Let's Have a Party!

I often talk about the activities at the resort where we stay for the winter in Arizona. One of the things we enjoy is "Music in the Courtyard". Who wouldn't enjoy sitting outside enjoying the beautiful sunshine, listening to great music, swigging pitchers of beer or margaritas, (hey - it's 5:00 SOMEWHERE). Heck, you don't even HAVE to drink alcohol to have a great time! Just "sitting with my peeps and chilling" as they say, is a great time!

The other day the band, "North Star" was going to perform.

Two out of the three members are residents of our park. They are a very popular band and we knew we had to get to the courtyard early in order to get a table. Although the music didn't start until 3:00, all my friends arrived at 12:30. We ordered lunch from the Cactus Grill located right in the courtyard. It can't get better than that, folks!

After lunch we played a few games of LCR.

Did you ever play it? It's very simple, and even little kids can play. There are three dice. Each die is marked with "L", "C", "R", and black dots. Each person starts out with three disks (which come with the game. We were playing with pennies - could play with higher denominations). Roll the dice - say it comes up with 2 L's and 1 r that means you pay 2 disks or pennies to the person to your left, 1 to your right. If it came up 1 c and two dots, you pay to the center and get to keep two. Anyway, I won't get into all the rules, but that's the basic concept. Easy peasy, right?

Between playing the game and just yapping, the time flew by fast. The courtyard was filled with wall-to-wall people.

Steve is the lead singer and is a very personable guy. He gets along well with the crowd and is very well liked.

People like to get up and line dance,

Dance as couples,

Or in a group.

A little birdie told me that there was going to be two "special" performances that day. My presence was requested to take pictures.

The first "special" was that North Star was going to perform Toby Keith's song, "Red Solo Cup".



Our park provided the red solo cups! Here's our Activities Director passing out the cups.

A volunteer helping to pass out the cups.

And here is the crowd raising their red solo cups.

Let's have a party! Red solo cup! You fill me up!

The second "surprise" of the day was that Lou's Kazoos was doing a "flash mob" - with kazoos. You heard me. When the band took a break, the lead kazoo player walked into the crowd and started playing the opening chords to "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash. Then another player joined him, and another, and so on. Watch the video that I filmed. It was planned that if they received any request - they would play the only other song they knew - Jingle Bells!

My husband, Jim, (white arrow pointing)

Towards the end of the show, someone requested Red Solo Cup again. This time the kazoo players ran up and joined the band.

And that is just ONE of my days here in sunny Arizona.

Thursday's Things in a Row

This week's photos for "Things in a Row" are from my recent visit to the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMOCA). The local library here in Mesa sponsors "cultural passes" to various museums in the area. When available, you get two free passes, and they are good for one week. We took advantage of these passes and went to SMOCA. Ironically, it was on a Thursday, when the museum was free! Unfortunately, two of the galleries were closed during our visit, but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. I will be talking about our visit in another post. Photos were not allowed in the gallery; just in the "break room", the gift shop, and only in one section outside.

The shadows of the beams overhead caught my eye as they made stripes in a row down the wall.

The "break room" was very different - not like a break room you'd think about with tables/chairs and vending machines. This break room is to give your brain and eyes a break. You walk into the room which is lit by soft red lights. These wooden palates are hanging from the ceiling.

The chairs and tables are also painted red. All the while there is light music playing in the background. (I think it was ocean sounds.)

I know this isn't a picture of something in a row, but I wanted to show you the "movie" that was running in the break room - sea horses moving across the screen! The arrow is pointing to a bar. The room is used for parties, too.

I had fun in the gift shop. Here are some funny nesting dolls.

The dolls read (tallest to smallest): I have issues, Jenius, Normal people scare me, This is not the life I ordered, Chick Magnet, I'm bad

Different kind of dolls in a row. These are called "best friends". They must have some kind of significance at $15.00 a pop, but I don't know what it is...do you?

I just love this exhibit that was in the gift shop. Isn't this a cool way to display things?

Did you find anything interesting this week?

Signs - Too Much of a Good Thing....

This is one of the many signs hanging from the ceiling at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona which I visited last week.

To which I say, "Amen, Sista!"

For more fun signs, visit Lesley here.

Tag - Your It!

I was tagged by The Adventures of Garrett Squared, who is a full-time RV-er like myself. The only difference is, besides sharing her trailer with her husband, she also has FOUR dogs! Three pugs AND a 160 pound Newfoundland/Mastiff mix. They obviously love dogs and must be a VERY CLOSE family! Ha ha!
All games have rules, so here are

The Rules:
1. You must post the rules.
2. Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then
create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.
4.Tag eleven people and link them on your post
5. Let them know you've tagged them!

ELEVEN FUN FACTS ABOUT ME

Well, I don't know how fun they are, but here we go:

1. I tell good jokes.
2. I can make this sound with my lips that sounds exactly like I'm playing a horn AND I can "play" any song.
3.  I am extremely ticklish on my feet and calves and so that's why I never get a professional manicure for fear that I'd kick someone right in their face.
4. I used to play the accordion when I was a little girl. Now that I have boobs? Not so much. Plus, I forgot how.
5.  I have a terrible memory. (See #4.)
6.  I am a book hoarder. I have over 100 books in my trailer that I haven't read yet.
7. I'm a pretty good cook. If you've seen pictures of Jim and me, they would confirm it. Never trust a skinny cook.
8. I have been in 44/50 of the States in America with or without my husband and/or  my trailer. I am missing Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey, Alaska, and Hawaii.
9. I am not good in math and sometimes simple addition problems stall my mind. Sad. I know.
10. I always wished I could draw or paint. Alas, stick people are NOT an art form.
11. I wanted to be a bird when I grew up. I got part of my wish. Now I'm just a bird brain.
    

 AND NOW FOR ANSWERING YVONNE'S QUESTIONS

1.  Would you travel to the moon if you could buy a ticket like you do for air travel?

Gee, would I have enough miles for that? If so, yeah, I think so. I'd like to see the stars. Plus, I'd make a GREAT space cadet!

2.  What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

My husband is being a brat and buying this delicious ice cream called "Sea Salt Caramel Truffle". To die for - which means I'd kill him if he ate the last scoop!

3.  What is your favorite decade?  Why?

I grew up in the 60's and everything seemed so innocent then. We'd stay outside and play till the streetlights came on; our parents didn't have to worry about strangers with us.

4.  If you could own any vehicle--which one would it be?

Right now, any CAR with great gas mileage that is comfortable would make me happy. Driving around in our "Big Blue" truck that gets 6 mpg is kind of tough!

5.  Snowmen or Precious Moments?

I love snowmen! I collect snowmen ornaments. When I had a home (way back when) I had a small Christmas tree with just snowmen ornaments on it. Sigh. Sure do miss that!

6.  Route 66 or Highway 101?

Gosh. Hard to say. I do love the beauty of Highway 101, but I also love the nostalgia and quirkiness of Route 66. Toss up!

7.  Eat out or Eat In?

I love to cook, but hey, a gal likes to be taken out once in awhile, ya know?

8.  What is your worst habit?

Spend too many hours on the computer!

9.  Where would you like to go on vacation if money was no object and why?

Italy and Sicily - try to find old relatives

10.  What do you do to relieve stress?

Watch TV, read, drink tea

11.  What is your favorite room of your house?
 My bedroom

MY ELEVEN QUESTIONS

1. Do you have a hidden talent?
2. What is the best book you've ever read?
3. Do you buy popcorn when you go to the movie theater?
4. Chocolate or Vanilla?
5. Best vacation place?
6. Do you believe in the afterlife?
7. Who do you most resemble: Felix (neat-freak) or Oscar (slob)
8. How many hours a day are you on the computer? a) 1-3 b) 4-5  c) 6-7 d) all day
9. How often to you comment on everyone's blogs?
10. Do you come from a big family?
11. Can you drive a stick shift?

Gosh this is a lot of work!

PEOPLE I HAVE TAGGED

Feel free to choose whether or not to do this. I admit that it is a LOT of work!

justachickinachair.blogspot.com

gravelroadsanddaiquirisinthedirt.blogspot.com

gypsyfarmgirl.blogspot.com

mcguffysreader.blogspot.com

kisatrtleskreativekorner.blogspot.com

themiddlesideoflife.blogspot.com

kalynnblog.blogspot.com/

wrestlingwithretirement.com

Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute/Technique Restaurant

Each year our water aerobics group here in the park goes out to a nice restaurant for a luncheon. This year we went to Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute in Scottsdale. It was quite a dining experience! I shared some of the photos with you yesterday in my "Things in a Row" post.


The school occupies the full second floor of a building, and the restaurant is a fairly good size.

Some of my friends going up the escalator to the restaurant.

There were glass windows next to the entrance and I saw some students/chefs who were busy working....possibly baking our desserts?

Besides the restaurant, there is a little deli where you could buy a quick sandwich and grab a drink. It looked  like there was both chicken and egg salad available.

The swimming "gals"!

Students led us to our tables, took our orders, and cooked our food. We had to evaluate our server at the end of our meal.

Some more of our servers:

This guy was so nervous that we thought he was going to spill our water on us! But he did well, and warmed up after awhile! He gave us a big smile here!

The cooks did a WONDERFUL job! Here they are in action!

The young students were following orders from this big honcho (the one with the BIG hat). He'd say what he wanted done, and I'd hear the students answer, "Yes, Chef!"

I walked up to the kitchen area and asked one of the cooks if I could take his picture. He said, "It's 'cause I'm good looking, right?" Oh, he was cute alright! And young! Unfortunately, my flash bounced off of the plexiglass and the photo didn't turn out. So then I held my camera up high and pointed it down towards him and at that time another cook joined him.

I sat back down and told my friends what happened and one said, "Why don't you stand on the side and take the photo?" So I went back to the area and asked if I could do just that. The girl in the above photo said "fine". The young man had his back to me. I yelled, "Hey cutie!" He immediately turned around and posed. Gotta love him!

Here is a shot of the area where you can sit by the counter.

Another area of the restaurant

Just hanging with my peeps.

l-r: Pat, Viv, me, Judy

l-r: Rachel and Thelma

l-r: Jean and Nadine

And now for the food. The meal cost $10, which included a starter, entree and dessert.

First we were served bread and three different kinds of butter - not sure of all the flavors, but ONE of them was a tomato basil.

There were six starters and a flatbread or pizza to choose from. Here are just SOME of them.

This is what I ate. It was DELICIOUS!! The basil leaves were quick fried in oil so they were crisp.

Caprese  Salad - served with fried mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, roasted red peppers, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar reduction

Shrimp Risotto

There were NINE entrees to choose from, plus the daily special.

I had the salmon.

served with English pea puree, asparagus, Parisian potatoes with butter sauce

One friend had the lamb burger. Now let me tell you, I'm not real big on lamb, but this was so tasty and tender that I would definitely order it!

with feta cheese, tomato marmalade, spinach, sautéed red onions, served with hand-cut french fries

Another friend ordered the halibut. Outstanding!

served with corn and fava bean succotash, tomatoes, peas

But let's face it. We were really there for the DESSERTS!! Choice of five.

Here they are!

Cookies and Ice – Raspberry, pineapple and vanilla sorbet in a thin caramel wafer crisp, raspberry, chocolate and caramel syrup sauce, and two chocolate chip chocolate cookies

Salted Caramel Pot de Crème – with Chantilly cream and almond sable cookie

Classic Creamy Cheesecake – with strawberry-rhubarb compote and cocoa sauce

Chocolate Mousse – classic chocolate mousse with Viennese sponge cake, raspberries and raspberry sauce

Seasonal Fruit Crumble – with vanilla bean ice cream

Now isn't this a bargain for TEN BUCKS? Here's the good news! There are several of the schools with restaurants across the United States.  They are located in:

• Atlanta, GA
• Austin, TX
• Boston, MA
• Chicago, IL
• Dallas, TX
• Las Vegas, NV
• Los Angeles, CA
• Miami, FL
• Minneapolis, MN
• Orlando, FL
• Pittsburgh, PA
• Portland, OR
• San Francisco, CA
• Scottsdale, AZ

If you get a chance, check it out! But you should make reservations! They fill up fast!