February Karaoke

Lots of friends stopped by Karaoke throughout the month, so it was filled with fun songs, love songs, new songs, super-sets, and more!  Feel free to stop by on a Wednesday night at 9 pm at Gabe's in West LA!

Rick Astley - 'Never Gonna Give You Up'

Journey - 'Lights'

Martina McBride - 'I Just Call You Mine'

Bryan Adams - 'Summer of 69'

"Rent" - 'Light My Candle'

Fiona Apple - 'Criminal'

Britney Spears - 'Hit Me Baby One More Time'

Nirvana - 'Heart-Shaped Box'

Patsy Cline - 'I Fall to Pieces'

Pat Benatar - 'Heartbreaker'

Natalie Merchant - 'Wonder'

Smashing Pumpkins - '1979'

No Doubt - 'Just A Girl'

Des'Ree - 'Ya Gotta Be'

Destiny's Child - 'Say My Name'

Tom Petty - 'You Got Lucky'

Tom Petty & Stevie Nicks - 'Stop Dragging My Heart Around'

Christina Aguilera - 'Fighter'

Journey - 'Separate Ways'

Jewel - 'Don't'

Garbage - 'Special'
The Temptations - 'My Girl'

Little Big Town - 'Better Man'
Roxette - 'Listen To Your Heart'

"The Little Mermaid" - 'Part Of Your World'

Tony and I at Gabe's for Karaoke!

We did quite a few Super-Sets in the first week since I had a few friends come to Gabe's.  I opened with a little Rick Astley and then we all did a little Journey.  My new song of the night was 'I Just Call You Mine' by Martina McBride which is such a pretty song.  We did another Super-Set, this time it was Bryan Adams and after that Adam and I sang 'Light My Candle.'  I had everyone close out the night with Britney Spears because I think we all secretly (or not so secretly) enjoy singing it!  The next week was the night before my Mom's Birthday, so all my choices were songs my Mom really enjoyed hearing me sing at Karaoke.  She really had an eclectic taste in music, thanks to her own personal favorites, my Dad, my brother and me.  She had asked me to sing Patsy Cline for a long time and this was one of her favorites.  'Heartbreaker' was the first song I had ever Karaoked, and we always talked about going to a Pat Benatar concert together!  She got me really into Natalie Merchant and the lyrics of 'Wonder' seemed really fitting for that night at Karaoke.  I closed out with her favorite Smashing Pumpkins song, '1979.'  It was a really nice tribute night to her!  In our third week of Karaoke we had lots of new songs from singers including my new song which I heard on the way to Karaoke.  It was really fun singing 'Ya Gotta Be' by Des'Ree.  We had a Tom Petty Super-Set and I got to sing two of my favorites!  It had been a long time since I sang 'Fighter' by Christina Aguilera and I'm happy to report it was far easier this time around (albeit a really difficult song and her breath control is amazing) so I'll sing it again for sure!  Since Adam dedicated 'Separate Ways' last week to my Mom, I sang it this week, and since he had to sing it in the right key, he made me raise it back up that half step, and it went well.  It was really a night of singing favorites that week!  The last week in February was packed with friends again including my friend, Tony, whom I've known for 11 years.  We met back in the day when we were doing background work for the TV Show 'Las Vegas,' and have stayed in touch throughout the years.  He's moving back to Pittsburgh in a few weeks so it was great to have him come by and sing some 90's hits for everyone!  My new song that night was 'Better Man' by Little Big Town; one of my current country obsessions!  The lyrics are spot-on and the song is really pretty.  I closed out the night with The Little Mermaid for Tony; he even got a little clip and threw it up on his Instagram.  

Overall, it was a really great month of Karaoke!  I'm going to get a theme going for one of the weeks in March so we can get a nice crew of people in!  I've got a Superhero Show on Sunday coming up for Creating Arts Company so my new song this week will most likely be dedicated to that.  Hopefully, the rain will subside and as we move into March and the Spring we'll be getting some more sunshine and fun party songs :)

*Memory Jars*

My Memory Jar <3

Right before the new year started I saw a post on Instagram about starting the year with an empty jar and filling it with notes about good things that happen throughout the year.  Then you go back at the end of the year and read about all the wonderful things that happened in the past year!  Kristina was staying with me at the end of January and also sent me an e-mail about a Memory Jar which I excitedly told her I wanted to do!

I went to Michael's and picked up some big mason jars, black shimmery ribbon, gold glittery letters (for everyone's first initial), and then gold rhinestones to decorate our jars.  Then on a Girl's Night filled with cheese, wine, cookie dough and 'The Bachelor,' I told the gals we were going to be doing this starting in the month of February and on Valentine's Day 2018 we would read the notes from our Memory Jars.  Kristina picked up some black cardstock and gold markers to make the jar look pretty on both the inside and outside because at the end of the day, it's what's on the inside <3

The gals told me they've already started filling their jars with exciting news!  I've included getting my script registered and copywritten with the Writer's Guild and Library of Congress and just recently Valentine's Day surprises.  I look forward to filling the jar with good memories and all of us getting together to share the fabulous story of 2017!

My First Dinner Party :)

I always plan an extended vacation back to Wisconsin for Christmas and I was also home for New Year's this year.  When I came back I wanted to do something fun for some of my closest friends because I'm thankful for these wonderful people in my life. 

This beautiful Wedge Salad courtesy of Kristina!

I had frozen a Burgandy Spoon Roast the day before I left Wisconsin and also picked up a bunch of my favorite Wisconsin cheeses.  I found the recipe for my Mom's Cheesy Potatoes and with Kristina staying with me, she was helping prep everything as well.  We had an amazing Wedge Salad with all the fixings including a Blue Cheese dressing from scratch, thanks to Kristina.  It was absolutely beautiful.  Adam brought an appetizer and Specialty Beer, Aimee & Andy brought Champagne and Wine, Giana brought a side dish, and Rachel brought a Chicken Salad.  My Spoon Roast turned out great although my gravy wasn't my best, I did do my Cilantro Pesto from scratch (having leftovers for weeks) and also made rolls.  We were all full by the time we were done! 

We had a full on feast from beginning to end and I even popped a Dessert Wine I had bought in Solvang on my last trip with my Family.  It only came once we made it through all the Champagne, White & Red Wine and Beer.  No Dinner Party at my place would be complete without a Game Night!  Loaded Questions was a great game to play with all my friends and have some laughs.

Flowers, Cheese & Crackers, and Glasses prepped for the Party!

To make things even more special, I was able to use the Silverware my Mom had bought me years ago.  I had never needed to have service for eight so it was the perfect time to put them to use.  My first Dinner Party was a success thanks to my friends, and I can't wait to throw another one :)

Why you should try Blue Apron!

Over the past year I've been doing Blue Apron on a fairly regular basis. I love to cook and create my own recipes but there's something about having the food and recipes delivered to your door that's so convenient and it gets me more excited to cook.  The step-by-step instructions with photos make it easy to follow along and the food is usually quite impressive!  I make sure to invite friends over for at least one shipment to share in the joy!

Seared Barramundi with Fregola Sarda, Collard
Greens, and a Shallot Agrodolce that I will make
again and again.  It was just that lovely!

Since I was getting these recipes coming from Fall into Winter, there were some fresh corn dishes, some seared Salmon & Barramundi, a Steak meal (which I made when Dad was visiting at Thanksgiving) and plenty of vegetarian options.  One of them was a Squash Curry with Jasmine Rice (not pictured here) that turned out beautifully and was spicy to boot!  And the Steak meal was good but I preferred the tenderloin cut I got a few months back to the NY Strip Dad and I had this past time.

In the group of four photos below, starting from the top left was a Sweet Corn & Ditali Pasta with Ricotta Cheese.  It was one of the easiest recipes and packed a kick thanks to the Jalapeño.  I love getting a little spice in a meal.  Going clockwise is the Seared Salmon on top of Saffron Yukon Gold Potatoes and Cumin/Orange Glazed Carrots. I loved all the spices in this dish, including Saffron which I've never worked with before but was very excited about. The Salmon was incredible and the Carrots reminded me of my Mom's Glazed Carrot recipe (I'm going to try to re-create hers thanks to this one) that was always so yummy.  The next Dinner was a Chicken dish with a Caper Salsa Verde, extra Corn & Tomatoes, and Fregola Sarda.  I love capers and this salsa was the bomb!  Rounding it out was another vegetarian recipe of Neapolitan-Style Stewed Vegetables and Farro.  This recipe actually made it through three helpings!  The Gremolata of Parsley, Lemon, Garlic and Shallots on top really finished it off strong in addition to the fresh mozzarella.

Ditali Pasta & Ricotta, Seared Salmon & Saffron Yukon Gold Potatoes, Chicken
with Salsa Verde and Neopolitan-Style Stewed Vegetables with Farro.

Blue Apron can be tried on an affordable basis especially with the promotions they put out there for first-time users.  Or you can even find deals on Groupon!  Once you start cooking with Blue Apron, you'll have Free Meals to send to friends or family members (perhaps even someone else in your household).  Most of the recipes I feel like $60 is totally worth it based on the convenience-factor, ingredients, and portion-size.  Other times I feel like I could have found the ingredients for cheaper at Trader Joe's or another grocery store.  They usually do a good job of making sure the recipes are varied and that it's worth the price you're paying!

If you want to see all of my Blue Apron adventures, you can find them on my Instagram at: Lyndsey on Instagram.  I'd love to hear about your culinary adventures too!  I'm looking forward to making some of the recipes I've received in the past year a second time around now :)