Sunday, March 30, 2008

Sunday Concert

The men's chorus that Wayne sings with had a concert on Sunday with the Richey Community Orchestra. It was held at the Center for the Arts at River Ridge in Port Richey.

It was a first in several ways for me. It was the first time I got to hear Una Voce in concert. Secondly, it was the largest group of Golden Girls and Golden Guys and walkers and canes that I have ever seen under one roof. And that was just the orchestra! Only kidding . . . but the audience was made up primarily of senior seniors, reminding me that LOTS of people retire to Florida!




The concert was wonderful. The orchestra played selections from various Broadway musicals, and Una Voce sang some selections, some with solos. My favorite from the orchestra were the themes from West Side Story, James Bond, but I was especially impressed with the Pirates of the Carribean piece. Una Voce did some wonderful selections. I liked Oklahoma, Someone Like You from Jekyll and Hyde and Love Changes Everything (Andrew Lloyd Webber).




After the concert, we went to Angellino's in Palm Harbor. The pasta dishes come with at least a pound of pasta . . . enough to feed a family of six! I had Penne Agustino (only with angel hair). "Artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, black olives and fresh garlic
sautéed in extra virgin olive oil tossed with penne pasta, Romano cheese and fresh bread crumbs." Needless to say, I have my dinners planned for the next week.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Saturday Visit to Winter Park

Gina originally had plans to fly up to Albany for a short visit during her spring break. There were a change of plans at the last minute, so I was off to visit her in Winter Park. The weather was beautiful, and we decided to take the boat tour on the lakes in Winter Park. The tour lasted approximately an hour. It took us thru canals that connected the lakes. There is some mighty fine real estate along the shores here!





This is Rollins College.
This is the pool house at Rollings College. Gee, we didn't even have a student union building when I was in college.























































































































The dock where the tour left from.











After the tour, we headed over to Park Avenue to browse the shops. We stopped for lunch at this little restaurant. Of course, we first noticed the 4-layer cakes in the dessert case . . .

We decided to share a slice of the red velvet cake. We only ate half of it and Gina took the rest home with her, along with a slice of the carrot cake for her Mom.


























Sunday, March 23, 2008

Happy Easter . . . Oink! Oink!

Lots of good food this weekend. Ate at Capogna's Dugout in Clearwater on Friday. I had eggplant Parmesan . . . hadn't had that in a while!!!



Also had some pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream.




And colored eggs too! (See above). Hard to give up on some traditions.


I hosted Saturday brunch. Another dish I hadn't had in a long time was Finnish Pancakes. We got the recipe years ago from an egg carton. It's kind of like having crème brûlée as a main dish! YUM!!! Served it with Canadian bacon. What do you think a boot that, eh? Also had this sweet bread with "Oranges from Sicily" peels (so it says on the label) that I got at Mazzaro's last week.

I figured it was time I took a turn at some cooking, so I decided to do the Easter dinner too. Ham, sweet potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, veggies, sourdough bread, Shiraz, and a custard fresh fruit topped pie. Only thing I can take credit for are the sweet potatoes.


Also had some Easter candy...and watched West Side Story in wide screen. One of my favorite movies. I was in junior high when it came out. Even painted a 'Sharks' logo on the chain guard on my Rollfast bike! I guess I'm still a geek!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Another Universe. I was thinking back to St. Patrick's Day 2007 up in Albany.
This was my Jeep parked in the neighbor's driveway. They were in Florida for the month of March and said I could park in their driveway to get it off the street. I had gotten up early to shovel it out from it's parking space in the street and parked it there while I went in and showered. It was Saturday and my last shift as a part time teller before moving to full time in the operations center.

This was the view from the front porch of my apartment.




This is the view from the front porch of my apartment here in St. Pete. Hmmmm? That's my Rabbit parked there. No need to shovel it out. The thermostat read 84 degrees while I was on my 5 minute drive home from work.

To celebrate St Paddy I thought I would have some Pistachio Paste on some Brick Oven Italian Toast. OK, so it's from Mazzaro's and it's Italian. It's green, isn't it?








Here's a pic I just snapped in the back of my apartment building in the alley. I wish this weather would last. You know I'll be complaining come July.

Brunch and Movies

Not a lot of newsy or travelogue goings on lately. Work has been enjoyable and the weather has been really nice. I'm hating to see winter end!!! Does that make me a Floridian now?


Had brunch and a double feature movie this weekend. I had been wanting to see Across the Universe since I first saw the previews. It was interesting the way Beatle songs were woven into the story line. Some of the arrangements and choreography were excellent. I think some could have been left out or shortened up a bit. Good soundtrack though!



Also watched Death at a Funeral. It had a great ensemble cast and was very funny! I recommend!

Brunch: eggs in a basket and sausage. YUMMERS!!!




Thursday, March 06, 2008

Gulfport

Gulfport is an interesting little 'city'. It has a small 'artsy' charm about it. Last Saturday we went there and found the pet rescue "Fair". Here are pictures of some of the buildings there. I think I'll need to do more in a future post.