One of my very first adventures was doing a static line parachute jump in Lakewood, New Jersey, right out of college. Doing a static line was exhilarating, because you had to have the courage to step out of the plane, but you only had to deal with a free fall for a total of eight feet, the length of the static line. Since the static line is attached to the plane and deploys your chute, you don't get the feeling of free falling or the worry of pulling your own chute in time. That was fine for then. I figured it would be nice to free fall through the clouds sometime in the future.

I didn't have a definite time of when I wanted to do a tandem jump. It just came up one day when my friend Heidi asked, "So what's your next adventure?"

Without thinking, I blurted out, "Maybe a tandem jump." Once said, the idea stuck. All I had to do was get some friends to do the daring deed with me. I looked at Heidi; she shook her head no.

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I am a lover of plays...but up until a few years ago I had never heard of the Fringe Festival, much less attended it...but this year is a whole other story.

It all started in a haunted castle a year ago when I met fellow ghost explorers, Jim Tooey and Kelly Chippendale. During our midnight adventure I found out we had a lot more in common...cancer and comedy.

Jim Tooey, (A fellow actor who's been in such hits as The Sopranos, Running Scared, The Producers, etc.) had a pituitary brain tumor that he survived and he used humor as a coping mechanism. My dad had cancer and survived four years using humor. With our common interests, Jim and Kelly told me about their project the Tumor Humor Fund. "A non-profit organization that provides financial assistance to alleviate medical expenses for children who are cancer survivors age 12 and under. The fund directly pays hospital and doctors for treatment costs to help reduce the financial burdens of the patient's family".

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Delicate. Refined. Graceful. Okay, lets face it; those are not the words you normally would put in the same sentence as Fran Capo. Outgoing. Outspoken, Outlandish...are more like it.

However, every now and then, I like to try to step into that refined world and see if the shoe fits. Like the time I was a kid and took ballet lessons only to spin in the opposite direction of everyone else. Or like the time I was trying to eat prim and proper and actually missed my mouth with the fork.... or even on a recent date when I was trying to be all sexy like and wore heels, only to have them break (Yes, actually break) while I was walking...so I had to limp during the entire date like Quasimodo.

But, never being one to give up, I decided to delve into the refined world once again. You see, my good friend Ellen Easton has been asking me for years to come to one of her events. Normally I would jump to see my friends...but I wasn't sure if I'd fit in.

You see, Ellen is a tea expert; well to say it properly she is an etiquette and lifestyle authority. She's written books on tea (The Afternoon Tea Guide and Etiquette Faux Pas and Other Misconceptions About Afternoon Tea to name a few. She's also a columnist, lecturer, designer and consultant to hospitality, food, retail and special event industries, she's been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Gourmet Magazine, the Food Channel, and she specializes in corporate training in the art of afternoon tea at places like the Plaza Hotel, The Waldorf Astoria, The Pierre Hotel, The Culinary Center.... and one of her favorite places, Lady Mendl's. Who knew such a profession even existed!

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Every few months I have to do an adventure or I get antsy.

So was the case with last weekend. I was hanging out with my on again, off again boyfriend, Steve (one day the real adventure will be to figure us out) and we were trying to decide what to do.

I said, "I'm flexible... I just don't want some mundane thing... a local adventure would be nice...something different...how about you surprise me?" I flashed a devilish smile and left.
He said, "Surprise you huh, okay give me an hour."
Any guy who has ever dated me knows that when I get it in my head that I need an adventure...it means I'm going to do something...just have to figure out what, and they either join me or I go it alone.

I headed home...not even ten minutes later he calls me, "I found a place. I'm not going to tell you cause I know how you like surprises...but I tell you what, if your son and his friends are home we should take them too, cause they'll love this."

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In case you haven't guessed, ordinary bores me. Ordinary to me is lack of imagination or unwillingness to go beyond what you know you can already do.

So when my 37th birthday was approaching again, I decided I wanted my friends and family around me...but not in the traditional way.

I sent an email to my close girlfriends inviting them for a two-day slumber party. I said, "No presents necessary, I just don't want to cook! Bring your bathing suits for jet skiing on the lake, dinner and a movie on Saturday, and a challenging rock climb on Sunday at one of my favorite places in the world, Mohonk Mountain (in New Paltz, New York.) Trust me, it's an adventure you can all do."

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