I Knew You Were Coming So I Baked a Cake!

Last night, I threw my very first grown-up dinner party. My roommate and I had four guests over, and everyone had a marvelous time.

The menu:

Green Peppers & Grape Tomatoes

sauteed in olive oil with cumin & celery salt

Baked Garlic Parmesan Chicken (for the meat-eaters)

Bowtie Pasta (for me)

Carrot Cake (from scratch!)

Brownies (from scratch!)

(My roommate made these, and they were amazing!)

Iced Tea

Water

Dinner conversation followed a winding path, as dinner conversation is wont to do. We covered topics from the Viennese Winter Ball menu to hula hoop construction, symphony concerts to the Disney College Program. Post-dinner, we relocated to the living room. The following excitement ensued:

*One of our guests tuned my roommate's autoharp. They proceeded to play an autoharp-recorder duet of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy." There is videographic evidence of this. I have been forbidden to share it.

*Another of our guests is a hula hoop fitness instructor. She gave a short lesson in hula hooping, and then attempts were made with a fair bit of success.

*My feather fans made a brief appearance. My skill is limited, but they're just so fluffy and gorgeous, I couldn't leave them in the box with company over. One of these days, I'll actually learn to use them (and have the confidence to strut about unabashedly with them).

*And finally, there was an hour-long swing dance lesson, covering the basics of 6-count East Coast Swing. With that, much success as well.

On the whole, the evening was a smashing success, and I look forward to future dinner parties. Hopefully, with the weather turning warm, we'll be able to have gatherings out on the balcony. And by balcony, I mean rooftop deck-type thing. It's bigger than our kitchen. It might be bigger than the living room. In any case, it's a marvelous place for a party so we shall simply have to have one.

Also, I was singing this song in my head while I baked the carrot cake:

Vicarious Living! (and lots of exclamation points...)

Okay, I won't deny it. My life is super incredibly blessed. One of those blessings is getting to see all of the cool and incredible things that my friends/acquaintances/peripheral connections are doing and experiencing all over the world.

A confession: I am mildly addicted to Facebook. I can go a few days without it and did recently, but usually, one of the first things I do in the morning is check the news feed. Not because anything life-changing is going to be posted but because I like that feeling of connection, even when it's so loose.

Recent developments (in no particular order):

• A local playwright has been invited to present his musical at the Midtown International Theatre Festival in Manhattan! He has a kickstarter page to help get the project funded. First thing this morning: $10 funded. Right now, just over an hour after I first saw the project: $670 funded. It's a fantastic way to support a person or a project. On the plus side of making a pledge, if the project isn't fully funded, you're not charged. I don't know this playwright really at all. We've met a couple of times. I haven't read or seen this show. So why did I make a pledge to his project? I saw him onstage in a local production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. He was Rosencrantz or Guildenstern, and his performance stunned me. (So did the actor opposite him. They were quite a pair.) He's a remarkably talented actor and so I support his pursuit of the arts in whatever avenue he chooses. Right now, that's this musical. (You can learn more about his musical and the kickstarter project here.) Incidentally, as I was writing this, the funding total went up to $680.

• A guy I met my freshman year of college just finished working on a Cirque du Soleil show in Macau!

• One of my youth orchestra families is taking a vacation to Paris next week!

• A family I know in Crestview, FL, upcycles found materials into art. See their work here and here and probably a couple of other places, too. They're frequently posting about where you can find their work in person, and they even have an etsy store.

• One of my dearest friends got married last month, another is now engaged, and I can't even begin to count the number of Facebook friends who are posting ultrasound or baby bump or "My, look how my baby's growing!" pictures.

• My mom, who, after much prayerful consideration, quit her job of three years back in January, was just hired as the Director of Development for a local hospital.

• Another theatre director friend was hired as the Executive Director of a local theatre and will be moving back once he finished grad school. Among his duties: direct this summer's production of Bye, Bye, Birdie. Also, he's going to be my opera buddy.

• A dance friend invited me to take a private lesson with a national instructor this Friday.

• (Disclaimer: This is not about a friend but rather about an exciting thing happening in downtown.) Barnes & Noble is opening a bookshop a block and a half from where I live! This is both good (easy access to books, hooray!) and bad (my bank account will likely take a hit). Focusing on the good!

• A gal from my church is going on a two-week mission trip to Brazil this summer!

Just look at all that happy! And that's only a small fraction of the happy that infuses my news feed every day!

As my mother would say, life is good!

Broadway Melody of 1940

Netflix brought me this today:



*sigh*

Connecting (with works by Kate Fridkis and Enuma Okoro)

The Huffington Post released a series of articles today by women in different decades of life, sharing what they've learned about beauty. Blogger Kate Fridkis wrote "What I Know About Beauty Now That I'm in My 20s." Like me, this author just turned 26. I really connected with this piece:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-fridkis/what-i-know-about-beauty-20s_b_1383671.html?ref=women

Speaking of connecting with things, I'm reading Enuma Okoro's Reluctant Pilgrim. Sometimes, while reading it, I feel like I'm reading my diary. Or, rather, what would have been my diary had I bothered to write things down instead of being afraid someone was going to find my diary and read it. So I guess it feels like reading my own thoughts. Which is comforting because it makes me feel connected.

I recommend this book, no matter where you are on your spiritual journey. (I'll even send you my copy when I'm finished unless someone else has already claimed it.) Okoro writes with stunning forthrightness, holding nothing back even when it comes to her own difficulties and pain. Her candor is refreshing. She blogs here.

Since moving back to the Ohio Valley after college graduation, I've struggled with connecting with actual people. There are a few, scattered hither and yon around the country, but finding community here has proven difficult for me. Lately, though, God has been opening doors for fellowship and opening my heart to being more "real" with people. ("Real" is not the word I want to use, but I'm not sure what the word is. "Honest"? "Open"? "Genuine"?) Letting people in means allowing the possibility of vulnerability and the potential for pain, and I've shied away from that for too long.

So here's to chasing "real". Even if it means disappointment or hurt or awkwardness. Because it might also mean bliss and the beginning of lifelong friendships.

Carsie Blanton - My Baby Can Dance

Another cute song and more dancing. : )

The Weepies - Be My Honey Pie

Cute song, cute video, adorable swing dancing . . . does it get any better?



Love!

Cash Mob Wheeling

On Tuesday, March 27, at 10:30 AM, the bakery at Centre Market in Wheeling, WV, will experience an influx of shoppers thanks to a new model of supporting local businesses--the Cash Mob. Here's how it works (briefly):

A cash mob organizer (sometimes with the input of mobbers themselves) chooses a local business, a date, and a time.
The organizer contacts the business to prepare them for the crowd that may invade.
Via social media, e-mail and other means, the cash mob is informed of their next "target."
At the arranged moment, a local business gets not only a bunch of new customers but also exposure and new connections in the community.
The mob moves on, but hopefully, mobbers will return to their newly discovered gem again and again.

For more on cash mobs in general, see this article: 'Cash Mobs' profit locally owned stores. If you're in Wheeling (like me), visit our local cash mob Facebook page.