St. Patrick's Day Weekend

This year one of my good friends and some of his friends came to Boston to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and invited me along. It has been several years since my one and only Southie Parade, so I was glad to be invited along to join in the weekend festivities. It was a fun, tiring weekend. I think I got more sun and did more walking around the past few days than in the whole of last year :)

I thought I would entertain anyone who decides to check out my blog with some songs that showed up this weekend, made me smile, and stuck in my head for one reason or another. They are in no particular order. Enjoy!

Tessie by Dropkick Murphys

Whiskey in the Jar

Alone With You by Jake Owen

Fight for Your Right to Party by Richard Cheese

Let's Do It by Ella Fitzgerald

Baby Got Back by Richard Cheese

Now it is time for laundry and to catch up on sleep so I can go back to work tomorrow. Gotta love these four day weekends.

Morocco

Since I've been back from vacation for three weeks now, it's about time for me to update the blog with some of the trip details. I was able to spend 5 days in Casablanca, Morocco with my mother's parents. Nanny & Poppy and I had a wonderful time. The long plane rides (about 11 hours from Boston to Morocco via Paris) were broken up a bit with movies, sleeping, and reading. Needless to say we were a bit cranky when we arrived and were waiting in line to pass through customs.

From Morocco

The innumerable people returning home from their Ramadan pilgrimages to Mecca that morning added to our frustration. After what felt like ages but was probably only two hours, we were met at the airport by our friendly taxi driver and headed to the hotel for some Welcome Tea and a nap.

From Morocco

Thankfully we adjusted fairly quickly to the four hour time difference (5 hours for me) and were able to enjoy all of the sights and sounds Casablanca has to offer for those in their late 70s and their granddaughters. The first day was full of browsing in the Old Medina and bazaar and getting our bearings. We also made plans to visit the Hassan II Mosque (the 3rd largest in the world) the next day (Friday, the Muslim Holy day). What a beautiful place! I wish that we had worked out our timing a bit better so we could've gone inside--it's an open mosque, both women and non-Muslims can tour it--for one of the scheduled tours.

From Morocco

Next we took a taxi across town to the El-Hud lighthouse. It is not a tourist attraction, but it was one of the most peaceful places that I think we went to. Then again, there was so much calm and beauty in the country that the entire trip was peaceful. (The leisurely meals and daily naps didn't hurt either.) I had to take this pic for my lighthouse obsessed mother.

From Morocco

On Sabbath we walked down to the post office to mail some postcards and hung out at the local park. The afternoon was full of people watching and soaking in the sun. I also started to notice the stray cat population. As much as it pained me I held back and only took photos. I didn't want to run the risk of bringing back some Moroccan Cat Sickness to my girls.

From Morocco

Sunday we took the train to Kenita and Rabat. My grandparents used to live just outside of Kenita so it was a nice homecoming for them. A lot had changed, but the downtown streets were still recognizable 58 years later.

From Morocco

We spent most of the day in Kenita and by the time we got to the King's Palace in Rabat it was closed! Thankfully we had one day left and once again boarded the train to Rabat on Monday morning. We were able to walk to the Palace and take some pictures, but since it is a functioning government building we couldn't go in.

From Morocco

The last time my grandparents had been to the Palace the Sultan was receiving his annual payments from the Berber tribes. The Palace at that time was in the middle of the desert. My how times have changed. I didn't even see any sand! We also took some time to see the Unfinished Mosque and the Mausoleum of Mohammad V. Unfortunately, our luck held and the mausoleum was closed in preparation for the King's visit.

From Morocco

All three of us stayed in the same hotel room for the duration of the trip and as was to be expected we had our frustrations with each other.

From Morocco

But all in all we had a wonderful trip. I would go again in an instant!

From Morocco

To check out all of the wonder pics, (if you haven't already done so on my FB page) just click on the this pic to take you to them.

From Morocco

It's Like Bubble Gum

This month marked the 30th birthday of my good friend E. A few of us decided that she needed to celebrate the start of her fourth decade of life in style. The first surprise was a visit from her mom. We had been scheming for weeks. Mama C flew in late Wednesday night (a few days before her actual birthday) and stayed at my place. The next day we made a pit stop at the wonderful Dunkin' Donuts and headed to work. I told E that I brought her a coffee and donuts and her mom! She was speechless.

The next surprise was the party on Saturday afternoon. Since E's birthday was on Easter weekend she'd asked for a bunny cake. Little did she know that our dear friend LadyBoyd was slaving away on the most awesome bunny cake ever. And since it was Easter after all, a carrot cake accompanied it. Have I ever said how much I love LadyBoyd (and her cake skills)? E has a small obsession with kitchen gadgets, cookbooks, Rachel Ray, and all things cooking related. So, we (LadyBoyd, R, & I) came up with the perfect gift: a Taste of Italy cooking class at the local Viking Cooking School. It was a test of patience for E since she had to wait until last night for all the action. It was a lot of fun. The mouth-watering menu consisted of grilled portabella mushrooms with herb butter, herb and cheese flan, pan seared veal with fennel tomato sauce, herb pasta, and almond cake. We all worked together on the meal.

Reading the menu before starting the chopping.

Having a little fun at the mixer.

Food processors are fun!

Dinner's ready!

My favorite part of the meal was the herb cheese flan. I've always been a fan of sweet caramel flan, but this light, savory flan we made is without comparison. I will be making it again even if it's just for me and the cats. And since I learned how to make it, I had to try the veal. Sorry to report I wasn't impressed. Being a vegetarian (more out of habit than the whole PETA angle), I wasn't happy with the lack of flavor or the texture. Just like the time I tried filet mignon at the meat palace, the texture reminded me of (please don't laugh!) old bubble gum--lots of chewing, but no bubbles. But all in all we had a blast!

Cheers! Here's to your 4th decade, E!

Memories of Youth

As you may know, one of my guilty pleasures is reading Pink is the New Blog. When I read today's title, "Pip, Pip Hurray", I was overwhelmed with memories. As a child my parents had records of the Eric B. Hare stories. And yes, I do mean on vinyl. We had a combo 8-track/record/cassette player in our dining room. Anyway, when I read the title all I could think about was Pip, Pip the Naughty Chicken. I don't know the last time I thought of those stories. They were much loved and much played in our house. Something has to be said for hearing stories read by the author. Maybe I'll get some for Dean's upcoming 5th birthday or just get copies for myself for my ride to church.