30 June 2010

Hey, Linda.

For those of you who don't know, this lovely songstress from Tucson, Arizona, started a Rock revolution in the 1970's. Her folk/pop sound and multifarious vocal stylings helped preserve her popularity for over four decades, and she received multiple Grammy Awards and charted numerous gold and platinum albums throughout her career. Singer, song-writer, and producer, Miss Ronstadt became one of the most successful lady singers in American history. Her down-home sound came straight out of her family's living room, according to one of many biographies, in which she confessed that every tune on her more than 30 solo albums was inspired by music she heard her family sing, or heard on the radio before the age of ten. So cool.





I grew up listening to her greatest hits records, and still can't get enough.

25 June 2010

Happy Birthday, Baby.

My very favorite nephew celebrated his first birthday this week.
Let me tell you, the kid knows how to party.


Sharing a popsickle on the porch with Megan.



And Katy too.



Delicious!


Nathaniel also got his first haircut




and received the squirmiest baby award.



But in the end, he looked good, and he knew it.



For dinner, Beth made an amazing spinach lasagna,


everybody helped make the garlic bread sticks,

and Megan approved.


For desert, I made my very first strawberry pie.

And Beth made a lemon cake with cream cheese frosting for the birthday boy.



21 June 2010

Best Day Award

John and I spent a fabulous day about Albuquerque yesterday.

After mass, I had packed a breakfast picnic of homemade banana bread, fruit, and iced coffee, which we ate in the shade at Tingley Beach.
Accept for the geese (one totally charged me), it was a lovely and relaxing way to enjoy the morning.
We also hung out with Mr. Tingley for a bit.
Oh, and it's amazing what some people consider to be a "beach."
I would've named this place Tingley Pond. Just saying.

Next, we went to Old Town for some strolling, some iced tea from Romero's, and listened and sang along to Los Primos in the shady town square.

New Mexico is known for being the first wine producing state in the US. Our next stop was Anasazi Fields, a small family owned winery North of Albuquerque in the historic village of Placitas. They offer free tours and tastings of their unusual dry fruit blend wines. Definitely a new Mexico original.

Their sign was having a bit of an identity crisis.
What shape IS this, anyway?

We then made our way to another winery in the small village of Corrales.
Corrales Winery in known for it's mild sweet wine blends, and its spectacular view of the Sandia Mountains.

Next stop, the movies. Since neither of us had been to a flick in ages, the perfect place was the Cinemark Movies 8 theater on Coors, since the films there come out several month after they're out in current theaters. At $2 a ticket, we saw Date Night, starring Tina Fay and Steve Carrell. There were some funny moments and several celeb cameos.

To end the day, we headed to Garduno's for some Mexican cuisine and margaritas.
Mexican FOOD COMAS ensued.

I love Sundays.

04 June 2010

All I wanna do it sit and read with an afghan over my legs..

Summer is well underway for most of us, and I am proud to say that my summer reading is coming along nicely. Since school got out in mid May, I have already completed three books on my summer reading list, and am half way through my fourth (thank you, four days in a car!).

Here are the books I've read so far:

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith
Third time reading this little gem. I adore this book.
It really helps put life into perspective.
If you haven't read it yet, you are in for a treat.

Much Ado About Nothing, by William Shakespeare
Who doesn't love a little comedic verse?
This was my book club assignment for June. A fantastic read-aloud.
I'll probably end up reading it again before the meeting.
I cannot get enough of Shakespeare's wit.

Catch Me If You Can, by Frank Abagnale
Oh yes, this book was more than ample food for
my addiction to non-fiction.
Everyone loves the Leo DiCaprio/ Tom Hanks movie, right?
The book is even better.
Get inside the head one of the most audacious criminals in history!

Not Buying It, by Judith Levine
This book I'm not quite finished with yet, but I am really enjoying it so far.
It follows author Judy Levine and her parter, Paul, who, sick of our relentless consumer culture, decided to "Not Buy It" by purchasing nothing but the bare necessities for one year.


Other books on my reading list for Summer '10 include:
East of Eden, John Steinbeck
The Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort
Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer
Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World, Greg Critser
Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis
Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
Little Heathens, Mildred Armstrong Kalish


And the list goes on.

This is why I love summertime.
Sadly, it's way too hot for an afghan.