A Favorite...

This was the first musical I fell in love with. (Dean likes Gilbert & Sullivan musicals...it is really difficult to love HMS Pinafore or Pirates of Penzance played at full volume all night while you are trying to sleep). I heard it for the first time in Mrs. Vonk's choir class...I think in 9th grade. It was so beautiful and the music moved me.

Tonight was the 2nd time I saw it in 2 weeks. It was fantastic! My favorite character is and always will be Jean Val Jean...and tonight was no exception.

I laughed, I cried (well not really...as my roommate NICOLE tells me, I apparently have no emotions), but as always I was moved by the story and music.

Thanks Mrs. Mister for the birthday present...it was the best ever!

Does This Scare You?

Tonight for FHE we went shooting. I have been shooting several times before with my brother JOE. I like to shoot. I don't know that I am very good at aiming...but I have fun.

Through The LOOKING GLASS

Several days ago some high school friends and I got together. A comment was made that went something like this "I still think of you as the same D'Nellie that I knew growing up and in high school." It got me thinking. How do I view myself? How do others view me? Do the two ever meet? And if someone has known you almost your whole life...does their image of you grow and change...and if it does how much and when?

How I view myself: I find that sometimes I feel like the picture above. Some child going through life without a care...and not really paying attention to the world around me or really knowing what is going on.

And sometimes I view myself as I was in the above picture. I distinctly remember getting this photograph taken...well one part. I remember the photographer saying "all the tall people in back"...so where did I go...to the back. I was tall. My view of myself was skewed to what others had told me about myself, or I believed what people said about me. Back to the story: Everyone laughed and I ended up where I did in most of the photographs when I was younger...on my mom's lap. Which is another way I view myself...still a child needing protection from my mom. Still needing her approval and reassurance...still needing her to take care of me...like sewing buttons on my pants. (I can sew a button...thank you very much...I did it on Saturday...much to the surprise of my mom.)

Yet at other times I view myself as I felt I was in high school...trying to appear confident and like I had the world in the palm of my hand. Always looking for an adventure. But inside a little unsure of myself and my abilities and hoping that known one would notice. Yet always laughing.

How do I see myself most of the time? I see myself as all of these people. I am Nellie from my childhood, D'Nellie from Jr. High and High School, D'Nell from my adult life...sprinkled with some Delia and of course from my Dad...a little smidgen of Princess. All of the people I once was...make up the person I am today.

As for the question of how others view me...I honestly don't know. I could guess...but I think I wouldn't quite hit the mark. Does their view ever change? I would hope so...but again it is a mystery. (I could give you several people that I would say know me quite well...you could ask them...but if you do...let's chat afterwards...I want to know what they say!)

(sidebar: uummm...I don't know about you two...but I am ready for a rematch...or maybe instead we should just go shopping! But of course we need those who were missing to come as well!)

Domestic Goddess - Lesson 1

As you know I want to become a Domestic Goddess. Well, I am excited to tell you that I am well on my way. My roommate moved out and with her went our kitchen table. Ardell (my mom) so kindly offered her old one to me. However the table has been lovingly used for 50+ years and needs some work. Enter Domestic Goddess Lesson 1: Refinishing a Table.

I borrowed the sander from my sister Liz. All I needed to get started were sanding pads...off to ACE hardware I went. The man who helped me...lets just say...shook my confidence in my abilities...who knew there where so many questions to answer to find the right grit of sandpaper. I just wanted "COARSE" and "LESS COARSE". It sounded simple to me...but apparently it isn't.

Armed with the right sand paper I went home. Well...our friendly ACE Hardware helper sold me stick-on sandpaper for the sander instead of Velcro sandpaper...like the one I handed to him. Whose smart now? No worries...I made the stick-on work. (see the sander below)
Armed with the sander and sand paper I went to work. It wasn't hard at all! It was a little tricky getting all the nooks and cranny's but I got them all! See the part- sanded table below.


After sanding came the paint. I went to the paint store and was in luck...I nice person who asked easy to understand questions helped me! Even better she interpreted my "I want it white" basic phrases and guided me to all the tools I would need! Yay!
Armed with painting supplies I applied the primer (see above)...and was done for the day. Paint needs to dry. The table isn't finished, I have one and half coats of paint left to apply, but it feels amazing to be able to accomplish this. While I didn't do it on my own (thanks to Joe and Marc, got to love brothers), I will do 90% myself. I can do this and much more. I am well on my way to achieving the goal of becoming a Domestic Goddess. Next time your at my house for dinner...keep in mind that it was made beautiful by me!

The best part is....I didn't even break a nail...sanded a nail...but did not break one!

Dean Dean Dean

I didn't always have the kindest thoughts toward my dad, but over the last 10 years I have come to love and appreciate him more and more. I am grateful for all the values that he has taught me.
The two values that I cherish the most are:
1. Family is important.
2. Education, learning, and knowledge are invaluable skills and tools.
Both of these have shaped who I am and who I am yet to become. They have made ma a better person.
Dean also makes me giggle. One of my favorite things about my dad is that when I was younger, if anyone one got hurt while he was there, he would always give them a dollar or two to help them feel better. How cute!
My dad also makes me feel special. Now, when I go and see him, he is always delighted and calls me Princess or DD. He says that I am beautiful. Because of this, I know that he loves me.
Happy Fathers Day!

LARB the recipe

Sauce:
2/3 cup lime juice
1/3 cup fish sauce
1 TBS sugar
2 tsp Thai roasted chili paste in oil or chili-garlic sauce

Mix together set aside.

3/4 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
1 1/2 lbs ground chicken (beef, pork, or turkey)
1 cup thinly sliced green onions
3/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
3 TBS minced fresh lemongrass
1 TBS thinly sliced Thai chilies or Serrano chilies
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 cup chopped fresh spearmint leaves

Bring broth to simmer in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken. Simmer until cooked through, breaking up meat with spoon, about 8 minutes. Add green onions and next 3 ingredients. Stir until vegetables are tender and most of liquid has evaporated, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in sauce, cilantro and mint.

Spoon into lettuces leaves, serve. (Boston or Romaine).

This is one of many recipes I found for LARB. It came from www.epicurious.com. It was very delicious! However, not as sweet as the one from Thai Siam.

Okay, so for anyone who has watched me cook or cooked with me knows that I am not very good at following recipes. I like to change the recipe just a bit and sometimes I just am not paying attention. So, this is what I did. I used turkey burger. I also did not put any Thai or Serrano chilies in it (good thing because it had enough spice without them). I put 1.5 TBL of sugar...it just needed to be a titch sweeter. I also served it over rice and then spooned it into romaine lettuces leaves. If you can't handle even a little spice, I would only use 1 tsp of chili sauce in the sauce recipe. You could also substitute the sugar for splenda. This recipe serves 6, so if you are like me...you will have leftovers for days, will be giving some away, and freezing some for later! Anybody want some LARB???

Helpful hints: buy the lemongrass, cilantro, spearmint, Thai chili or garlic chili sauce, and fish sauce at an Asian food market. It will be great quality and 1/2 to 1/3 the price of a regular store. In fact while you are the Asian market check out their spice aisle, a lot of times you can get spices you use everyday a lot cheaper, same goes for herbs and vegetables.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

I went to a concert last night with my roommate Nicole (crazy girl in the side of the above picture).

This is a picture of the guy that was sitting by Nicole. After the 2nd band he left to get their autograph and Nicole leans over to me "D'Nell, this is bad, but I am kind of scared of the guy sitting next to me." A little background: When he sat down and through the first two acts, he had a really unfriendly "Don't Mess With Me" face. Fast forward to the end of the concert, Nicole turns to me "I loved sitting next to that guy!"

What happened to change her mind? Our friend Mr. Mohawk came alive like a wind up toy. He would make joke after joke, sing along with the bands...even doing little hand movements that went a long with the songs! He even turned to Nicole, right next to her face, and sang to her. There was this other guy, kiddie corner from us, and he was doing crazy rap dance moves to the 80's band that was playing. I videotaped some with my phone...and so did Mr. Mohawk! He laughed and then we high 5'd. (Just thinking about this make me giggle, so funny).

Mr. Mohawk, where ever you are, you made the concert great! Thanks!

I Love Summer

I love summer.
One of my favorite things of the summer is the farmers market.
It starts this Saturday.
I will for sure be there.
You should come too!
It is every Saturday, throughout the summer.
Yay! Farmer's Market!

A Random Thought...

Inspire:
1 a : to influence, move, or guide by divine or supernatural inspiration b : to exert an animating, enlivening, or exalting influence on c : to spur on : impel, motivate d : affect
2 a archaic : to breathe or blow into or upon b archaic : to infuse (as life) by breathing
3 a : to communicate to an agent supernaturally b : to draw forth or bring out
4 : inhale
5 a :bring about, occasion b :incite
6 : to spread (rumor) by indirect means or through the agency of another

What inspires you?
Is it: art, words, poems, movies, people, places, things, or something else?
What inspires me?
It depends.
Lots of things inspire me.

NATURE inspires me to live each day to the fullest so that I can enjoy the beauty of the Earth.
WORDS inspire me to self reflect and feel deep emotion.
MUSIC inspires me to move.
BOOKS inspire me to learn.
ART inspires me to create beauty and share it with the world.
PEOPLE, this is where it gets tricky, people inspire me to be my best self and my worst self.

How can this be?
What do you do if the person that is inspires you to be your best self one day, inspires you to be your worst self the next?
What changed?
Was it me or the person? Or is it something else entirely...
I have my ideas...but they change according to the situation...
Inspiration, it's interesting.

LARB!

I am so excited! I found the recipe for one of my favorite Thai dishes...LARB. I know it sounds weird...but it is so tasty! The best was to describe LARB is the Thai version of lettuce wraps. I have all of the ingredients, and will be making LARB sometime this next weekend or week. Yay! I heart LARB!