism

 After the bunker, we returned to the meeting room along with everyone else.  The group that had gone to the cemetery first shared a story that had us all anxious to get to the cemetery ourselves.  They said that while they were walking through the cemetery they started communicating with a spirit named Arthur, using a EVP (electronic voice phenomena) recorder.  One of the girls in the group introduced herself to Arthur as "Julia."  Arthur then led the group up several aisles of headstones by stating, "up . . . up . . . up," until he finally said, "stop."  They stopped as he had instructed them to and the headstone in front of them was engraved with the name "Julia."  Pretty cool, huh?  Needless to say, we were thrilled to be going to the cemetery next.  Unfortunately, after 30-40 minutes walking around we found zero evidence of Arthur or any other spirits.

Creepy cemetery scene

"Arthur's" grave?

Meghan, Amy and Destiny in the cemetery




Walking the grounds, from one destination to the next, was creepy and unnerving at times.  We stayed huddled together, walking arm-in-arm most of the time.  We were constantly on edge and on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary.  While we never saw any apparitions, we sure had fun hunting for them!

Meagan, Jessi and Alli walking the grounds

Jessi with her trusty flashlight

Eerie abandoned building

What might lie beyond that desolate window???

Jessi, Meghan, Alli and Destiny stopping for a photo op

Our next stop was the third floor of the main building, which once housed the classrooms of school-aged children living on the property.  A small group of us went into a closet that has been known to have paranormal activity.  We stood in a circle, and tried to summons a spirit . . . to no avail.  We were striking out over and over again. :(

While on our third floor investigation, we befriended one of the guides and shared with him our desire to find some sort of concrete evidence of paranormal activity.  For our next outing, he kindly took us to some of the other buildings on the grounds where he'd had previous experiences.  These buildings were no longer part of the typical tour agenda as they were recently deemed structurally unsound and aspestos ridden.  We were not allowed inside, but we walked the perimeters, peered through doorways and called out to the spirits within through broken out windows. 

It was here, huddled outside one of these abandoned buildings, that we finally found what we were longing for.  Our guide announced our presence to the spirits within, and using an EVP device waited for a response.  He explained, "We wish we could come in there and talk with you, but we can't.  So could you come to the window and talk with us?"  Then we heard it.  Through the static and white noise of the EVP recorder, a very clear and distinct, "Come . . . . in . . . "  It caught us all off guard, and made our hearts race a little, but this was it!  What we came for!  And then, it was gone.  That was it . . . two little words, but it made the entire experience worth it!

"I do believe in spooks, I do believe in spooks, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do believe in spooks!"  Do you?

Femmes outside the building where we made contact with the other side

Scared or scary?

Adventure #9- "I'm stopping at McDonald's on the way home . . . "

Today all eight Fearless Femmes reunited for an adventure, planned by Lisa, which she described as "Fear Factor meets happy hour."  Hmmmm . . . . hope somebody brought the Pepto! 

 

Before we headed out on our adventure, we met up at Brandi's house for a photo shoot with little Miss Tegan, proudly sporting her FF onesie!




We all love Tegan!

Future Fearless Femme

After that sweet litte distraction, it was back to the business of adventure for us!  We made the journey from south Olathe to downtown KC (again, an adventure itself for some), and found ourselves at Extra Virgin, a Spanish-inspired tapas restaurant.  We were seated in a semi-private area in the restaurant and presented with our challenge . . . their "For the adventurous" menu . . .

 

 

After much hesitation, and some convincing from Lisa, we all decided* to sample the first seven items on the list.  (*A more accurate description would be, "some of us willfully decided, while some were forced into the decision.")  There were definitely mixed feelings regarding the acceptance of our fate, ranging from excitement, to indifference, to dread.  As the first plates arrived, eyes widened, mouths dropped, noses crinkled, and prayers were said. 

 

 

First up, was the duck gizzards!  Super chewy and rubbery, most of us had a hard time choking these down due to the texture.  I thought they smelled like fried chicken, but the taste was no match.  Alli had the most trouble with these, and had to be bullied, guilt-tripped and berated compassionately coaxed into trying one after she was singled out as the only Femme who had not tried at least one bite of everything. 

 

 

Next up, were the trotter cakes . . . made from pigs hooves . . . we immediately regretted asking the waitress what they were.  But alas, we are fearless and we were here for one reason alone.  And what do you know?  We actually kind of liked these! Kind of like crabcakes . . . except grittier.  Brandi and Meghan's favorite . . . although I'm sure Meghan would clarify here that "favorite" is used loosely, and "most tolerable" may be more appropriate. :)

 

 

What's this?  A variety of baby lettuces.  This looks like something we would eat everyday!  Except those little tan strips and curls you see scattered throughout.  Those little, seemingly innocent things are derived from pig ears!  They had an exceptionally crunchy (like stale-crunchy) consistency and a mild, salty taste.  Surprisingly unoffensive and unmemorable.

 

 

Next out were the pork belly and the marrow bones.  The belly was reminiscent of a pork rib you could find at any KC BBQ joint, except MUCH fattier.  The problem with this dish was the fatty consistency, not the taste.  The marrow bones (literally, a bone split in half, filled with marrow) were served with thick-sliced bread to spread the marrow on after you scoop it out of the bone.  This was by far the most foul-smelling of all our delicacies, and I had a hard time with the pungent, putrid aroma.  Some of the other girls didn't seem to mind it.

 

 

Everybody loves pasta, right?  Wrong!  These raviolis were stuffed with snail and prosciutto, and topped with sweetbreads, aka animal glands.  Meghan took one bite and was done with these, while Meagan really enjoyed them.  They had a familiar seafood-type smell/taste to them, and I thought they were one of the more "normal" items we tried that day.

 

Last, but not least, Lisa's favorite . . . the duck tongue tacos.  Don't let the name (or the contents) scare you.  These were actually quite tasty.  With a crunchy shell, topped off with a generous amount of cheese, and a squeeze of lime juice, I can't say that I could distinguish what duck tongue actually tastes like.  This was just another fancy taco to me.  

 

Don't let those smiles fool you . . . not everyone was a fan of the cuisine

 

In the end, we all survived, no one got sick, and we were still smiling.  I'd call that a successful adventure.  We were all extremely proud of Amy, who we expected to have the hardest time with this adventure.  She tried everything; keeping a positive attitude and open mind throughout.  You're a soldier Amy!  Thanks for reminding us what this club is all about.

Amy, not afraid of a little duck tongue

Then there was Alli, who was caught off guard by how difficult this adventure was for her.  Alli is one of the three of us who has not missed a single adventure, and she almost always asks to go first.  She is one tough and courageous girl.  We were all surprised by how much she struggled through this, but in the end she pulled it out! 

 

Alli, struggling to swallow a duck gizzard

I would pair Meghan and Brandi together as the two that didn't really care for any of it, but dutifully obliged and tried everything without too much struggle.  Meghan did admit, "I'm not very good at this mind over matter thing."  Brandi was so excited that she was finally able to partake in an adventure, I don't want to think of what all she may have been willing to try just because she could!

Meghan, thankful for the bread that accompanied the marrow

 

Brandi, getting friendly with the bone and all its marrow

One rung up the ladder, I would place myself and Jessi.  We were excited about this adventure, happily sampled everything, and kept our cool throughout.  I can't say that we will ever make a return to EV for any of the items, but we honestly enjoyed the experience and (some of) the food.

 

Destiny, poppin' gizzards

Jessi, lovin' her some gizzards

Finallly, rounding out the top tier, would be Lisa and Meagan.  If there were ever a Fear Factor, Food Edition, these girls would surely take home the top prize.  They not only tried everything, they really truly enjoyed a lot of it.  We had no doubt Lisa would be the crusader and the champion of this adventure, and she did not disappoint.  Meagan was more of a surprise.  As each plate arrived to our table, I snapped a photo before anyone started eating from it.  At one point I was slacking on the job, and Meagan had to keep me on track as she couldn't wait to try the next thing!  I saw her go back for seconds multiple times. 

 

Lisa, enjoying a little pork belly

 

Meagan, sucking marrow

Once it was all said and done, we collectively recalled our past adventures, and went around the table sharing our "pit" and our "peak." (Yes, we got it from the Kardashians)  The responses varied, and today's adventure was listed as both a "peak" and a "pit."  It was interesting to hear how our adventures have made lasting impressions, affected our emotions, and challenged us all differently.  I just love my Femmes!   

 



With Chef/Owner Michael Smith

 

Photo bonus: some candid shots that display our honest thoughts:

 

 

And, Alli being force-fed her gizzard: