Whatever Works For You

I have been getting my nails done regularly for years. I have noticed in the salon I go to as well as other salons, there is always a little section in the corner with a Buddha and various other things. Today in the corner, there was a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, some tomatoes, some incense burning, among other things. I am not totally sure what it all means, but I have heard that it's a symbol of things that they are sacrificing in return for blessings from Buddha. I asked the owners daughter one time, who was since been baptized and married in the LDS faith, if her parents that run the salon were Buddhist. She said, no, they are actually Catholic. But, she said, they have heard that this ritual can be good for increasing business, so they try whatever works. Interesting.

Farmers Market

I love the Farmers Market. Not only is there fantastic people watching, but the food is a-mazing. Julie and I made it to the final market of the season, and it was a good time! We waded through the Occupy SLC tent village for some of that killer food. The first stop: Sweet Salt Lake Limeade. If you haven't had this yet, you are missing out. Not only is it incredibly delicious, but they make it right in front of you in a cute little jar. Sold! I may have chugged mine in 32 seconds. Hey, how did I get two in my hands? Oops.

We then had some pizza from Surefire pizza. Their mobile oven cooked our pies in around 3 minutes, and again, we had something delicious! Two for two! Plus, they cater, so think of them for your next event.

We ended with a crepe sold to us by this guy: How cute is he with his wee little fedora?

So much fun. As I get ready to hibernate for winter, I'm hoping that the memories of that limeade will get me through. Cheers!

Not Quite Ready for the Holidays

I realize that we had snow yesterday, on November 1st, but I'm still not ready for all things Christmas. As I was coming home last night, in the distance on Redwood Road, was a house all lit up in Christmas lights. I had to check the radio too just to make sure that they weren't playing Christmas music as well . . . luckily not yet. We haven't even gone through all the Halloween candy yet and then we move straight into Christmas . . . not quite ready. I say that but even I must admit that I had to get in a little bit of holiday spirit myself as I had to get our company holiday party invitations in the mail on Halloween so they would arrive this week. With an early party on the horizon, we are in full party planning mode. But, I'm still not getting the Christmas lights out . . . yet.

Happy Happy Birthday, Julie Dear!

It's Julie's birthday today! Isn't that exciting Julie? Since this day is pretty much the only time that we talk about what a gem Julie is, let's get to it, shall we? Here are some of the things that we love about Julie:

J-oyful: Isn't Julie the definition of this word? Julie does a great job of finding

joy in the journey. She is rarely in a bad mood, and if she is, she hides it really well. I may or may not have a teensy temper, and Julie is great at telling me that the little things I get upset at just don't matter. Our mom was always happy, and Julie is following in her footsteps. When Julie was out of work longer than she was planning to be, she stayed upbeat, and instead of wallowing in her situation, she used the extra time to serve, find cute ways to decorate her home, and meet me for lunch. Job well done!

U-biquitous: Yeah, I didn't know what that meant either. Here's the definition:

• Being present everywhere at once. Existing or being everywhere, or in all places, at the same time; omnipresent.

Julie is the ultimate multi-tasker. We have lovingly nicknamed Julie "The Hub." This is because she is the hub of all of our activities. Need to know what time we are meeting for dinner? Call The Hub. Have a question about what to get someone for their birthday? Call The Hub. Want to know the dirt on someone you're interviewing at work? The Hub will produce a whole dossier in under 3 minutes (this actually happened, people). And she can do all this at the same time! With her trusty sidekick/iphone by her side, Julie manages to be The Hub wherever she is.

L-ovely: Julie is lovely inside and out. I know I've mentioned this before, but she can pull pretty much any look off. Today, she was wearing a pair of lovely metallic flats that would have made our Grandma Irene proud, and she was working them! Below is a classic example. Here I am in a standard argyle sweater. Next to me is Julie in a Springy floral cardi that I NEVER would have picked for myself, but that she looks just lovely in. You go, gal!

I-ntuitive: Julie pays attention to others, and is always seems to know what people need. She was recently released from her third tour of duty as the YW President, and I was always in awe watching her take care of those girls as if they were her own. She was constantly thinking of little things to do for them and ways to help them. We joked when she got released that she got a pay raise, because she spent all of her extra time and money on her girls. And did it gladly.

E-arnest: When Julie believes in something, she will support it to the death, and she doesn't care who knows it! She is devout in her affection for her sweet music collection (I'm talking about you, Ti Amo), and has been known to Shazaam the same song 3 times because she loves it so much. She also has a way of being quickly promoted in her Church callings, because when she sees a better way to do something, she does it! She was excited to get her current calling because, "I've been waiting to get my hands on this organization."

Julie is one of the most spectacular people that we know, and we hope that this year is your best yet, and that you give us lots of good material for our post in 2012! Love, your fellow feathered friends.

Shake, shake, shake!

I love Smashburger! Their juicy burgers are by far my favorite of the chains out there. I have tested Tony Burger and Five Guys . . . among others . . . and the Smashburger is by far the best. I am learning that everything on the menu is good here. I am not a huge ice cream lover, but the shakes here are a-mazing. Rich, delicious, Haagen-Dazs ice cream is blended to make a delicious chocolate, vanilla or strawberry shake. We were craving Smashburger the other day and to my surprise they offered a limited edition banana shake. You are speaking my language with something new . . and limited . . . I must have it! And this shake did not disappoint. Natalie and I split the shake and we agreed that it was fantastic. Apparently you can have the shake mixed with the chocolate or strawberry too . . . but we just went with the classic vanilla to really get that fresh banana taste. Delish!

Recipe Mashup

I got a call the other day from someone in my ward trying to make sense of recipes that were submitted over a year ago for a ward cookbook. She called because the ingredients to my Spicy Oven Fries sounded odd. The recipe looks like this . . .

SPICY OVEN FRIES

Peel (if desired) and cut into 1/2" think lengthwise strips 4 large russet or baking potatoes. Spread potatoes in single layer in 15 x 11" shallow baking pan. Drizzle over potatoes, turning to coat evenly 3 Tablespoons oil.

In small bowl, combine:

1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed

1/8 teaspoon onion salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon chili powder

dash cayenne pepper

Sprinkle half the seasoning mix over the potatoes. Bake at 450 degrees for 12 minutes. Turn the potatoes with spatula and sprinkle with remaining seasoning mixture. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until tender. Makes: 4-6 servings

However it came to her with just the first line about slicing the potatoes and then said to saute' an onion and then combine with red or green salsa and put on top. Crazy! I'm glad she called, because then wouldn't you know, my name would be attached to some weird concoction. And whoever shared the recipe with the salsa would have just an odd mix of spices. I should really stop sharing recipes. It's kind of like the Electricity game. How one thing is shared at the start is not how it ends up. If I like a recipe, then I tend to follow it exactly and buy what I need to make it, but I know that people often make due with what they have and sometimes the substitutions just don't turn out.

My two favorite examples of this are when I shared my Strawberry Spinach Salad recipe and it was brought to a bridal shower where it was just an oily ball in the bottom of the bowl. Someone asked the person who made it where she had gotten this lovely recipe . . . and she was more than happy to say from me . . . right in front of me. I was pretty horrified. The person who made the salad said that they had both made the salad and dressed it the night before - and didn't know why it would turn out that way. I guess I have to mention in the recipe about how oil-based dressings go on the salad just right before serving. There was also the time that I shared a broccoli salad recipe with a mayonnaise based dressing. Apparently not everyone knows that broccoli salad should be served cold, so this person cooked the broccoli first and then tossed it with the sweet mayonnaise dressing . . . yuck!

I've Been Bamboozled!

I always thought that I would never get a tattoo, but apparently, I have this stenciled onto my forehead:

I like to think of myself as a savvy person who can’t be manipulated, but twice in the last little while, I have been totally hoodwinked! So, one of my friends from my ward casually asked me to pick her from the airport on a Monday night. I told her I would be happy to as long as it was after 6:00 when I got home from work. She said that she wasn’t sure what time her flight got in, but she would text me and let me know. On Monday afternoon, I get the text. Which states that her flight gets in at midnight! I’m sorry, what? Now, I will say that I am a total night owl, but on a school night, come on! I mean, I wouldn’t even ask my family to pick me up at the airport at that time! So I roll to the airport, and the flight is of course late. At 12:20 when I pick her up, we are chatting about her trip, it turns out, that she had flown on out Saturday afternoon—which means that her car would have sat in the parking lot for a mere 1.5 days, and at most, she would have had to pay $14 to park her car. When I pushed her out of my rolling car dropped her off, she had quite the spring in her step for 1:00 in the morning. Well played my friend.

One of my co-workers is an older gent, who is the ultimate penny pincher. He constantly tells me that I spend too much money on frivolous things, and nicknamed me Joseph because of all of my coats. He and his wife have a monthly entertainment budget of $8. So on their monthly date night, they split a meal at Wendy’s, and then get a Redbox. As a side note, if I ever get to that point, somebody please wrap me in on of my many coats and shoot me. Anyhoo, my friend and I thought it would be nice to take him to lunch for his birthday since he never goes out to eat. He was very excited by this prospect, and asked if his wife could also come since she had been wanting to meet us. He assured us that they would split a meal, because neither of them can eat very much and they never eat “restaurant food.” We said that was fine, and met her at Café Rio. He and his wife get in front of us in line, and he asks us if it’s okay if they get a drink. We told him that since it was his big day, to go crazy and get whatever he wants. We then watch as he and his wife both order chips and salsa, burritos, drinks and dessert, and tell the cashier that we are all together. His wife heads to get a table, and as we are paying for their two large meals, he asks me if he can have the stamps on his card as he is one away from a free meal. Interesting, Alan, I thought you didn’t eat restaurant food! The best part of the lunch was that they then told us that they couldn’t eat all of that food, and that it would be their dinner for the rest of the week.

Does anyone have any swampland in Florida that they want to sell me? Because apparently, I will buy it!