Happy Meal Lunch

Pinky, I just had to steal this from you ... 

I ordered a happy meal for lunch today and told the cashier that I didn't care what kind of toy I got since I planned on giving it away at the first chance I get.  I ended up strawberry shortcake toys for girls ... this sign explains a lot ...

I wonder how many women will start ordering happy meals if they can get boy toys to go with it ... ☺

BBQ with the girls ...

I got together with the girls from my former Enrichment Committee to belatedly celebrate Darcy's birthday at Q4U in West Valley.

A Hello Kitty toothbrush with bubble gum toothpaste. Happy birthday, Darcy!

Oink! Check out the roasted pig! I thought it was a plastic display, but it really was the day's special.

Yup, that's the day's special -- half a pound of pork and it comes with two sides (I opted for the mac and cheese and the baked beans) ... YUM!

As we were leaving the restaurant, the owner asked if we want to see what's left of the roasted pig. I didn't think it'd be hollow. She also let me taste some of the crispy skin ... very tough and cthewy. Apparently, a customer had come in earlier and asked for the head -- he's coming back after closing time to collect it.

Weekend Fun

Kicked off the weekend on Friday with pedicures with Julie and Janeen. I can't remember the last time a man had gave me a pedicure ... and he did a great job. The mint sugar leg and foot scrub/massage was pretty darn good too ... and all this for a reasonable price at the nail salon at the Centerville WalMart. Go figure!

On Saturday, I got together at the Dauds' for a make your own sushi party/potluck.  My camera phone didn't take very good pictures of the food, so I won't include them here, but we had a great time making and eating our creations. I brought stuff to make SPAM musubis and got to borrow this cute musubi lunch bag and SPAM slicer from a co-worker.  I'm so jealous ... I want one of this slicers for myself! I've found it online at an Asian market for $4.99, but shipping and handling was $14.99. Not happening! I'll have to make sure to look for them the next time I'm in California.

Ended the weekend with dinner at the Godfreys. Maja and her son, Ben are in town from Germany. Ben is such a happy boy and is just SO adorable. He chased the dogs around all night and would pat them and say, "hi, hi, hi." A few times, he even got on the floor and looked at them straight in their eyes to say hi. Such a happy boy ... and so friendly. I was getting hugs and kisses left and right from Ben. It was so cute to hear him talk in both English and German. Simply adorable!

Jim prepared dinner and as always it was delish. Grilled fresh zucchini from the garden, with homemade potato salad and grilled chicken ... and pumpkin pie for dessert. I brought some mango juice and it was a hit! A pleasant evening all around with tons of great food and great company. I'm glad I got to see Maja and meet Ben before they leave for Germany.

..The moon out tonight was a bit scary. Because of the fire out in the Herriman area, all the smoke made the moon a scary reddish-orange. I heard back from a friend who owns a home out there and they had evacuated and are okay. I hope their homes are also alright. A great weekend and hoping that the week will turn out just as well ... especially for my friends with homes in Herriman.

Ward Dinner Group

Don't freak out ... yes, I went to a church activity -- a ward dinner group ... or rather, Julie signed me up while I was absent one Sunday and I didn't resist. For tonight's activity, we brought food to the church building and groups were assigned different rooms. So, here are some of the highlights from the conversations in my dinner group tonight:

A: My favorite place is Prague Czech Republic.
B: Is that near Czechcoslovakia?

A: I studied composites in college?
B: Cool, deposits ...

A: I would love to go to Ireland someday ...
B: What do they speak there ... Irish?
A: I think it's English ... with an Irish accent.

A: Guess who else is a carpenter?
B: Ummm, Jesus?

Yeah, I've forgiven Julie, but only because I got a good laugh out of the whole thing and a good excuse to blog about it.

Funny Posters

An ode to Pinky (who ♥'s her iPhone, cats and crocs):

... and here's the rest that got me laughing:

"Try to Remember"

I've not ever seen The Fantasticks (an off-Broadway musical from the 60s). In fact, the first time I heard of it was when the show's run ended in 2001, soon after 9/11. NPR ran a story about it and played the song as tribute. I cried like a baby as I listened to the story with the context of 9/11 in my mind.

As the anniversary of 9/11/01 approaches, I "try to remember" the lives lost on that terrible day, the heroes who gave their lives to save others, and how the event deeply touched us as well as the hearts of so many Americans and the world ... I hope that we can then follow these fine examples and do our best to restore what was lost that day to a time "when life was so tender ..."

Try to remember when life was so tender
That no one wept except the willow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That dreams were kept beside your pillow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That love was an ember about to billow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow.

Neopolitan Cupcakes

The domestic fairy bumped against me the other day when I saw a facebook friend's photo of rainbow cupcakes she made.  Basically, it was cake batter that she had separated and added various food coloring to. A few spoonfuls of different colored batter and voila ... it's like tie-dye and baking collided and you've got this awesome looking cupcakes. So that gave me an idea ... I don't want to dye white batter into eight different colors, so why not just go for the basic flavors of chocolate, white and strawberry (like neopolitan ice cream), bake it in a waffle bowl and serve with whipped cream and topped with a maraschino cherry or two ... hmmm ...

The first batch FAILED! Apparently the batter softened the waffle bowls and the result is this awful looking mess.

With the second batch, I decided to just make regular cupcakes, in a muffin tin with liners and then put the finished products in the waffle bowls. Much better and more of what I had hoped it would look like ... here they are fresh out of the oven and nestled in the waffle bowls.

With only cherries on top, without whipped cream.

With whipped cream and cherries.

 

I think next time, I'll use white frosting instead. The whipped cream just didn't hold ...

What a find!

Ladies, here's something I found while shopping for some "foundation wear" at Victoria's Secret a couple of weeks ago -- bra extenders! Love the idea! It "adds inches of comfort for half size bras" and "perfect for weight gain."

Pictured above on the left is the first one I purchased from Victoria's Secret, $12, three 2-hook extenders in black, white and nude.  Unfortunately, my bras have 3 hooks. Last night I found at Target 3-hook extenders, which retail $6.99 AND in the same colors in pairs! Six extenders for a little more than half the price = WIN! Two-hook extenders are also available at Target for $5.99. Needless to say I am returning the extenders from VS.

Shakespearean Festival, Part 2

It was a gorgeous weekend to attend plays in the outdoor theater. Julie accompanied me this time around and we saw two plays.

"Much Ado About Nothing" was much ado. Perhaps it was because I had just finished watching Kenneth Branagh's version and the cast of the play just didn't do it for me. The pace was slower and I think they may have had some audio problems as I couldn't hear some of the dialogue. Don Pedro is too old, Claudio isn't as handsome as I had pictured him ...

Macbeth, however, was AWESOME! The witches seemed to have gotten some acting hints from an exorcism movie and Lady Macbeth's scream wasn't quite as blood curling as I had expected, but the pace and direction was so much better than "Much Ado ...". I was at the edge of my seat the whole time. Add to that the intensity of the play and the gorgeous stage and setting of a beautiful evening! Oh, I'd see it again in a heartbeat! Yeah, I gave it a standing ovation.

On the way home, we stopped by Cove Fort for some church history.  It was a windy day, but it was still a lovely visit and a great way to get some religion into our Sunday.

Here I am on the look out at the fort.

 Before heading back on the road, I sat under an apple tree. Very pretty ...

We stayed at Crystal Inn in Cedar City, based on a recommendation of our friend, Kristen. It was a MUCH better accommodation than my stay last month at the very ghetto Travelodge.  About an hour into our travel home, I realized that I had left my favorite (as in I don't sleep well without it) pillow at the hotel.  It was a total bummer! Julie called several times and we finally got confirmation halfway home that they found said pillow and will mail it back to me. Phew! I don't know how I'll sleep until I have it back, but I'm glad that I'll have it back.

Oh, Maxine!

Maxine is one of my favorite cartoons around and these couple of things I found on her facebook page gave me a good chuckle.  Enjoy!

Love is like a roller coaster—when it’s good you don’t want to stop and when it’s not you want to throw up.