Author: Lara

What’s a girl to do when USPS has lost a package she’s been desperately awaiting delivery on all week and kind of needed like, yesterday….which is, coincidentally, when it was also supposedly delivered? Except, of course, it wasn’t and the post office just can’t seem to track it down.

When you’ve been working on a project for well over two weeks and it just keeps getting more and more complicated and more and more frustrating with no solution or end in sight? When you don’t feel smart enough or well-equipped enough to figure it out?

When you’re tired of waiting and waiting and hearing “no” everyday?

She does the only thing she can do:

(via)

She angrily bursts into the kitchen fresh from work – right past her husband without so much as a “hello” – while stiffing tears of frustration, and still wearing her work clothes, she makes boxed funfetti cupcakes.

Then devours three.

And she feels just a little bit better.

Sometimes you really just need a damn cupcake.

Amen.

So, Monday it snowed. Today, Wednesday it’s 70 degrees. Again, Ohio, I don’t get it.

Last night sweet friend Allyson and I went for half-price fancy pants sushi at Ichiban in Mt. Lookout Square and followed it up with a showing of the dance film ‘Pina’ in 3D at the little independent artsy Mariemont Theatre. I’m so happy to have a girlfriend to do these things with so I don’t have to besiege and subject poor Ted to the agony and torture of raw fish and modern dance.

Clearly, it was awesome. I had a seaweed salad, a Cajun roll (avocado and lightly seared tuna), the Volcano roll (eel, avocado, spicy crabmeat, and tempura), and a lychee martini. It was delicious. And I always feel so refreshed and healthy after eating it. Hopefully sushi dates can become a routine. And at half-price, there’s a definite possibility they will!

Pina was an interesting film. I’m not sure that the 3D made much of a difference. In fact, I only noticed it once. Also, I’m not actually quite sure how I feel about the film yet. Obviously, I love dance. I have a huge respect for all kinds of dance and I took many, many dance classes in college and the program was modern-based. But Pina Bausch’s choreography was really hit or miss for me. On one hand I really liked how she incorporated a lot of different natural elements onstage – endless rain, huge puddles to splash in, boulders to dance on, massive pits of dirt to roll in, blowing leaves, etc. I also liked the juxtaposition of all these gritty, natural fibers with the gorgeous flowing evening gowns and business suits the dancers moved in. Plus some of the dances were staged in urban settings – glass greenhouses, public parks, on busy street corners, and in subway trams in Germany. The whole movie was in German with English subtitles. I felt like all the choreography was highly emotional. Purposefully meant to elicit very strong feelings – which it did. But the choreography itself baffled me at times. Maybe it was just too artsy or offbeat for my tastes or level of comprehension, but I’m really glad we saw it and were able to experience it. The one thing (other than the raw slabs of veal in the girl’s pointe shoes) that I really took away from her work and the film was one line:

Dance for love.

If you’ve ever danced, you know this feeling in the pit of your soul. You know that you dance for no reason other than love. I’m an actor by training and by nature, and I obviously love what I do, but when I dance I often get a feeling that I don’t always get when I’m acting. I feel totally free, totally happy, totally in love – even when it hurts or even when I can’t get the step – it’s just me there, by myself – even with everyone watching – and everything is fine and peaceful. I’m by no means the best dancer in the world, but that’s why I danced. And as soon as I can save enough money to make it a reality, I intend to jump right back into those darn dance classes.

Dance for love.

And sushi for love too. Yum.

It feels like it’s been forever since I posted even though I know it’s only been since Tuesday! Ted and I have been busy this week – work, meetings, lots of research and planning. In all the hubbub updating the blog got put on the back-burner. But we’ve accomplished a lot, so hopefully the posting will resume as usual, except a little less sporadically this time.

So…March.

Already!?

And of course, like clockwork, with the first of March came the wackadoo weather. For real, Ohio. What an epic hissy-fit you have been throwing lately, Mother Nature! I sure hope all the nonsense and tomfoolery is out of your system. On Friday we were treated to severe storms and level 8, 9, and 10 tornado warnings on the TorCon radar for Northern Kentucky and Southern Ohio. Major universities, entire school districts, and big corporations closed early and everyone who could make it home before 4:30 was sent home – everyone else had to stay put until it passed. Between the hours of 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. the entire population of Cincinnati and nearly all of Northern Kentucky from Louisville to Newport were huddled in basements and bathrooms as the tornado sirens blared, winds picked up, and weather radios announced where the latest touchdown had been spotted.

Yeah, feel free to enlarge that map. Cincinnati is right near the intersection of Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. It was scary, but luckily Ted and I were both working in strong, sturdy concrete buildings with basements that day. I felt much safer at work than I ever would have at home. Our area was spared the worst of it, for which we are incredibly thankful, as we know that many nearby towns in Southern Indiana and Northern Kentucky (many less than 30 miles away from us) were not so lucky. But it all passed in that hour and the sun was back to shining by 5:10 p.m.

And today, not even two days later, the sun is shining bright as can be, yet it is SNOWING outside.

Sun and snow. At the same time.

I don’t get it.

I suppose that’s a mid-west March for you, though.

On a much less terrifying note, I tried my hand at cooking up some German cuisine for dinner early this week. I made Rouladen (mustard and pickles wrapped in thinly sliced steak, rolled up, and coated in a beef and sour cream sauce) atop a bed of spaetzel (German noodle-dumplings) with a side of marinated red cabbage. It was nice to have something different for a change – comfort food, if you will. I also made a delicious candied pecan encrusted salmon filet with lemon roasted asparagus (but in the chaos and havok that the storms had wreaked on my mind hours prior, I totally forgot to use our brand new cedar planks) for lenten Friday, and last night I bought and roasted Jerusalem Artichokes for the first time.

(via)

If you’ve never had a Jerusalem Artichoke before (also called sunchokes in some grocery stores), you need to get on that ASAP. They were so good that I’m not sure I would have given one up for Ted to try, had he wanted to try one. I honestly cannot believe I’ve never had one before. They’re a root – almost a cross between a potato and an artichoke – mild but with a wonderful buttery artichoke flavor. I scrubbed them clean, dried them, sliced them in about 1/4″ thick slices, tossed them in a bag with some extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, and freshly diced garlic and then roasted them on a baking tray in the oven at 425 degrees for 25 minutes. They were so tasty that I cannot wait to dig into the rest of the batch. They’re healthy and dirt cheap too. If you’re looking for a little something new and different to spice up your week, culinary wise, you should add them to your grocery list.

(via)

We also picked up tasty milkshakes from Steak & Shake and rented the movie Hugo – a movie that you need to go out and rent from Redbox right now because it is really that good – and turned off all the lights, turned up the sound system, buried ourselves under blankets, and settled in for a great movie night. Cinematically, it is a gorgeous movie in the way that it was shot, and the colors, costumes, lighting, and scenery in the film are so dreamy! Everything about it is beautiful. The plot is fun and adventurous and mysterious and sweet and inspiring and engaging all at once. It draws you in and keeps you wrapped up until the very end. I liked it so much better than Midnight in Paris, which was also good, but I can see why this one got so many awards nominations.

So, in summary, if you’re looking for a relaxing evening this week my vote is for Jerusalem Artichokes, milkshakes, and Hugo. Enjoy!

How have you been lately?

Tonight I had the most wonderful coffee date with my most wonderful friend Allyson. It was absolutely beautiful out – the kind of beautiful that makes you realize just how lucky you are to be alive beautiful – so we sat outside at a pretty little park bench on the hip Hyde Park Square, in front of a picturesque lawn of soft green grass and a stone fountain, and we drank coffee, watched the sun set, and talked and talked and talked – about life, about our significant others, about apartments, about jobs, about theatre, about acting, about auditioning, about money, about frustrations, about joys. It was so nice! I love good friends. They make life’s daily frustrations seem so much less significant and the good things in life – friends and family – seem so much more important. Now Ted and I are enjoying the Daytona 500 Nascar race and a home-cooked meal of carrots, cabbage, potatoes, and smoked pork. Just happy to be home, together.

I’m so thankful that a great, easy day today made up for such a hectic Sunday. Even though I had the day off on Sunday, I spent the entire day designing in-depth lesson plans for five theatre classes, creating numerous worksheets for said classes, writing a 13-page script, and starting the process of finding and filling out a massive slew of legal documents for our future – wills, various powers of attorney, etc. It was busy and insane and so un-relaxing, but I feel extremely grateful to be so busy because it means that I’m employed, full-time, in theatre. The script, by the way, is kind of awesome. I’m really proud of it. Ted helped – his creativity makes me so happy! Yesterday I did get some reprieve though. Ted and I slept in a little, went to mass together in the morning, and took a fun little drive to the fish store to visit the fishies and see about maybe getting one. It was such a fun break from all the work. I’m so lucky to have such a great husband!

In other news I’ve decided that I really should be going to school at the Academy of World Languages instead of working. That place is awesome. The school got a fruit & veggie grant that allows them to bring in a different fruit or veggie from countries all around the world for the kids to try for snack everyday. Last Wednesday’s fruit was the ‘lemon plum’ from Chile. It is a juicy, sweet fruit that is similar to a pear in shape and color, but tastes totally different. It is only available in the United States in the month of February. So awesome!! Also, because the kids come from all over the world and speak all these different languages and have all these different cultural influences, the kids are super creative, which I love! For one of the plays we are writing with them one little third grade boy suggested the most incredible character I have ever heard of:

A super galactic kicking karate cow who uses mind control ice cream called “brain freeze” to control his subjects.

Seriously. I about died of sheer joy. It was all I could do to NOT leap and laugh out loud! Such an amazing character! So I’ve been really enjoying this part of my job lately. Also of importance is Ted’s broken shoulder blade. Oh, yes. Broken shoulder blade. A few weeks ago he got injured while at work (oh, theatre, the risks we take for you!), so the medical costs and care are being covered by worker’s comp and our insurance, but no wonder his shoulder has been so sore for the past two weeks! Poor guy! :-(

And because I like pretty things, here are some Piperlime dresses I’ve been stalking lately. Maybe when the money gods show up one day, right?

What have you been up to lately?

Because I haven’t posted one lately, you had to know this was coming…

My Sancho is the sweetest, most handsome little boy in the whole entire galaxy!

Just look at that scrunchy little face snoozing!!!!

HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY DENY HIM ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING HIS LITTLE KITTY HEART DESIRES!?

Gah!! I can hardly stand it!!

Why, oh why, are you in Texas sweet cat, whilst I waste away in Ohio without you!?

I’m sorry, but this outburst, though absurd, was truly absolutely necessary.

And long overdue.

Also (and on a totally unrelated note), do you know what these are?

Cedar.

Ye, we ordered cedar planks.

For the making of smokey cedar plank salmon. With candied walnuts.

Lent just got crazy delicious.

(I do realize that this has nothing to do with the true meaning or intention of Lent.)

Also,

(Click to enlarge)

I made this.

Because I’ve seen a million of these out there, on FaceBook, for every profession under the sun,

but nothing for what I and my colleagues do.

So I decided to take a cheap shot and make one.

I don’t have credit links for the images, sorry. I fail on that one.

But I do really love the last picture.

That’s me most nights, by the way. Ask Ted.

Because I guarantee every actor spends an inordinate amount of time in bed, up at all hours of the night, applying for jobs, updating resumes and cover letters, reading script after script after script, memorizing lines, doing character analysis, reading, studying, researching, and in general, working their tail off.

Plus it’s funny.

And glamorous red carpet appearances is exactly what my students think I do.

I’m not kidding. They really do.

(I do not, by the way.)

Le sigh.

And last but not least: Indulgence.

I forgot to mention that last weekend was “All You Can Eat Ribs” weekend at Montgomery Inn.

Look at who I married.

Ted – The Rib Master.

You know we were there. Early. With bells on. And bibs.

He stopped at two full racks.

I have no pictures, I’m sorry.

But it was kind of epic.

Also epic is the entire case of samoas girl scout cookies that somehow ended up in my car after the girl scouts held their 100th anniversary celebration at the museum center (my weekend job) on Saturday.

I have no idea how they got there.

Mmmmm….samoas.

(via)

I’m sharing a few with Ted. He’s sharing a few with me.

What can I say? Never did a more delicious cookie exist than the samoa. And that we can agree on.

Before you freak out, I intend for these to last us until next year.

Or at least until Tuesday.

Maybe.

Thursday night we had tickets for opening night of Into the Woods at CCM. By 5 p.m. I’d taught four theatre/acting classes at three different Cincinnati schools, all conveniently located way the heck across town from each other. I was exhausted, hungry, and in need of some good grown-up time when I met Ted at 5:30.

We opted for a leisurely dinner date at an atmospheric, upscale gourmet pizza joint nestled near Ludlow in the heart of the Clifton, Cincinnati’s gaslight district. We’d never been to a Dewey’s before, but we certainly will be back. The dough (which you could see being tossed and spun from the view-all kitchen windows) was soft, hot and flavorful, the list of ingredients was extensive, fresh and intriguing, the atmosphere was cozy and a bit eclectic, the service was impeccable, and the salads were phenomenal. While the calzones were delicious, full of flavor, and felt healthy rather than greasy, the salads were the real winners of the night. We both agreed we’d go back just for them! We also hear that their cocktails are divine, but we were too wrapped up in our eats to bother with the wine and cocktail menu.

I feasted on a Harvest Salad of fresh field greens tossed with boursin cheese, roasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas), figs, applewood smoked bacon, and honey apple cider vinaigrette. It was one of the tastiest, freshest salads I’ve ever had. My calzone was stuffed with goat cheese, artichokes, and sun-dried tomatoes.

Ted, of course, was mortified by my choice of “weird and gross” ingredients. He opted for the classics – a Caesar salad with freshly baked crouton slices and a sausage mushroom calzone. He said both were wonderful as well.

After dinner we went back to CCM where we met our friends Nick and Linda for Into the Woods. The show was great and the special effects they used made the show extra fun to watch but I seriously could not take my eyes off the costumes. Talk about a bad case of envy! I literally drooled every. single. time. Cinderella came onstage in one of her two fabulous ball gowns. I must have told Ted at least nine times during the show that I needed her dresses – even the beige/blush colored one (and we all know how much I hate pink) and I demanded that he steal them for me after the show. Surely the costume shop will not miss them. SERIOUSLY. I tried to find a picture of them for you, but no luck. Alas, we always enjoy CCM’s musicals. The talent is so good it’s literally ridiculous. I’m still talking about the awesomeness that was Evita nearly a year and a half ago.

Did you get a date night this week?

{1} Striped dresses

{2} Love Never Fails shirt

{3} Neutrals

{4} DIY Jersey bracelets

{5} Bright trouser socks

{6} Simple spring frocks via Piperlime

{7} Pretty studs

Ready for “not winter” over here!