Another Dinner With Friends

Ryan's birthday is early in May so we decided to have a dinner party to celebrate. The theme this month was Italian food. Yum! I made this antipasto platter inspired by my Aunt Jo who makes amazing antipasto platters. I'm so glad that Harmon's carries most of the ingredients necessary to assemble one of these for a get together.

Whitney and Ryan are making fresh pasta to go with the red pepper sauce that I made. The task was a bit arduous but I have a different style pasta maker that I think might be a little more user friendly.

Liz's pups hoping someone would drop some antipasto.

Here's the finished main course. Delish!

Finally, the two goof balls getting ready to devour the coconut cupcakes that Liz made which were amazing!

Whit made Ryan a mix tape for his birthday which may the most adorable thing that I've ever heard. Rumor has it that he may have made one for her too.

Surprise!

Last night my beautiful Cleavers threw me a surprise party at Diva's Cupcakes. I was shocked speechless as I walked in and saw them all sitting there. I LOVED seeing them, not seeing them has been the most difficult part of not playing roller derby anymore. You can't see it in the photo but on the coffee table in front of us were plates full of cupcakes. I had a wonderful time and am so happy to spend time with those lovely girls.

Zumba Anyone?

I've been on leave of absence from roller derby since the beginning of October. I was experiencing foot pain and on the verge of derby burn out and needed the time off. It's been really, really nice to reclaim two weeknights per week. I've been able to read more, write more, and spend more time with family and friends.

On the downside, I've given up five hours of scheduled exercise time per week. I thought I would easily pick up the slack by trying some new classes at the gym, hiking more, and skating out-of-doors at Liberty Park on nice days. But in reality, I've just been a big slug (see above about more reading, writing and socializing). I'm embarrassed to admit it but it's true.

So, two months of leave finds me with pain-free feet but all my clothes fitting a bit more snug than I'd like. This week I hit the breaking point and decided that I need to get my butt in gear. I'm glad to report that I worked out all four days of the long weekend. This morning I met up with a friend for a spinning class. I haven't been to a spin class in weeks, maybe a month, yikes! The class was great and some new offerings at my gym have me inspired.

I think I'm going to try a Zumba class this week. Have you ever tried Zumba? Here is a youtube clip if you are unsure what Zumba class is. I think it looks ridiculously fun. Let me know if you want to join me!

Radio Hour: Alice

Every once in a while all the pieces seem to fall magically into place. Yesterday, Ryan and I went to see Plan B Theater Company's production of Radio Hour: Alice. The show's run is sold out but you don't despair. The show was also being broadcast live to listeners of KUER's RadioWest. Here's a link to the podcast if you are interested in checking it out.

Ryan wanted to go because Bill Allred from X96 Radio from Hell show is narrating the play. I wanted to see it because my friend Daisy is the foley artist (that's the person who does sound effects in case you didn't know...I didn't know, I had to look it up). Best of all, my teammate England's Glory (and Daisy's sis) happened to be there with her son! The show was outstanding, Ryan and I were completely captivated.

After the show, we hung around to hello to Daisy. We met Bill Allred who graciously agreed to me taking a picture of he and Ryan. Ryan was so excited and he was grinning from ear to ear afterward.

Daisy also invited us to come backstage to check out the foley table. We were fascinated to see all the common household items used to make sound effects. Ryan and I really liked the cigar box guitar with the pool cue neck.


After the backstage tour we all headed over to the Beehive Tea Room. Have you been there? If not, you should go. It is so charming instead and they a wonderful selection of tea, plus sandwiches, salads, quiche, and assorted sweet treats.

Daisy and her sweetie, Jay. Aren't they adorable? Jay was also in Radio Hour:Alice. He voiced the Cheshire Cat and Mad Hatter. Jay kept Ryan and I entertained with stories about Murphy the ferret. I had no idea that ferrets made such great (albeit mischievous) pets!

Chris Isaak, Roller Derby and Gospel Music

I had an action-packed adventure weekend last weekend. On Friday night, Ban and I went to Red Butte Garden to see consummate showman Chris Isaak do his thing. Some rain dropped just as the gates opened but thankfully it did not last for long and the sun was shining again by the time he took the stage. Early in his set, he left the stage and meandered through the crowd of adoring fans. The first part of the set was pretty mellow with popular songs like Somebody's crying and Wicked Game but then he picked up the pace and brought the crowd to its feet. He really put on a terrific show and he's very personable with the audience. I would encourage you to check him out next time he is in town.

On Saturday night, the Leave it To Cleavers hit the track for the first time since June 6 with the hopes of ending the Death Dealers season and advancing ourselves to the championship bout to defend our title. The Cleavers played a great game but got into some penalty trouble in the second half. But the Dealers didn't have an answer to the Cleavers terrific jamming and strong blocking. Final Score: Cleavers 107 - Dealers 81. Check out this amazing photo by Mark Alston of the Cleaver bench. Championship game will be held on September 26 at the Salt Palace.


Finally, on Sunday we headed to Snowbird for the Tent Revival music festival. I'd won tickets to the festival earlier in the week from UtahFM. If you haven't checked out this online community radio station you should! I love the Wasatch Cocktail show on Wednesday afternoons, Women the Third Decade on Thursday mornings, and Funky Trunk on Thursday afternoons.

The Tent Revival was held under unseasonably cool, sunny skies. We brought a blanket up and stretched out on the grass for the afternoon listening to various artists. Some friends met us there and we enjoyed a very relaxing afternoon. I was a little bummed to have not won the Sunday Hat contest after showing up with this number on but the competition was stiff among the dozen or so women who'd sported their Sunday best.

Island Park, Idaho - July 2009

Last week, my son Ryan and I spent a few wonderful days at our friend's cabin in Island Park, Idaho. The cabin is absolutely the most relaxing place on earth for me. Ryan and I left right after work and made it to the cabin by sunset which we enjoyed from the dock. Ryan also discovered that he too loves This American Life and we blew through all the podcasts that I downloaded to my iPod on the way up there.

Another great thing about visiting the cabin while my girlfriend Liz is up there is the amazing food that she and her daughter Whitney always make. This trip was no exception. We dined on grilled pork tenderloin with blackberry sage sauce accompanied by grilled veggies one night followed by a rustic apple tart. The next night we had elk burgers stuffed with cheese, mushrooms and onions and homemade french fries (both regular and sweet potatoes). But the highlight of that meal had to be the fresh baked brownies and freshly made espresso ice cream. Yum! Don't worry, I will be procuring the recipes for my collection.

While we were at the cabin we also did a little of this.

Some of this.


and this:
And no trip to the cabin would be complete without some scratch off lottery tickets. I think we won $38 in total!
But the best part was getting to spend some time with great friends, enjoying good food, and having lots of laughs.

Arts Festival 2009

I spent Sunday afternoon at the Arts Festival in downtown Salt Lake City. The weather was absolutely perfect. We met up with a bunch of friends who we haven't hung out with in a while. It was fabulous to catch up with them.


We wandered around looking at the art and a painting of a pair of high heels caught my attention. I went into the booth and saw painting of more shoes and boot, purses, cupcakes, cocktails and roller skates! It was like the artist knew me! I really wanted to the painting of the roller skates but sadly, it was a little bit out of my budget.

There were some funny metal works sculptures. I liked this guy. His ribs are bent crescent wrenches. Amazing!


There are plenty of good eats at the arts festival too. In fact, the number of choices can be a little overwhelming. I'd read an article in the Trib that there was a booth that was selling tapas so I held out while everyone else made their food selections in the food row hoping to find the tapas booth in the festival.

It took a while and was a little torturous waiting while everyone else was eating pizza, cheese steaks, and fish tacos but I eventually found the tapas! I ordered the diver scallops with creamed spinach. Delicious and quite fancy.

MADE

My daughter recently sent me the link to this video from MTV's Made, with a note asking if I recognized anyone in the clip. Unfamiliar with the show, yet intrigued by my daughter's note, I started watching the video. As soon, as I heard that whiskey voice, I instantly recognized 'Rouge' as the little sister of one of my daughter's friends.

The last time I'd seen this kid was when I was shuttling a car full of them down to Raging Waters for the afternoon. Rouge was up front in the passenger's seat making small talk with me like a 30 year old. I distinctly remember her asking me what I did for a living (she must have been 10 years old at the time). Their family moved away from Salt Lake years ago but needless to say, I got a kick out of the video clip. Plus, I thought her song was pretty good too.

MADE - MTV Shows

1.20.2009 - What a Day!

Wasn't Inauguration Day amazing?



In addition to all the presidential activities, some friends of mine decided to get married on Inauguration Day. They were high school sweethearts whose paths went different ways and now twenty years later they rekindled their relationship and yesterday made it official. Here is a photo of them at a high school dance. The 'new beginnings' theme that the entire country is embracing works for a romantic wedding day too, right?



Finally, I also stopped by the special SLC/Sundance 'tweetup' at the Beehive Tea House where director, Ondi Timoner, spoke about her documentary 'We Live in Public'. I enjoyed hearing Ondi and Josh Harris, the subject of the film, speak about the role that technology plays in shaping our lives. Also, it was great to meet some of the people I follow on twitter face to face!

Christmas...the Low Down

Christmas was great. Good times with family and friends. Delicious food. Thanks Mom, for Christmas breakfast of sausage, egg, & potato casserole and the stuffed french toast. Yum!

We also celebrated Christmas night with some french food to honor Lauren's impending semester in France. Lauren requested ratatouille and we also had quiche, a cheese tray, and mushroom pate. Bon appetit!

Awesome gifts!

And finally, some holiday silliness. We sent this to our friends who spent Christmas in Cancun. Earlier in the day they'd sent a photo of their pool side fruity drinks, complete with paper umbrellas, wishing us a merry Christmas.


Overall, a terrific day despite all my pre-holiday crankiness! :)

Over the Weekend

I had a very busy weekend! In addition to buying a camera, Kylee and I hosted a baby shower for Anna. You'd think that I would have taken more photos but unfortunately I didn't. Ban took a few and I'll post the ones that he took.

Also, check out this origami crane mobile that I made for the baby's nursery. Yeah, I made that! I think it turned out pretty cool.

Halloween 2008

Ummm, apparently, me and the Dealers! Sassie Lass, me, Movin' Violation, Wanton Rebellion, and Lady Octane celebrating Halloween at Movin's costume party.

Collin, Smack, Phillip, Veronica, Octane, me, Sass & Movin'

CTO Reunion

On Saturday night, I had the opportunity to see some friends from my previous job. The best thing about that job was the amazing group of people that worked there. The job could be rather intense and sometimes stressful but knowing that these folks had your back made the daily grind bearable. I could always count on these guys to help out if the work load got crazy and I've never worked anywhere that had people with such great senses of humor. One important lesson that I learned from them was to NEVER walk away from your work station unless you'd locked your keyboard first. It was terrific to see them and catch up.

Horse Frame!

It's September and time for the Utah State Fair. I love the fair and we went last night to celebrate a friend's birthday. Happy birthday, Anna! The fair is people watching at its best, even better than the airport. In addition to the plethora of deep-fried foods, farm animal stench, and carnival rides that couldn't possibly be safe, we also checked out the rodeo. I've never actually been to a rodeo before and honestly, I found it a bit perplexing.

Have you heard of mutton busting? Basically, children aged 2-6 (yes, 2!) strap on helmets and then climb onto the back of a mutton. They are then let free from the holding pen and hang on for dear life as the mutton streaks across rodeo grounds. Here's a www.youtube.com video to give you some idea:

Seriously, who'd let their kids do this? Suddenly, I feel a lot less guilty about the time my kids spent watching TV or playing video games.

Otherwise, it was the usual mix of cowboys trying to beat farm animals into submission. I couldn't help but root for the animals. Probably the best part of the rodeo was the entertainment. I’m not talking about the rodeo clowns (they were weak) or the rodeo queen (wow, aqua net!) but the musical stylings of Ban. Let’s just say that he was in rare form last night. Virtually every song that they played at the rodeo which was a surprisingly broad spectrum of music not just the country stuff you’d expect, Ban would change the lyrics to include the words horse, bull, or rodeo. Hence, 'Freeze Frame' became 'Horse Frame' shouted with the same intensity as the original 80s recording by the J Geils Band. Anna created this album cover just in case Ban decided to compile those treasured songs into something to be enjoyed by the masses.

Go to the fair, it's fun! I think next Sunday is the demolition derby...

Mystery in the Mountains

We planned a cook out in the mountains with some friends last night. We loaded up a grill and cooler and looked for a great spot to dine al fresco. Up Big Cottonwood canyon we exited at the Donut Falls turn off and headed up the road and found a perfect place by a creek. Our menu included garden fresh bruschetta, grilled italian sausages w/ peppers & onions, and pasta salad. In addition to the picturesque setting, the evening cooled off beautifully, in fact, we needed to put on hoodies shortly after dinner.

We are a goofy bunch and every get together eventually devolves into feats of strength or daring so I always carry my camera to capture the ridiculousness. But in the group shot below don't ask me what the white circle is on the left side of the photo because I have no idea. I'm sure it has to be something with the flash but I took a photo 30 seconds before this one from the same spot with no mysterious object in the photo.

Sushi & Swing

On Friday night my girlfriend Liz and her daughter came over to my place for a sushi extravaganza to celebrate Liz's milestone birthday. My kids were there too and it was fun for us all to be together again. We enjoyed an amazing sushi dinner (thank you B!) and laughed until our sides ached. I've not heard of oxygenated olive oil, particularly used as a medicinal treatment. Have you?

My daughter and her friend decided to spend a little time practicing their swing dancing before going dancing at club later that night. Here is a video clip of them dancing to a song by James Hunnicutt & the Revolvers from their new album Bad Girl.

I love Fridays....