VEGAS MONTAGE!!

I haven't forgotten you my friends. I was busy FIGHTING with Windows Movie Maker to present this lovely whatsit to you all. Enjoy!

Hi! Also cookies!!

HI! I am back from a Vegas Christmas vacation!! It was wonderful and a video is to follow. UNTIL THEN I have to post this really delicious sounding recipe my good friend Jackie gave to me. Try it at home and enjoy!!

Christmas Cookie Recipe

1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup of brown sugar
Lemon juice
4 large eggs
1 cup nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle Crown Royal

Sample the Crown Royal to check quality.

Take a large bowl, check the Crown Royal again, to be sure it is of the
highest quality, pour one level cup and drink.

Turn on the electric mixer.Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy
bowl.

Add one teaspoon of sugar.Beat again.

At this point it's best to make sure the Crown Royal is still OK, try
another cup.. Just in case.

Turn off the mixer thingy.

Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the frigging fruit off floor.

Mix on the turner.

If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a
Dewscriver.

Sample the Crown Royal to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt, or something.. Who giveshz a sheet.

Check the Crown Royal.

Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.

Add one table.

Add a spoon of AR, or somefink.. Whatever you can find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.

Don't forget to beat off the turner.

Finally, throw the bowl through the window.

Finish the bottle of Crown Royal.

Make sure to put the stove in the dishwasher.

Cherry Mistmas!!

HolidAWESOME.

Okay.

I am at my parents' house (with Bogie the Magnificent of course) and we are having a holiday party.

My mom's friend brought her menorah and lit the candles while singing in Hebrew with her adopted daughter in front of my parents' Christmas tree while The Carpenters chirped away "Silver Bells" in the adjacent room and we all smiled and absorbed the joy.

It was one of the coolest moments of my life.

Now if we had something for Solstice, Ramadan and Kwanzaa it would be even better.

I like blending stuff. :-)

Cartoon

I absolutely love love LOVE this cartoon. It's sad and cute at the same time!

Death Kitty and the Fat Man.

LOVE IT!!

Soup/La soupe

I just made this:



and had it with pieces of Triscuit stirred in. It was DELICIOUS! The soup was rich and creamy with a hint of milk and the size fits in my crazy soup bowl perfectly!

Crazy Soup Bowl

The Triscuits were nice and crispy even though they were logged with soup.

MMM.

I highly recommend it. Yum.

Craquelins avec Rachael

I can't stop eating these Triscuits.

CAN'T

STOP.

My hand keeps going back into that little yellow box adorned with Rachael Ray's poised, saccharine-sweet Shirley Templefied visage for more whole grain crunchy goodness. When did she become a Nabisco sponsor? I do believe I have consumed by body weight in Triscuits at this point. That's not a small number, folks.

Damn you Rachael.

Damn you.

That is all.

(P.S. Yes I realize this is not her fault. I just wanted someone to blame. She's quite nice, actually and I'm glad her recipes are on the boxes now. Those sweet, sweet boxes. Mmmmmm.)

Luckee Sharmes

Okay so I bought some last night.

It was tricky though, because since I drink boxed milk and had used what was in the fridge, there was no cold milk for the cereal.

BUT I WAS NOT DEFEATED.

The boxed milk was thrown in the freezer ice bucket and I waited ever so patiently for it to get cold. While waiting, I had the rest of the champagne from a dinner made ages ago that was nicely sealed with a Vacu-Vin corky thing my very forward-thinking friend Jackie gave me.

After that, it was cereal time. The milk was cold enough so I dumped it on a bowl 'o Charms and snorfed until it was gone.

THAT HAD TO BE THE BEST DAMN BOWL OF CEREAL I'VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE.

Funny that it was accompanied by a glass of champagne but that's just how I do things.

So...my question is...why did I suddenly have an urgent craving for Lucky Charms? I wasn't drunk or high (though the champagne did make me tipsy but that was after buying them). What causes a person to crave such things?

I dunno. But there's a big box of them in my kitchen and it's doubtful they'll make it out of the weekend alive.

They're magically delicious.

Mmm.

LUCKY EFFIN CHARMS

I want Lucky Charms. Right now.

NOW.

Normally that's not something I'd really care for but DAMN I want some MUHFUGGIN LUCKY CHARMS!!

I would kill for some. Not really.

BUT DAMN!!

LUCKY CHARMS!!

Where my car keys at??!!

Delicious/Delicieux

Ooh. Mmm.

Wanna try something yummy? Take fresh broccoli, cauliflower and baby carrots, steam them, spritz on some olive oil and mix it up, then add sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

IT IS SO GOOD. WOW.

Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?

Mattar Paneer

While tooling through the supermarket aisles an hour ago, I came across Amy's Organics Mattar Paneer. For those of you who don't know, Mattar Paneer is a delicious Indian dish with curried chickpeas, peas, carrots and such served with squares of paneer cheese and basmati rice. It's really one of those things you need to have fresh, but due to recent success with other microwave fare, I thought I would give it a shot.



Amy's did not disappoint. The spices were not too pungent, but not watered down either. Basically I needed a large drink but was not able to, as Lisa Simpson put it after eating Apu's food, "See through time."

I like that.

The paneer was chewy and rich and though rice was a little soggy, that was quickly remedied by stirring the whole mess together in a goulash of spicy Indian delights.



The best part about this is that Amy's uses organic and natural ingredients, which was proven by reading the ingredient list. You can actually pronounce all of them! Fantastic! Plus the meal was relatively low in sodium (780mg) which is hard to find with a frozen entree and low in fat (8g) as well. It's a bit pricey ($5) but considering it would cost more to get this at a restaurant with a fairly similar quality (and it can be nuked in 5 minutes), I think it's worth it.

So, as far as microwave meals go, I liked this one and wholeheartedly recommend it.



Go get one! MMMMM!!

Bogie Booger

Here is a video of Bogie examining the candy bowl. Enjoy!

Thanksgivingaramalamajama!!

Okay. Here are the Thanksgiving pictures. Shall we begin?

I went over to my parents house to "help" my mom prepare for Michael and Rebecca's visit. Basically I took stupid pictures and she actually prepared things. I may have chopped something at one point. It's hard to remember.

Anyway, first of all, I wanted to show you all my new t-shirt with a "Thanksgiving Irony" theme. It's from Threadless. You like? Go buy!!



Next...check out my mad place setting skills! Folded napkins ain't got NOTHIN' on me!!



This is the table from another angle. I call it "Sunshine Luncheon with Kickass Turkey Pilgrim Gravy Boat." Well at least I set the table, right?



There was a candy bowl in the living room. Bogie and I were very interested in what the large chocolates on top were.





I had to try one.



THEY WERE MALTED MILK BALLS!!



EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!



By then Rebecca and Michael came over! Here they are with some weirdo in the mirror behind them.



Pretty soon it was time for dad to carve the turkey.



Dinner!



I wanted to take a picture of my plate all dressed up with foods, but that might have been a little irritating for everyone. This is what everyone made.

My Lovely Mother



Pressed herb turkey (which I did not partake of but everyone said was tender and juicy and all that), delicious homemade stuffing with walnuts, cranberries and other awesome treats inside, garlic mashed red potatoes and fresh green beans sauteed in olive oil and garlic with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. The green beans are my FAVORITE dish. I ask for them every year. I love them.

Oh yes...and it wouldn't be a true Southwestern Thanksgiving without...



...the chips and salsa (which was made fresh by my mother of course).

The Fabulous Rebecca



Rebecca brought Patat Deuce, which is a Cajun dish of mashed sweet potatoes mixed with cream and eggs and butter I think and Grand Marinier and sugar maybe and all this incredible stuff topped with a CRUNCHY FREAKING PECAN SUGAR CRUST.

Trust me. You will never want pumpkin pie after that.

She also brought orange and chocolate pralines for dessert which you can see in this finely appointed dessert setting.



My mother provided the pumpkin pudding parfaits and Rebecca also brought the After Eight mints. They melted in your mouth. The chocolate cake was a rum cake my mom's friend brought back from the Bahamas. Delicious.

What did I bring?


A bag of rolls and butter.

(HEY! They were FRESHLY BAKED whole grain rolls from the artisan bakery! IT WAS A GOOD CONTRIBUTION DAMNIT.)

After dinner and dessert we talked, laughed, drank some great wine and my dad and Michael provided the opportunity for the quintessential post-Thanksgiving photo op.



Bogie is such a camera whore.


So all in all it was a WONDERFUL day. How was your Thanksgiving?

Vous desirez...?

Hi!

Thanksgiving 2006 pictures (and a video) are on their way. I have a crapton and am still sorting through them and making captions and stuff. It’ll be great. Trust me.

So…I went to make a return at the mall yesterday after going CRAZY at Banana Republic on Saturday lest I suffer serious financial consequences. It happens. 5 Banana Republics adorn my fair city and all accept returns, however the one where the craziness happened was out as the same people who sold the clothes to me would be there (you wouldn’t go there either). 3 others were too far to make a quick trip, so that left me with The Gateway downtown and Trolley Square uptown. I started out for Trolley Square as it's less hectic and has free parking.

Why do some businesses put their hours in such small type you have to park, get out of the car and walk all the way up there like an idiot to find out they’re closed and you still can’t go inside? Think about it. I’m not lazy. Shut up.

The posted hours stated the mall wouldn't open until noon and it was 10:30. Gateway opens at 11 so I went to Gateway anyhow. While driving down there it dawned on me that Gateway's parking is free on Sunday anyway so there wasn't a reason to even go to Trolley Square.

The mall is completely outdoors and it was FREEZING (39F, 7C) so I grabbed some coffee, wandered the lovely brick walkways for a bit and headed down to the store by 11:15. The door was locked.

The Gateway opens at 11. Banana Republic at The Gateway opens at NOON.

Why would you wish to open an HOUR LATER than the mall your business is in DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON?

Just asking.

SO...I went BACK to Trolley Square so I wouldn't freeze my ARSE off, called my friend and waited on a bench next to a children's modeling agency inside which a small blonde kid squealed as he slid on the marble lobby floors in his socks.

My friend kept asking what the screeching in the background was.

Let’s recap. I went to Trolley Square because it has free parking, but so does The Gateway. I went to The Gateway because it opens earlier than Trolley Square BUT BANANA REPUBLIC DOESN’T.

Murphy’s Law? You decide.

When Banana Republic finally opened I returned the items through a very confused and bewildered sales clerk. He didn't seem to understand that I wanted to return ALL the items, not SOME of them, and WITHOUT looking around to see if something else caught my eye. SOMETIMES IT JUST DOESN’T WORK OUT, OKAY?? I liked the clothes. Really! They were beautiful! But I like electricity and food too. Even more than clothes.

Sometimes.

It was still a very nice day. Honestly if that’s the most stressful thing I have to deal with I’m pretty damn lucky.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYPEOPLES!!

What are you doing today? I am going to my parents house for a delicious dinner with them and Rebecca AND Michael. It's going to be fabulous! Expect a full dinner report when I recover from the dinner coma.

So...tell me what you're going to do today. Even if you aren't celebrating Thanksgiving. YAY!

Oh yeah...I found a great song that puts me in a good mood instantly. It's ELO's Mr. Blue Sky. I'm listening to it right now. I highly recommend you do the same.

Peace out!

Weekend Update (and it's understood).

Hello!

What a lovely weekend. Let me fill you in.

On Saturday morning I met Rebecca and Michael at Market Street Grill for breakfast. I had a vegetable omelet with Egg Beaters and the famous Market Street Potatoes. The omelette was packed with crisp, fresh vegetables and the egg surrounding it was not too thick or spongy. The potatoes were savory and fabulous. I don't know what they had on them but it was incredible. Plus it was so cheap! All three of us ate for about $35! We had such a great time talking and laughing and just relaxing. We'll be going back.

After breakfast we headed to Sugarhouse. I love Sugarhouse. It's such a funky, cool area with so many unique shops. Rebecca went to a wire-wrapping class, Michael went to the wine store and I went to Wild Oats for some protein powder and Ten Thousand Villages for some more fair trade soap (jasmine, rose and mango). I love that stuff.

In the evening I met Jackie's VERY funny friend Michelle and we had dinner at her house. Jackie's friend Amanda was there and later Michelle's friend Audra stopped by too. We played Apples to Apples, laughed our asses off and then went dancing.

I got home around 3 a.m. and am now doing laundry feeling very satisfied with the awesomeness of this weekend.

Aaaaah. :-)

Autumn/Automne

This is what it looks like outside my bedroom window.

Fall is here.

This makes me very happy.

Weekend Update (and it feels so good).

Hi! Besides Cake Day here is what happened this weekend.

Friday night:

My friend Natalie came over once again (Yay!) and we made breakfast for dinner. Buckwheat pancakes with peanut butter and bananas, veggie patties (a la sausage) and roasted garlic red potatoes were on the menu. Oh! Mimosas too!! MMM!



Saturday I went to the new Tai Pan Trading Company. The store is housed in a massive building with acid-washed concrete floors and candle wreathy whatsits crammed in every corner and square inch of said acid-washed floorspace. Imagine an airplane hangar without the plane after being sneezed upon by about 200 overzealous Martha Stewart inspired decorators. It was very interesting. They did have a large number of very nice prints that I would buy if I actually had places to put them.

After Tai Pan I went to Liberty Heights Fresh to look for a dessert to bring to my friends Rebecca and Michael's for dinner. There wasn't anything there I wanted to take but I could have purchased the contents of the entire store if it hadn't been too chilly to hang around. That was close. Whew!!

By this time I was hungry so I went to Wild Oats for lunch. It was a tuna sandwich on sourdough with roasted eggplant soup. GOD that was good. While lunching on the mezzanine I Yahoo Chatteteteted with some friends of mine. It was like they were there! Well, it was like they were there in the form of a small silver box with a screen and no voice or face.

Whatever.

From Wild Oats I went to another supermarket to get the accoutrement to make dessert (which I decided would be a raspberry yogurt pie) and went home, made the dessert, worked on another snow hat I'm knitting, and then went to Rebecca and Michael's.

Let me just say this before I start describing dinner. Rebecca is an INCREDIBLE chef and VERY SKILLED foodie. I only wish I had an ounce of her culinary prowess and SOME DAY, ladies and gents I WILL.

But until then I'll just go over there and gorge myself. Done and done.

Moving on...while I was flittering around trying to figure out how to get pictures of the AMAZING FEAST Rebecca had made (I forgot my camera), Michael reminded me I liked to WRITE and since I am a technical WRITING major I should utilize my WRITING abilities and create a compelling description of what we had.

He's right. Sometimes this blog gets a little "Picture Happy" at the expense of wordage so I will do my best to describe it. It's what I should do most of the time anyway.

Thank you Michael!

Anyway...in their deliciously appointed townhouse with the robin's egg blue walls and black Scandinavian dining set I salivate over every time I see it, we snacked upon martini olives baked in puff pastry (which were magnificent) while Rebecca twittered around the kitchen finishing off the dinner preparations like a humming bird. Then the meal began. We first had a caesar salad with rich, nutty flavored homemade caesar dressing (made by Rebecca of course). The greens were cool and crispy and the dressing was perfect. Not too salty and not too fish-laden. This was followed with a main course of plump, perfectly al dente penne with smoked salmon in a light pink sauce with a bit of garlic. The sauce was noticeable but not intrusive, and the smoked salmon was just in the right amount to not overpower the dish. Of course there was a crusty, chewy Italian Boule to go with all of this.

Delightful!

After this and wine, wine and more wine, we had my pie. It paled in comparison to the effort that went into the dinner but they were very nice about it. Michael had an extra piece so it couldn't have been too bad.

Around 11:30 p.m. I went home and slept until 11 the next morning. My friend Jackie came over and we had coffee and talked about soy products for 2 hours (seriously). After coffee I went to my parents house, did laundry, had dinner with them, then came home around 7 after another stop at the supermarket for the week.

I've made some tilapia with wild rice and fresh green beans and put them in tupperwares for the week. That is exciting.

SO...that was my weekend. What did you do?

Cake Day/Jour de gâteau

Yes, I made cake on the alleged "Cake Day". It was too good to resist doing. I made white cake and didn't have frosting so it's just white cake in a dish in the fridge. I just noticed it was Cake Day which would explain the lack of planning on my part. Heh.

HAPPY CAKE DAY EVERYBODY!! Go have some CAKE!!

More/Plus

It just keeps getting better, doesn't it?

(Yes I realize this still isn't perfect but it's a HELL of a lot better than what we had before.)

WHAAA?

SWEET MERCIFUL DEMOCRACY!! WE'RE SAVED!!

Thank you that is all.

PooooTATOTOMATOZUCCHINI.

HI!

I'm sitting here with my friend Jackie and writing about our dinner. Rather, she is going to the bathroom and I am out here.

LET ME TELL YOU WHAT WE MADE!!

My coworker gave me a recipe of hers that she likes. It's called Potato Tomato Zucchini. You have to say it fast and all together for the full effect.

PoooTATOTOMATOZUCCHINI.

Hahaha. Anyhoo, it's pretty self explanatory. Here be the recipe.

POTATOTOMATOZUCCHINI

3 small potatoes
3 roma tomatoes
1 medium sized zucchini
1 small bag baby carrots
2 tsp basil
2 tsp oregano
3 tbsp parmesan
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil (a spray will work best)
1 cup of LOVE (Jackie made me say that)

Slice the veggies, but not the carrots. Spray olive oil on the pan and place the veggies in. Spritz the veggies with a bit more oil and love (again, Jackie). Sprinkle the parmesan, basil and oregano all over the top. It should look like this:



Then place in a preheated oven at 375 for 45 minutes. It will serve 2-3 peeps. While that bakes, make the delicious rice to go with it! YAY!

DELICIOUS RICE TO GO WITH IT

1/2 cup brown basmati rice
1/2 cube vegetable bouillon
2 pinches safflower

Place all the crap in a pot with 1 1/2 cups water or broth. Cook like rice. Done and done.

When everything is all complete, your delicious plate will look something like this (Oroweat Oat Nut toast optional):



DELICIOUS!

You know what else is good? Dessert. We took this sorbet:



and paired it with fresh pineapple! Could it be that I actually made a dessert that doesn't look awful?? Could it BE??!!



MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

Was there liquor? Of COURSE there was liquor!! We had amaretto sours. They were awesome.



On an unrelated note, here is my new t-shirt that I love very much as seen from an EXTREMELY DIRTY mirror in reverse. The little jumpy guy is saying "I am unique!" It's from Threadless. Ain't it cute?



ALSO...here is the snow hat I made with my friend Natalie. Hey Nat! It's DONE!! It's done and it doesn't look horrid!! YAY!!



Okay so that's all. I've had a bit to drink and so has Jackie so it's time to go now.

PEACE OUT!!

I am allergic to Utah/Je suis allergique à Utah

HI!

I'm waiting for the Benadryl to kick in so I can SLEEP.

Do you know why I am waiting for the Benadryl to kick in? Well it's because I went to the allergy specialist today and they sent me home with some after my prick test. Fun eh? Yeah. Well the specialist was actually hilarious and very cool BUT the rounds and rounds (4 rounds of 15 to be exact) of needle pricks were NOT fun. Not fun at all.

Apparently they looked at the results and when I met with the doctor he concluded I was "allergic to Utah."

Oh I could have so much fun with that one.

No seriously. They tested almost all of the different natural allergens found in this state (Scrub oak, sumac, oak, bluegrass, dust mites, lalala) and I was allergic to EVERY SINGLE ONE. In fact two of them, ragweed and cottonwood, produced such a reaction they only gave me one round of those. The doctor said in 9 years of practice he never saw a patient react so severely to so many allergens at once. Blech!!

But this is a good thing. For as long as I can remember, breathing in through my nose has been damn near impossible due to turbinates swollen so badly they cross both nostrils and press against my septum. A sleep test confirmed I don't get enough oxygen while sleeping and I'm sure this has something to do with fatigue and concentration problems which have plagued me all my life.

Don't say it. I know what you're thinking, smartass.

So this is good because hopefully some things can be resolved. Resolution is lovely. Breathing is lovely. Wouldn't it be nice to have both? It really would. So in two weeks I start allergy shots. My insurance covers it 100% and that is AWESOME if you ask me. You did, didn't you?

My arm looks like somebody smacked it with a meat cleaver. Ooooooooww.

Nighty night! Tomorrow's Friday! Woot!!

Cake Day/Jour de gâteau

WHOA.

WHOA.

Okay. DON'T EVER CHANGE your Blogger password and forget what it is. EVER.

You will not get it sent to you for a week. DAMN.

This isn't Blogger's fault. I'm the dumweiner who forgot my password/mot de passe and they probably could have sent it sooner had it not been for all the dumweiners like me who changed their passwords and needed them sent because they didn't write them down! In any case, REST ASSURED I will remember it now FOREVER. I wrote it down. IN PERMANENT MARKER. On the wall calendar. Whew.

Anyway, speaking of things written on my wall calendar, I came home for lunch the other day and noticed this on the calendar as I walked through the bedroom:



I do not know why this was written. There is no birthday, holiday, appointment or friend date anywhere else on my other calendars and my mind that could help identify this day. No conversation regarding cake with anyone comes to mind.

None.

You know why this worries me? Because of THIS. Apparently I have a predilection for writing down strange-o random shit that nobody, not even ME, will understand later.

It's scary.

So I don't really know what the deal is with "Cake Day," but I will tell you, crazy or not, Imma makin' me some CAKE.

Mmm. Cake.

What was I talking about?

Meatless Enchiladas/Enchiladas sin carne

Okay. Hi.

My friend Jackie came over again and we were all goofy crazy as usual, but what we made was STELLAR and I just have to share. It was delicious. It was rich and hearty!!

It was tofu enchiladas.

Before you turn your nose up at that (HEY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!) allow me to share the picture we took. MMMMM!



My mother, being the genius she is, made tofuchiladas for my sister and I when we were kids. They are a low-fat, low-cholesterol version of the real deal and are quite tasty. Based on her recipe and suggestions, I modified it a bit and Jackie said they were scrumptious so they have to be good!

Here's the recipe.

TOFUCHILADAS

1 pkg (36) corn tortillas (can be yellow or white though the yellow have far fewer calories and fat grams in them.)
1 pkg extra firm tofu
1 small can red enchilada sauce
1 small can green enchilada sauce (Las Palmas or Tapatio work well for this)
1 can black olives, rinsed
1/2 each of diced yellow, green and red peppers (for color, yo!)
1/2 minced onion
2 pkgs 2% milk cheese (low fat and lurvin' it!)

Crumble the tofu in a large metal mixing bowl. Add the red enchilada sauce, onions, peppers and 1 package of cheese. Mix well and set aside. It's best to let it marinate for a day or so but this is not necessary.

Place the tortillas on a microwave-safe plate. Cover with another microwave-safe plate and heat until pliable, usually around 2-3 minutes.

Spray a 13X9 baking dish and roll the ingredients into the tortillas. When done, cover the enchiladas with cheese and green chili sauce.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until nice n' CRISPY! YUM!

Serve with Costa Rican rice. Here is the recipe for that from a previous post. Notice the duplication of ingredients. This dinner is healthy for your body AND your wallet! Heh.


COSTA RICAN RICE

1 cup rice
1/2 (chopped) green pepper
1/2 (chopped) red pepper
1/4 (chopped) white onion
1 can black beans
1T vegetable bouillon (or 1 cube)
Olive oil (to cover bottom of pan)
A pinch of Safflower

In a large pan, sauté the rice and chopped vegetables in olive oil until the onions begin to look transparent.

Add 2 cups water to the rice, the bouillon and sprinke the safflower on top. Cover and let boil as you would normal rice (about 15 minutes or until the liquid is gone).

While the rice is cooking, drain and rise the black beans so the ookey crap from the can doesn't get in the rice. When the rice is done, add the black beans and serve with a dollop of sour cream and wine! Yay!

Can you feel the flavah? Mmmmm.

Wednesday/Mercredi

Okay. Here's a happier one.



HAPPY HUMP DAY! WOO!!

Tuesday/Mardi

It's Tuesday.



That is all.

Arts Festival/Fête des Artes

Today my mom and I went to the Arts Festival downtown. It was AWESOME! Booth after booth filled to the brim with gorgeous beads, paintings, sculptures, whathaveyou and everything else lined the street and various bands played the morning away with their own version of laid-back "Mountain" music. Simply walking around soaking up the atmosphere was enough.



After strolling around, we went to lunch at a local cafe where my outfit somewhat matched the floor. Heh.



My mom bought a necklace at the seashell store next door (say that three times fast). Isn't it lovely?



At the end of the street there is a plaza with an old train station that is now a museum. Here's the outside.



Here's the inside. There was an art judging thingamabobo going on.



After that we were on our way out when a lady stopped us and gave us a flyer. She said she was part of the "Harmonica Army" and they were rounding up enough people to play the harmonicas at once to beat the current Guinness record of 1800 or something. We went over to the baseball stadium and there was INCREDIBLE LIVE blues music and FREE FREAKING HARMONICAS!!





What a nice surprise! We learned how to play "When The Saints Go Marching In." I can kinda sorta play it now. Plus I got a harmonica! Score!!

Aaahh. Such a nice day.

Mangez-moi.

Tonight my friend Jackie came over as she does quite often (which is just delightful) and we had dinner again.

It was vegetarian chili...





...with honey cornbread...



...and sorbet with chocolate covered cashews for dessert. It looked goofy. What is it lately with me and the goofy desserts?



Wine was also served of course. We're not barbarians. I highly recommend Barefoot. It is to DIE for.



We had the candle going...



...and good times were had by all.



There's leftover chili in the fridge. I'm going to have it for breakfast because I can.



Ooooooh!!