Lemon & Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Lemon Curd Filling

It's been a few weeks since I made cucpcakes and I figured it was about time to whip up a batch. A good friend of mine asked for a private class because her sister is coming for a visit tomorrow, I asked her what kind of cupcakes she wanted and she said "lemon". These are pretty time consuming but so worth it.
If someone held a gun to my head and asked me to choose between chocolate and lemon I think I would be saying goodbye to you all right now. I love them both!

Turn the music box on the right side off to hear this one

Summer is here and I know we are all looking for a easy fun way to shed the pounds ...why not try using your WII "Lets Dance" Check out these twin boys workin' it.

Girls night(s) out

Friday Night Out:

The other day I suggested to one of the girls that we needed to go out together since I hadn't been out with the "posse" (Jackie, Tanya, Erin, myself and Charlie our honorary member) since Jackie's birthday in March and that's a long time for us. So she picked up ticket to go to the Hilton for Friday night to see this amazing 10 year old  kid Ethan Bortnick. He is a great little piano player, playing everything from Mozart to Billy Joel and all things in between.
Not our typical "girls night out" but was fun just the same - I always have fun when the posse is together.

Saturday Night out:
So from one extreme to the other ...Last night posse number 2; me, Ronna, Ardith and Sally went back to the Paris hotel to see 75 year old Engelbet Humperdinck. I was expecting him to open his show with one of his old standards ...Please release me or After the lovin' but what a surprise when he opened the show with a Santana song..Smooth. He did sing his old stuff most of which Ronna and I would look over at each other and shrug or shoulders to indicate we had never heard the song before but Ardith and Sally knew nearly all of them. You really just can't go wrong seeing a show at the Paris Hotel, I think I have seen 3 or 4 shows there now and they all have  really been top notch shows. Great weekend with great friends, those of you who live in Las Vegas should be taking advantage of our wealth of entertainment here and those who do not live here ...Viva Las Vegas.

This post goes out to Ed a dear friend of mine.  I am lucky to be able to call Ed my mentor, my inspiration and my friend.
I met Ed several years ago when I was just getting into lapidary work through the Rock and Gem society here in Las Vegas. He has a full shop at his house and my very first experience with rock cutting and polishing was with him. Ed is the most generous, patience teacher I have ever had. He has more than 50 years experience in the  lapidary field and shares it all unconditionally.
Ed recently took a fall at his house and broke a hip and is now recovering in The Henderson Heathcare Center and making progress every day. I went for a visit and to my surprise he grew a beard and his hair long, the story goes his daughter wanted to see how he would look with a beard ... but Ed went all out for her, I almost didn't recognize him. I had a nice visit with him and he said he was anxious to get out of bed and home where he belongs. Take care of yourself Ed, work hard in therapy and try not to flirt with the nurses too much.

Oh Mandy....

 I know I am going to date myself but do you remember Barry Manilow back in the 70's? he looked looked like such a geeky kid didn't he? I was in high school  and at that time I remember him being on the radio constantly.  I guess there were alot of Manilow fans since five of his albums were on the best selling charts simultaneously in 1978, I think I might still have one of his albums. I am sure I must have danced to some of his music at Prom or surely at the Valentines dance at school.


Well that was him then and this is him now. I recently was out with a friend who had told me she would really love to see Barry Manilow if I was ever able to get tickets via my House Seats membership.
I was able to get tickets for last Saturday night and followed up on that promise. We had really great seats ... 5th row center to be exact. I was surprised at the sold out show and the participation of the audience. I really wasn't expecting much but the show was to my surprise really pretty good. Of course he did all the popular tunes but also threw in some new ones from a new CD he just released called 15 minutes. What I really liked about the show is how generous he was with his personal life, he even played a crackly recording of him singing when he was 4 years old.
His stage was beautiful and at times it was down right elegant.
I wouldn't have considered seeing this show if my friends Nancy and Julie hadn't told me that it was a good show to see even if you were never a Manilow fan. So ....go see it if you get a chance it was a fun evening will remind you of younger days.

Have a safe and Happy 4th