Christmas Cards

Yes, it's true - you are not imagining things. You did not receive a Christmas card from us this year. Why?

Well, because I didn't send any.

Why?

I'm not really sure - I guess I looked up and the days had disappeared faster than anticipated.

So, I apologize.

And, from our house to yours- Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Now, I suppose I should start working on the 2011 Christmas cards. :)

Christmas Baking

Do you enjoy baking for Christmas? I do! Ok, honestly, I enjoy baking most any time of the year, but Christmas gives me an extra reason to spend days preparing delicious treats.

This year, our yard provided a bounty of pecans and thus the inspiration for our baking projects. This year, Bryan worked with me in the kitchen to create pecan tassies, pecan turtles, pecan logs, sugar & spice pecans, three pepper pecans, and spicy pecans. In addition to our pecan treats we created spritz cookies, Belgian waffle cookies, and sponge candy.

Now, I enjoy baking in large quantity, but I know we shouldn't eat baked goods in large quantity. That's we prepared bags of goodies for some of our Amarillo friends and family - to share a little Christmas cheer. If you listen closely you can hear the sounds of happy tummies from all across Amarillo. :)

I'll admit, I haven't downloaded the pictures from my camera yet, so this artful picture of the goodies is from our good friend Janet. Thanks, Janet!

Memorial Day Weekend BBQ

Today, Bryan and I invited several friends over for an evening of fun, food, and friendship. Bryan donned his finest apparel to cook up a batch of White Trash Chicken.
Our friends, Randy, Kim, Nick and Carol joined us for the evening. Randy and Nick told many a tale of their life in various bands that played in the Amarillo area - and farther - from back in the day.

Each tale of mishap seemed to end with the line, "and we played the gig". "And we played the gig" became the theme for the evening.

Here, Nick tells us tales of a band that was the Amarillo version of the Partridge family, there was a band house, a band bus, kids from one family playing together and a mom that booked all of their gigs.

For dinner, I was able to show some of our patriotism with our patriotic colored Fiestaware.

I channeled my inner Iowa girl and shucked some corn for the dinner. I'm a bit proud of the way the prepared corn looked - the husks were tied with single husk and prepared for grilling - a pretty sight, don't you think?

The corn was grilled alongside the White Trash chicken and the Margarita shrimp skewers.

For dessert we served strawberry shortcake. I made the shortcake from scratch - and yes, it was tasty!

Bryan and I learned that we are not capable of cooking a meal for only six! We probably could have served 20 people with the spread we had prepared!

The conversation lasted well into the evening. And, we are gearing up to do it again on Monday!

Baby Shower

This weekend I co-hosted a baby shower for a friend here in Amarillo with two other symphony ladies. The weather on Saturday morning was grand for our mid-morning brunch. Karen was showered with many fun gifts for the baby to be.

These are the fun animal shakers that we gave Karen. (Our gifts had a strong musical influence!)

And this, the Croc-o-Glock. The pitch was fairly pleasant - but, as Casey indicates, the mallets were a little stronger than we needed.

Casey shared her collections of hats with those in attendance. Little Anna was very fond of this hat/wig combination.

Kellie even toasted Karen with a special champagne toast. The toast was special because Kellie included a special opening of the bottle of champagne - she used a sword! It's a trick that she learned in GQ.

And yes, there was food!

This is the fruit platter that Bryan helped me create. The recipe for the fruit dip will come later this week.

And these, these my dear friends, these mini-breakfast quiches are nothing short of divine. Savory and splendid!

Kellie channeled her inner Martha Stewart by cutting the cheese into these charming duck and heart shapes.

The showere was a delightful way to spend the morning with lovely friends.

Congratulations, Karen!

Headed to Chicago

It's true! In a few short weeks I'll be headed to Chicago. I'll be in Chicago for the League of American Orchestras National Conference June 10-12. If you will be in the Chicago area during this time and want to meet up, let me know. Most of my days are busy with conference activities, but I do have some down time in the evenings.

Following the conference I'll head to Milan, Illinois. My aunts will be hosting a bridal shower for me. :) Many of my family and friends will be in the area that day. After the bridal shower, we will have a graduation party for my cousin Kate. She graduated from high school last week! (Yikes, that makes me feel a bit old - there was a time when I was changing Kate's diapers!)

Should be a busy weekend in the weeks leading up to our marriage. The countdown is on!

Monday morning chuckle

This morning I was reminded of a fun time from what I thought was the not-so-distant past.

Eeks. It is a bit distant.

Oh my, this was 12 years ago.

Crikey!

Well, Jozzy thanks for reminding me of the reality of my age.

Oy!

On this day, 12 (oy - yes really) 12 years ago, I, with my co-conspirator, Chiara, was in the front seat of an old pick-up truck. Chiara was driving as we chaperoned our friend Jozzy to her surprise birthday party. Hmm, we had placed a brown paper bag over Jozzy's head. We had drawn a face on the front of the bag. Hmm, we refused to talk during the long drive from Jozzy's house to the party destination. I think we freaked Jozzy out. Hmm, I know we laughed for a long time that evening.

Honestly laughter was a common theme to many of our gatherings.

Hmm, I remember a rubber snake that lived on the rearview mirror in that truck.

Hmm, I think Gumby and Pokey were involved in that particular party.

The pure silliness of these high school memories makes me smile - and remember some really great times.

Hurricane Ike

Hello friends! This will be a brief post as it is a slightly hectic day. I know many of you who read this blog are also friends of Chiara and her family. I spoke with Chiara several times this morning. She and the fam are in the process of evacuating as the most recent storm projections have Ike striking land near their home.

They are on their way to Austin and possibly Amarillo. I'll keep y'all posted as we might have "hurrication" adventures to report from Amarillo. (Hurrication is a term coined by co-worker Jenny who had to evacuate New Orleans prior to Katrina. She refers to her evacuation time in Amarillo as "Hurrication". It seems as good as word as any for this particular set of circumstances) I'm sure the Yeates Clan would appreciate your thoughts and prayers these next few days.

UPDATE
I spoke with Chiara at 5 p.m. this afternoon. She and the fam have arrived in Austin. They are going to stay in a hotel there for the time being. They were on the way to dinner at Kenny's favorite restaurant - Denny's - trying to relax and keep life as calm as possible.

Leave your mark

This weekend we celebrated Kelly's completion of her master's degree. Way to go Kelly! Kelly earned her Masters in Fine Arts. Did you know that the color for the Masters in Fine Arts hood is brown? Brown! Seriously folks is that the most appropriate color for the school full of allegedly creative types? Crikey!

To celebrate Kelly's degree I thought it appropriate that she have a bottle of wine. So, off to the beverage store to find an appropriate celebratory beverage.

I had some fantastic assistance at the Party Stop as I made it clear I was looking for a good tasting bottle of wine with a fun label. The clerks narrowed the field and clearly, the Meeker's Vineyard bottle with colorful handprints was the most appropriate option to celebrate a Fine Arts Degree. Each bottle of Handprint Merlot from Meeker's Vineyard is individually decorated. Check it out here - the plus side is that it is also a tasty bottle of wine.

(About the pic, yes it's a photo from my new phone. Not too shabby!)

Tour de GNC

As of late I have been called to task for blogging too much about my job.

For those of you who voiced this complaint, my sincere apologies.

Truth be told, my world has been filled with work since December 27. Rarely have I had the opportunity for some non-work related fun. Even when I am not working I seem to integrate aspects of my job into my fun.

Case in point, a visit from friends on January 4. (Yes, don't shake your head in disgust - I have been a wee bit busy and this is my first opportunity to blog about a fun evening!)

On January 4 I was lucky enough to have a visit from my friend Chiara and her family. The Yeates family made a stop in Amarillo on their way back from Utah to Houston. Thankfully this stop in Amarillo was not as eventful as their stop in Amarillo in late December. Chiara and I have been friends since high school. Now we live in the same state again, but it is certainly not any easier for us to see each other. (Look at a map, Houston is a long ways away from Amarillo)The Yeates family visits to Utah do mean a stop in Amarillo as it is a good mid-point in their drive.

On this particular visit, I offered to cook the family dinner after their long day on the road. Zuppa Toscana (Ken, I know I need to send you the recipe, I have not forgotten) for the adults and chicken strips with french fries for the wee ones. After dinner it was clear that the boys had been cooped up in the car far too long and my apartment did not have the room that young boys with energy to burn need - so, I offered to give the family a tour of our concert hall - the GNC.

Needless to say, I think they all loved it. The boys ran around in the education room under the light of the ULOs. Kenny and Nathan were great helpers when it came to making sure all of the correct light switches were turned on and off. We explored all of the nooks and crannies of the hall.



Here the family enjoys sitting in some of our prime box seats. (While they are box seats, the sight lines are not that great!)



Kenny even had the chance to make his concert pianist debut as we played the roles of an orchestra on-stage. Not many kids make their solo performance debut at the GNC.


After a thorough tour of the GNC, a tired duo of boys crawled back into the van and were most likely asleep before the van arrived at the hotel.

While our visits are brief, I certainly enjoy spending time with Chiara and her family and only wish it could happen more often.

Another member of the blogging family

Apparently my blogging efforts have inspired another friend to join the blogging world. This week, Erin left her mark on the internet with her blog - In the Land of Erin. I look forward to reading her blog in the coming weeks to read of what has transpired in her part of the world.

I do have a few other friends who are bloggers; in honor of Erin's step into cyberspace, I'll add a section in the right hand column of this page that includes links to friends blogs. In that way, if I have been a slacking blogger you can read of my friends adventures instead - this may appeal to the stalkerific side of a few of you. ;-)