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Meet Carlos:
He is the owner of "La Casita Mexican Cuisine" in rainy Mt. Vernon.
We ate there today and had the best time...
Why? Because the food was both authentic and flavorful with every bite! As self-proclaimed, secret salsa taste-testers -- their homemade salsa is both spicy and "muy delicioso". The chips were hot, the guacamole was fresh and Bill loved the secret sauce on his shrimp burrito. But wait...
This was not an easy day to be around me. I have not slept well all week. I am moody from inventory preparation at work. I spent 4 hours today training a (delightful) new employee. I am having a bad hair day. I missed breakfast and then skipped lunch. I had to go grocery shopping (and I HATE grocery shopping). All of these factors together were a Sherri-Disaster in the making. This was NOT good. Poor Bill.
Smart Bill. He volunteered to go grocery shopping with me. He said I could pick out anything I wanted at the store to make me happy again. I was indecisive. I could not decide what to get which was frustrating to Bill. So then he offered to take me anywhere I wanted to ease the Sherri-No-Food-Monster. After a little argument in the parking lot, we settled on this cute little Mexi restaurant near our neighborhood where we have had a previous good experience.
Brilliant Bill. He suggested we order some nachos to take the edge of my hunger. Within minutes, we were digging into a satisfying heap with all of the works. Perfect! Again, I was indecisive and was torn between two choices on the menu. Deluxe taco salad? Or a combination plate with taco & tostada? I asked Carlos, our friendly waiter, whether their tacos used fresh corn tortillas or store-bought shells. He said I could have it any way I wanted... Sold! (I LOVE corn tortillas.) Carlos disappeared after taking our late lunch/early dinner order. From my viewpoint, I could see Carlos in the kitchen and he looked busy. Soon he re-appeared with our plates and I couldn't help but ask if he was the chef too.
Turns out that for this afternoon, Carlos was the host/waiter/chef/busser/owner of the place and is prone to both firing himself (from these jobs) and rehiring himself all the time.
When he came back by our table to check on us, we had big smiles on our faces. Bill LOVED his meal and I LOVED mine. I had to tell Carlos. And this is was the frosting on this fictitious cake: he was charming and appreciative of our compliments. He explained his role in his restaurant and why he felt it was important to get involved with the cooking. We talked about his family-- how his dad incorporates many of their authentic secret recipes into the menu; how his tech-savy brother promotes his restaurant with social networking (they are on Facebook!) and his other brother designs new menus for the restaurant each season. We met his wife on our last visit and she was both sweet and sassy. I commented that I loved her "sass" and Carlos commented that it was because of her "sass" that he was host/waiter/chef/busser/owner and on his own this afternoon (said with a laugh).
FAMILY. That's what it is all about. And I am a big fan of FAMILY.
This culinary experience not only confirmed our love for authentic food (in this case, Mexi)-- but reinforced our belief that it is important to support local businesses within our communities. If you live near us, visit La Casita soon! If you are on Facebook, look up La Casita and join their friends list. Carlos has a daily special for Facebook Friends; all you have to do it "check in" via phone or computer and you will find yourself enjoying a fabulous meal with freshly-prepared ingredients and savory flavors. We joked with Carlos that if enough customers told him that they were sent by "Sherri's (Never A Dull Moment) World" that, perhaps, he might consider giving us our own daily deal. :)
I was away for the weekend, fulfilling one of my New Year's resolutions for 2011. I vowed that I would be more "artsy" this year-- it makes me happy and I did not create much in 2010.
It was raining hard when I left Friday morning:
My destination: The Firs at Bellingham, Washington:
It was a scrapbooking retreat weekend! Woo Hoo! Almost 100 scrapbookers were ready to spend 3 days/2 nights doing what they loved best. We were divided into three large groups, assigned to 1 of 3 buildings. I scrapbooked at the Alpine Lodge:
The theme for the weekend was "Fun in the Sun" and we all had goody bags waiting for us at our tables. Inside were flipflops, a lei with nametag, beach paper & embellishments, and toenail polish:
This weekend package included 3 meals a day, massages, pedicures, a scrap swap meet, door prizes and midnight "refreshers":
I scrapbooked with my favorite friends--a.k.a. The Fabulous Four-- Kris, Danelle & Jennifer:
It was Jennifer's birthday on Saturday:
The food was delicious and plentiful:
I think this was my favorite meal-- broccoli & cheese soup, turkey melt hoagie and sweet potato fries (YUM!):
This was my favorite dessert-- fresh fruit "pizza" with a cookie crust (YUM!):
One of our funniest conversations had to do with designing apparel for scrapbookers. [Note: we talk about this often.] We are continuously coming up with T-shirt slogans, sweatpant designs (with the words printed on the butt), and of course, matching accessories. This time, Kris was brainstorming a new T-shirt design as a play on words from the movie, "Meet The Fockers". She suggested we wear matching T-shirts that say "FLOCKER"...Our husbands could wear matching T-shirts that say "The Other Flocker"... We were all giggling and Kris was laughing so hard that she was crying:
Let me guess... you don't GET IT. That's okay. It is a scrapbooking term. What she/I am referring to is this fluffy powder you can buy to "flock" alphabet letters or other objects on your page so they look soft & fuzzy. One of us bought a new cool color of "flocking" and we were all oohing & aahing over it:
I went to that Scrap Swap Meet and got all of this for $5!
One of the midnight surprises was this:
What?? They served steaming hot washclothes infused with peppermint oil. Sound weird? It TOTALLY clears your sinuses and wakes you up with the fresh, minty smell!
And it isn't a scrapbook retreat weekend without one or more of us winding up underneath the tables...
It is a hobby-hazard. One of us inevitably drops an alphabet letter, gemstone, brad, eyelets, etc. on the floor and we go looking for it! As the saying goes-- four eyes are better than two! I didn't get a picture of it, but often we often "lose" other objects if they are sticky. Both Jennifer and I spent over 10 minutes searching our table space for some sticker or embellishment that had disappeared. We did look underneath the table (duh!). In our cases, we both found our sticker/embellishment stuck to our shirt sleeves by our elbows! @#$@##!! Silly stickers!
What was I working on? I almost finished this cute project called a "December Daily" (will show it later). And I did some scrapbook pages from our trip to Las Vegas last summer. I had a really fun time and it was a great way to re-energize! Will I do it again? ABSOLUTELY. :)
1) I LOVE this new show on the SCIFI channel called "Being Human"! It is about a werewolf, vampire and a ghost who are struggling with their "monster" tendencies. They wish to be "human"-- that is, to exist without a) changing with the moon cycle, b) needing blood for fuel, and c) being invisible to the one you love.
2) I am enjoying the new "Top Chef - All Stars" season. I recognized about 1/2 of the cast from the last few seasons that I have watched:
I had great hopes for Jennifer Carroll, who was voted off WAY too early:
I did not know Fabio Vivani ... now he is one of my favorite personalities!
Mike Isabella may not make it until the end, but I love the way he shakes up the house with his NJ "in-your-face" attitude and quick wit:
Who do I want to win??? Richard Blais, who is EXTREMELY talented and a breath of fresh air in a kitchen filled with giant egos:
3) Three out of four Rodgers households are in awe with the STARZ original series, "Spartacus" (Natasha is the only Rodgers who hasn't watched the whole thing). There is a new pre-quel out now, that is on my DVR waiting to be watched:
It is history laden with sensuality, art, and special (green screen) effects . (Think: the movie, "300") Each episode leaves you on the edge of your seat, sometimes holding your mouth in disbelief!
After Nick & Natasha left, I was a little pouty.
So I talked Bill into going to the movies today to lift our spirits.
We went to see this:
Against Bill's wishes, I paid extra to see it in 3-D:
I had great hopes for this movie.
I knew it was an update on an older TV series:
What did we think?? I was TOTALLY DISAPPOINTED. We both give it a "thumbs down". We give it a mere 5 on the Rodgers movie rating scale. The 3-D special effects did not merit the glasses (though I kept them as souvenirs). I think I actually nodded off during the middle of the movie (that is rare for me). Seth Rogan's acting and his character were immature. Cameron Diaz was just awful. The actor that carried the movie was Jay Chou.... who was AWESOME as "Kato".
As a favor to you, here is the movie at it's best ... the trailer:
And *Poof!* they were gone...
We put Natasha on a train last Saturday:
And Nick left the next morning:
Life is very, very good.
Here are some funny moments captured during our Rodgers Taco Party...
1. J, A & E were some of the first guests to arrive. Elijah walked into my bedroom and kept me company in the bathroom while I changed for the party. He liked my lotion basket:
2. Sequence Shots: A) Nick is telling Jeremiah a story...
B) Which is soooo funny that they both start laughing...
C) Jeremiah has to look away to get it together. [I LOVE when the boys crack each other up!]
3. Natasha & Kris are showing off their curvalicious physiques:
4. Elijah bumped his face on the coffee table (poor Elijah!):
5. Where was I? In the kitchen chopping lettuce like crazy (I was the sous chef)! I did prepare the ice bag for Elijah's boo-boo though...
6. I honestly don't know whether Bill's dad was asleep or just blinking. Corrinne is rolling her eyeballs like he fell asleep during their conversation...
7. Sequence Shots: A) Jeremiah is in the kitchen entertaining Kris & Darin. Now Nick is laughing:
B) All of a sudden, Jeremiah is on the floor:
C) He must be telling one of his snowboarding stories from their weekend at Whistler...!
8. Meanwhile, Natasha is giving someone the signal from "Meet The Parents"-- (I'll be watching you):
9. Nick is back in the family room showing Bryan his new tattoo. Midge looks like she is either a) impressed or b) would not have done that herself...
10. I don't know what Kara was talking about... but it was "this big":
11. Elijah has his own toy box at Honey's house. While the bigger kids were playing with different toys, Elijah decided he would shut it down for awhile (heh heh)...
12. Sequence Shots: A) Natasha "crashed" my photo with Jonna:
B) After Natasha was invited to join the photo, Delaney snuck bunny ears into it:
C) That sneaky Delaney!
13. Delaney's little sister, Janna, hasn't learned those tricks yet:
14. We are used to Natasha's sass; maybe Bryan isn't:
15. As for Midge, I think she likes the sass:
16. Our Angela is sooooo lovely:
17. I think we are happiest when our kids are home:
It really was a GREAT party! :)
1. Invite a couple of celebrities to make a special appearance at your party.... like Nick & Natasha Rodgers:
2. Make sure the other Rodgers (Jeremiah, Angela & Elijah)(+ Rebecca, Angela's mom) come to the party-- pure entertainment!
3. Have a chef (a.k.a. Bill) cook for your party:
4. Make food that your guests will LOVE... like Bill's homemade tacos!
What do our friends think of Bill's tacos?
5. Make sure your chef keeps the food flowing [which Bill did, he made a total of 117 tacos that night]:
This is how many were left at the end of the party...
6. Have a photographer (a.k.a. Bill again) handy to document the party:
Add another photographer and you get twice as many party pics!
7. Invite your favorite family and friends over... like Tim, Midge, Delaney & Janna:
Corrinne & Loren:
Bill's mom and dad (unfortunately, my parentals couldn't come):
Kris & Darin:
Nate, Jonna, silly Mikiah & crazy Noah:
A few others made special appearances, like Kara:
And Bryan:
8. Mingle, Mingle... Mingle! [All Rodgers are pros at this one...]
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
9.When your party winds down, you can choose to either A) clean up or B) have a beverage or two. We chose (B):
Boo Yah!!
When your kids are all grown up, that is. We had a GREAT party!
While she was here, we went bowling.
We put on those cute bowling shoes:
We picked out our bowling balls:
For the record-- Bill is an excellent bowler. Natasha is in a bowling league back at Pullman. As for me... I am a nerd, NOT an athlete. So I usually SUCK at bowling.
We mulled over this information on the way to the bowling alley and agreed not to bowl competitively. Why? Because Bill & Natasha would WIPE ME OUT with their bowling scores. Instead we decided to bowl against ourselves, and whoever had the biggest improvement would win a prize.
I was up first:
Please don't judge me... I have no technique. Occasionally I wind up with gutter balls. And this camera angle makes me look like I gained an extra 10 bowling pounds (ugh!):
At least I TRY to bowl.
As for Natasha, she looks fabulous:
And has developed some cool moves:
And she giggles when she doesn't knock over her pin set:
She gets her fair share of strikes:
Along came Bill:
He just steps up to the line and makes it look sooooo easy:
He is left-handed and has some great moves:
And he gets strikes too:
So..... here are our scores for the first game:
I scored a nerdy, non-athletic 56. Natasha warmed up to a 96. And Bill ROCKED with a 133.
During the second game, I began to develop some technique! I was ACTUALLY hitting some pins!
Natasha was knocking over pins left and right:
As for Bill, he was still bowling like a pro:
Without further bowling drama-- here are our final scores:
That's right! I actually cleared 100! I almost doubled my score from the first game...
Which meant I was the winner!
However, my feelings about bowling have not changed. !@$@@$@ Bowling!
I picked up Natasha from the train station last week:
We picked up my mom and we went out to lunch:
We ate lunch at Olive Garden, which has our favorite lunch combo.... soup, salad & all-you-can-eat breadsticks (YUM!):
Both Natasha & I ordered the Zuppa Tuscana:
While my mom had the Minestrone:
Afterwards, we did a little shopping. We thought these were fun at Pier One:
So many choices.... which one looks best?
Hmmmm...
Ooh La Laaaaa!
Which one could I get the most use out of?
We thought we would buy a couple of masks since they were so lovely. But then we looked at the price tags and decided we should keep on walking (Yikes! They were $35-$65 each!)...
Oh well. We have fun just being together. :)