Sunday, January 23, 2011

Hello 2011!

Well, I feel like I have pretty much recovered from "The Holidays". Now I'm looking forward to the lesser consumer holidays that follow in Christmas's wake. (Did that sound cynical?) I'd like to make a festive dessert of some kind for Valentine's Day. Then there's St. Patrick's Day, and Easter is April 24 (so late this year!). And for some strange reason I have a desire to make a King Cake for Fat Tuesday. On the other hand, maybe I should just save up my energy for Thanksgiving & Christmas 2011. And also for planning/executing my impending June wedding.

So, about a month ago was my 1 year "blogiversary". I had a lot of fun, the other day, going back and reviewing all of my posts (and deleting a few!). A lot can change in 1 year. In 2010, I got engaged, reached my big weight-loss goal (70 lbs in all, what what), and made good headway towards some other personal goals. Going through my old posts, I could see that I have changed in a million subtle ways since last January. I have become a better food photographer, a more efficient homemaker, and I have settled into my Betsey-ness, my life, just a little bit more. Which is fantastic. I have so much to be thankful for.

Last weekend my mom & I took a little trip up to the NWA (Northwest Arkansas for those of you who don't know), and it was SO MUCH FUN! We ate a lot of good food. Our first night there we ate at Emelia's Mediterranean Kitchen on Dixon St. Fantastic. We each ordered the spinach salad and split an appetizer (crab cakes with red pepper aioli). And we enjoyed it immensely. You've gotta love high-quality ingredients. I also ordered some baklava to go, and it was the best baklava I've ever eaten. The next day I spent the night at my dear friend Robin's house in Bella Vista. Robin will be my maid of honor, and the main purpose of my visit was to get help designing my wedding invitations. (She's got graphic design skills.) Anyway, she made the most delicious scones for breakfast the next morning. They had chocolate chips and were just fabulous.





I had one for breakfast AND one for lunch. That evening, we met back up with my mom in Fayetteville for dinner at Mellow Mushroom. AMAZING. We ordered an appetizer and 2 10-inch pizzas to split among us. My favorite thing was Robin's choice, the "Funky-Q Chicken" pizza. I never thought I would like a barbecue chicken pizza, but I was so wrong. Amazing. It had bacon. And my favorite part of any pizza (the crust) was just so delicious. Gotta go back!!! When can I go back??? Anyway, these are just some of the highlights. We had lots of other good food too. I love food.

But I have to backtrack for a minute and tell you what else happened on our first evening in Fayetteville. Mom & I were hanging out in the hotel room (she was watching Grey's Anatomy, I was straightening my hair) and I got a super-exciting phone call. It was from the director of an upcoming community theatre production of "Crimes of the Heart" asking me if I would like to play Babe. Uh, YES! I love Babe! I played her in college! Anyway, I told my mom and we screamed and it was a super-fun mother/daughter moment. So, I have a lot to look forward to in the coming months. The play opens March 3, the same week as my birthday. I've also got a LOT of work ahead of me... But that's OK because performing is pretty much my favorite thing in the world to do.

And Josh has exciting theatre news too! He will be designing a set for a play at some theatre in Los Angeles. Fancy shmancy, I know! His play opens in May. We've both been pouring over our respective scripts this weekend.

In other news, my Diet Coke addiction has spun completely out of control. Someone please help me.

2 comments:

Robiana said...

I'm so glad you had fun! I really had fun with you. Look forward to getting those invites going. Speaking of, I owe you some files...

Looks like I'll have a new place soon. Good excuse to come visit. Bring your truck. We'll move something. ;) and bake somerthing!

Down 25 lbs...15 to go...

Betsey said...

That's exciting, about the new place! I'm looking forward to hearing all of the details. Sounds like a plan to me. As long as you know that I suck at lifting anything remotely heavy (but I'm sure you already knew that). Maybe I can get Josh in on it.

Way to go, on the weight loss! That's so fantastic! I'm sure you will continue to be a success.

Go ahead and send me an Illustrator file as well as a PDF, if you can. I want to see if I can get it to open in Illustrator on my mom's computer. Thanks!