Sunday, March 18, 2012

Why am I so awkward?

Last week my best best friend of all time got married!  At Courtney's wedding lunch, we were all enjoying our meal and this very nice boy started telling the table how he was going to have to leave the reception early.  He had a very exciting night ahead of him.  He was going to make the five hour drive to Idaho to ask his girlfriend's father's permission for her hand in marriage.  How exciting!  He was going to drive all night, and the next day go see her dad, and the dad already knew he was coming, and it was going to be perfect, blah blah blah.  Fast forward to that night at the reception.  I was sitting with a few of my family members when this very nice boy came into the room with a girl on his arm.  I, being loud and obviously not thinking, said to him, "oh, is this your fiance?"
When that final vowel came out of my mouth I realized what I had said.  If he was going to ask for her dad's permission that night then he obviously hadn't popped the question yet.  Eeekkk, hopefully you didn't want that whole proposal thing to be a surprise!
The very nice boy just looked at me with wide eyes and said,"not yet..." My face turned red and I uncomfortably started laughing trying to make light of the situation until they slowly walked away.
Its fine though cause a proposal isn't exciting for a girl at all. I am positive she hasn't been dreaming about that day her whole life.
So there you have it.  My best friend got married, went to her reception, and I successfully ruined a stranger's dream of a surprise proposal all in one night. If that isn't efficient, I don't know what is.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

The Getty Museum

Last week Michael and I went to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.   My favorite part of the Getty is the outside.  The gardens and the architecture and like nothing you will see anywhere else.  This is a picture of Michael at the front steps of the museum. If you look really close you can see a statue of a naked woman laying on her side on the steps above his left shoulder.  While we were walking up the steps there was a sign that said "please do not touch the statue."   Obviously the museum isn't too worried about the statue getting damaged because it sits in the sun, rain and snow blizzards that often strike southern California, so the sign is there for another reason.  Michael and I had a good laugh picturing some weird guy hopping over the stair rail, posing by the naked woman and having his friend immortalize the moment on a camera phone.

Our first stop was the cactus garden on the south side of the museum. It has a really beautiful view of the city. Unfortunately the picture we took of ourselves is quite unflattering but that wont stop me from sharing it! Just enjoy background.

We walked around the new photography exhibit and also through the impressionist exhibit. Michael enjoyed the Monet and Degas.  I loved the photography.  There was one that stood out to me most by Eileen Cowin called I See What You're Saying.  There was an NPR broadcast about it that I am anxious to hear.  It is essentially portraying the lies we tell ourselves and how we will at some point be consumed by them. How people around us will lie to us but if we look at their body language or facial expressions we will literally see what they are saying.  That is what I took out of it.  Like any great artist, there are many interpretations.   
We ended our day where we started, outside near the gardens.  It was a great adventure. 

Salmon Dinner Recipe

This is the perfect way to cook salmon. I learned it from my very talented and quite beautiful mother; and anyone who has had her cooking (even once) can attest to her culinary talents. This recipe is honestly the best way I have ever had salmon, Michael and I eat it at least once a week.
Directions:
 Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
Place salmon on a sheet of tin foil
Squeeze half a lemon on top of the salmon
Sprinkle dried dill onto the salmon
Wrap it up so no steam escapes 35-40 minutes later voila you have perfect salmon I serve it with tartar sauce which is also quite easy

Dill Sauce: Half of a juiced lemon
4 Tbsp of mayo
2 tsp mustard
sprinkle dill

I know that these aren't the most direct instructions but part of the fun of cooking is exploring and experimenting.  I promise if you have fun with the recipe it will turn out great.  The secret is keeping the steam from leaving the foil so just wrapping up the salmon in a snug little pouch and it will be delicious.