Birthday

Today is my 36th birthday and it has been outstanding. I am so grateful for my dear friend Kimberly who knows how important it is to feel special on your birthday. A massage and a facial on the same day? Heaven. I'm also grateful for The Mister who had a rough morning but put that aside to take me out for a wonderful sushi dinner. This has become our tradition--The Mister takes Kimberly and me out for sushi at a restaurant of my choosing. My two favorite people and a sushi dinner is, in my book, a recipe for a great evening. That we've done it enough times to call it a tradition is even better.

I have no idea what this year will bring but I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the blessings that have already come my way.

Four Years

The Mister and I were married four years ago today. It's hard to believe that we've been a couple for almost five. We've been together long enough that I'm having trouble remembering what life was like before him. It's been good--really, really good.

Tickets for a concert have been purchased and we have reservations this weekend at Solera (a restaurant we've never been to). I'm ready for a nice relaxing weekend to celebrate us.

Weekend In Review

Sister-In-Law and Cousin-In-Law were both in town. SIL is visiting from Australia and is getting married at the Oxford Hotel in September 2009, so there were lots of wedding preparations this weekend. We got a chance to see the ballroom at the Oxford on Monday and it is beautiful.

Didn't do much reading, but did get some good recommendations at the family gathering on Sunday. The Boss came in to work with a stack of 20+ doctoral dissertations that he offered to let me read, but I took a pass. I'm bored, but not that bored.

Tornado Watchers

We stopped in Hays, Kansas to fill the tank and grab some lunch. I got to chatting with one of the women in the restaurant and joked about driving across Kansas in tornado weather. She (helpfully) mentioned that the tornado chasers were right across the street getting gas! The Mister was intrigued, as he watches way too much of the Discovery Channel, and took a picture.

Kansas City

Kansas City was delightful. Our hosts were warm and welcoming and had a weekend of relaxation planned, which was perfect. I had no idea the Mister and I were so run down until we both slept 10 hours, two nights in a row, which is unheard of. We wandered around the Plaza, sampled cheese, ate BBQ, and had a great time together.

Our hostess is an accomplished gardener, and also very generous. She gave me two books on gardening which I have already devoured. I'm not sure which is better--gardening, or reading about gardening? She also gave us divisions from her heirloom peony bushes so we drove back to Denver with a back seat full of peonies! I'm praying that they thrive in our backyard because they are gorgeous.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

The Mister and I are going on a quick trip to Kansas City to visit friends. This is the longest time we've ever been in the car together, which I think is a shame. A ten hour drive really doesn't count as a road trip in my book (I once drove 17 hours in one day just to see if I could do it, not recommended), but it's going to have to do.

Hope everyone has a fun, relaxing, and entertaining weekend.

Mother's Day in Photos

Arrived

The peonies are here! I stopped at Whole Foods yesterday and bought a bunch to make my own Mother's Day floral arrangement. Pictures coming...

I'm hosting my mother and MIL on Sunday for a tea party. It's a perfect event for chocolate chip scones, so I'll be whipping up a batch of those tonight. My recipe is loosely based on Ina's classic.

Photo found here.

This Is Getting Repetitious

Another reason I'm not reading? Our new DVR. Dangerous! However, most of the weekend wasn't spent wasting time in front of the boob tube, I was actually making Christmas presents! My sewing machine is up and running again, so I hit the Christmas project list pretty hard.

Still enjoying my book, though. Read quite a bit on Friday night. It was nice to get into my comfy jammies with my book and read while the Mister stayed up way too late trying to get homework done. While I'm very proud of all of his hard work, it is making me feel guilty!

What I'm Reading

Read all of Janet Evanovich's 12 Sharp and The Secret Life of Bees this weekend. I'm back!

Still Not Reading

Argh! Got home last night and only wanted Martha. Fine. Read the Martha. I'm going to see Little Sister this weekend and I'm confident of two things: 1. There will be no Martha and 2. I will have a book with me. Whether I read it or not remains to be seen.

Books I've Read

Finished Zora's book...simply amazing. More on that another time, I think.

Read another Sue Grafton novel this weekend. Started Friday night, finished Saturday afternoon. That's why I love her books--practically instant gratification.

Weekend In Review

Little Sister and her husband were in town this weekend and stayed at the Casa. So much fun! Dined at Vesta, did some shopping, played rummy. We were reminiscing about movies we love and came up with a list that need to be rented the next time they're in town:

• The Court Jester
• Pillow Talk
• That Touch of Mink
• Father Goose
• Operation Petticoat
• Some Like It Hot

And one that we haven't seen: Lover Come Back.

The Casa Is Now Open For Business

We've had our first official guests to the Casa! The house isn't done yet, but it is presentable. The weekend was busy with visitors. Friday night we hosted friends for dinner, Saturday my parents and in-laws all came over for a long lunch, and Sunday the Mister's cousin came down from Ft. Collins. Next weekend: Little Sister and Brother-in-Law from Steamboat Springs. The weekend after: The Mister's cousin and her husband from Minnesota. We've got to get the guest bedroom set up!

The Weekend

Off to Ft. Collins for New West Fest! Free music, hanging out with fun people, should be a good time. The Mister is looking forward to Bruce Hornsby; I'm looking forward to time away.

Weekend in Review

In a word? Heavenly. Reading, scribbling, cooking, walking, hanging out with friends around the BBQ, working on music with the Mister. Exactly the kind of weekend I've been needing for a while. Finished the Tony Bourdain book (so good!) and read Astrid and Veronika. Sweet, gentle, satisfying, and yet still leaves you twisting a little bit in the end. I felt drawn to this author because it was her first novel. A sample:

"'My life now consists of fragments', she said, 'where some are so blinding in their intensity that they make everything else indistinguishable. What shall I do with these glittering shards? There is no pattern: I can't make them fit. With each other, or with the whole that should be my life. It feels as if my existence was extinguished in a flash, and afterwards my universe became incomprehensible. Just shards and particles, which I carry with me where I go. They are sharp and they still hurt to touch. And they are so heavy.'" (p. 76)

Tonight we made lovely stuffed artichokes. The recipe is here. I'm not a fan of the Everday Italian TV show (the teeth! the cleavage! the teeth again, but with extra enthusiasm!) but some of the recipes are good. Anything that requires more than 6-8 core ingredients (not including spices, stock, etc.) is not going to get made very often in this household. This recipe looks elegant but doesn't require a lot of effort.