A few weeks ago, Anna started talking about making some homemade Lemon Cello (pronounced Chello) for us. She explained that it was a very special liqueur, that is only authentic if made from scratch. She travelled to Italy at least once a year, and happened to have a stash of pure Italian grain alcohol for that purpose ( But we didn't know that at the time!) A few days later, we noticed two large bags of lemons and a few days after that, Anna introduced us to her delicious concoction. Awesome! Tastes like the best lemon drop martini ever!
I'd savor a very small glass over ice before I went to bed once in awhile. But we felt, with all the trouble she went to making this "taste of heaven" we should probably save it for special occasions.
Well, last week was one of those spontaneous occasions where dinner took an extra long time to prepare so Ruby and I had "support group" ( which is another term for Cocktail hour) ad cracked open a bottle of wine before dinner. Dinner was excellent, as always, and the three of us got into some very amusing and witty conversations . Before we knew it , bottle one was gone and Ruby, never missing a beat had our glasses filled with Bottle #2 ( BTW, we buy the large economy sized ones- better on the budget).
The conversation did get around to some pretty heavy stuff, since we're going through a wide variety of stressful situations and even crises in our lives at the Dorm ( not the least of which, my divorce). As the last drops poured out of our back-up bottle, we were just getting some good therapy going, and were trying to figure out our next move, when Anna suggested we get out the Lemon Cello.
The last thing I remember was saying "we can't do that!" (meaning we CAN'T drink liqueur after all that wine). Anna thought I didn't want to drink her special hand made recipe, but save it for guests, so she said " why not????"
That really WAS the last thing I remember. When I woke up the next morning, we were already 30 minutes late for work. I could barely see, so a quick trip to the bathroom to drink a quart of water out of the faucet, then I looked up and saw that my eyes were almost swollen shut. I woke Ruby and ( like a nightmare about waking up in Hangover 2) said " What the h... happened last night??
She fell out of bed looking quite disoriented and when she got used to the light enough to open her eyes, said
"I think we shouldn't have had Lemon Cello".
"We drank Lemon Cello??" From the other room, Anna moaned "Yep. All of it!".
Then ... "I'm SO glad you guys are alive! I thought it might have killed you."
"But why are my eyes swollen shut??"
"Oh...You had a meltdown," said Ruby. "A gut-wrenching, soulful, self-flaggelation about all the mistakes you made and how your life is a mess and it's a your fault- MELTDOWN."
But I didn't remember any of it.
"Believe me, you don't want to know... suffice it to say you should feel better for having gotten it out of your system".
But there was more stuff that needed to get out of my system, so I drank another quart of water, and searched the recesses of my memory for when I had felt this hungover in the past 30 years, and what I had done about it. OMG!
Anna later told us that Lemon Cello is made with Imported 195% proof Italian grain alcohol. Even diluted with some lemon zest and sugar, it was clearly our of our league.
We suffered through the day and at dinner that night , briefly wondered if the Betty Ford Clinic would give us a group rate...
Lesson learned.
June 13, 2011
June 2, 2011
Mother's Day in the Dorm
In keeping with our philosophy of always creating something to look forward to, we decided to have our own Mother's day celebration at the Dorm, even though none of us would be near our kids (and some of us don't even have kids other than the 4 legged kind). Why sit around and crochet while crying in our tea???
So it was the 4 of us plus Gay's friend Mary, who is a hoot. She lost her only daughter a few years go so we weren't sure she would come, but I know she's glad she did.
At Brunch time it magically came together as if little elves were working all night. Flowers on the table, a card from the youngest member of the dorm, made out to "my 3 Moms" pancakes with fresh strawberries, brown sugan and whipped cream and two pounds of decadent BACON, fried crispy, with no guilt on the side! Oh yeah and wine, wine, wine. We started out with Mimosa's but how far does a bottle of champaign go split 5 ways???Really?
So to go with our wine and dessert chocolate, we decided to see how creative and devious our friends really were... We broke out the game of Balderdash, and found that we are all first class pervaricators! We played and laughed and drank and never ONCE felt sorry for ourselves. In fact it was one of the best days ever, because we made somethnig happen with our goood friends!
Who needs TV? Who needs movies? When we have our friends to entertain us!
So it was the 4 of us plus Gay's friend Mary, who is a hoot. She lost her only daughter a few years go so we weren't sure she would come, but I know she's glad she did.
At Brunch time it magically came together as if little elves were working all night. Flowers on the table, a card from the youngest member of the dorm, made out to "my 3 Moms" pancakes with fresh strawberries, brown sugan and whipped cream and two pounds of decadent BACON, fried crispy, with no guilt on the side! Oh yeah and wine, wine, wine. We started out with Mimosa's but how far does a bottle of champaign go split 5 ways???Really?
So to go with our wine and dessert chocolate, we decided to see how creative and devious our friends really were... We broke out the game of Balderdash, and found that we are all first class pervaricators! We played and laughed and drank and never ONCE felt sorry for ourselves. In fact it was one of the best days ever, because we made somethnig happen with our goood friends!
Who needs TV? Who needs movies? When we have our friends to entertain us!
April 24, 2011
Man of the House
We had one of our many friends come to dinner a few weeks ago to experience the Dorm for herself, over lovely dinner of lamb chops, butternut squash ravioli with browned butter and one of Anna's heavenly salads.
Of course, the Dorm dog, Jersey, gave her the typical "I-can-tell-you're-a-dog-lover" rousing welcome, complete with slobering kisses and finishing with a subtle but heartfelt leg hug "dance". He sat with her to make her feel at home, while giving each of us our due amount of attention, by putting a paw on each hand when he wants a pet.
My friend obvserved that as we sat down to dinner, Jersey sat on the floor at the head of the table (He's a big pup so his head is well above the table line) and watched the interaction with interest.
It's a big job he's got! Taking care of all of these women! ...Making us feel someone is overjoyed when we come home, being sensitive to the one who is the most emotionally needy at any given time, to gently lay his paw on their hand in an understanding way or lay his head on our lap. Keeping each of us in good spirits at all times is a daunting task, but Jersey seems to take it seriously. Each of us is special to him and he makes us feel like his world is more complete since we're there!
He is the man of our house and we have never felt so appreciated!
Thanks, Jersey!
Of course, the Dorm dog, Jersey, gave her the typical "I-can-tell-you're-a-dog-lover" rousing welcome, complete with slobering kisses and finishing with a subtle but heartfelt leg hug "dance". He sat with her to make her feel at home, while giving each of us our due amount of attention, by putting a paw on each hand when he wants a pet.
My friend obvserved that as we sat down to dinner, Jersey sat on the floor at the head of the table (He's a big pup so his head is well above the table line) and watched the interaction with interest.
It's a big job he's got! Taking care of all of these women! ...Making us feel someone is overjoyed when we come home, being sensitive to the one who is the most emotionally needy at any given time, to gently lay his paw on their hand in an understanding way or lay his head on our lap. Keeping each of us in good spirits at all times is a daunting task, but Jersey seems to take it seriously. Each of us is special to him and he makes us feel like his world is more complete since we're there!
He is the man of our house and we have never felt so appreciated!
Thanks, Jersey!
April 3, 2011
Looking forward to something
OK. The snow has stopped, at least for the weekend, and all of us take it as an omen of new beginnings. Ruby and I have been travelling in different directions and are happy to be back at the Dorm together with nna and Clair.
Ruby made a fantasastic dinner last night, but the best part is always the second glass of wine and the lost art of conversation over a leisurely meal. We're planning our next projects, an apartment rehab, the possibility of having Thanksgiving in Cabo and our next wild and crazy Spa girls weekend in Palm Springs.
It doesn't matter that some of these ventures might not actually materialize. What matters is that we must ALWAYS have things to look forward to!
Anna has been making some awesome breakfasts with at least two cups of her orgsamic coffee elixer with vanilla silk and a never ending stream of conversational topics. For instance, Ruby was going through fashion magazines to make an inspiration board for the Fall line, and we teased her about stopping to scratch and sniff every perfume sample she came to , until she actually got a painful paper cut on her nose! Injured in the line of duty! I wonder if workers comp applies?
So I look forward to seeing her inspiration board, look forward to losing 10 pounds before Spa Girls weekend, look forward to the line hitting $2 million in bookings. I even look forward to what new turn our conversaton will take at the next Dorm dinner (or breakfast)!
It's good to start looking forward again!
Meredith
Ruby made a fantasastic dinner last night, but the best part is always the second glass of wine and the lost art of conversation over a leisurely meal. We're planning our next projects, an apartment rehab, the possibility of having Thanksgiving in Cabo and our next wild and crazy Spa girls weekend in Palm Springs.
It doesn't matter that some of these ventures might not actually materialize. What matters is that we must ALWAYS have things to look forward to!
Anna has been making some awesome breakfasts with at least two cups of her orgsamic coffee elixer with vanilla silk and a never ending stream of conversational topics. For instance, Ruby was going through fashion magazines to make an inspiration board for the Fall line, and we teased her about stopping to scratch and sniff every perfume sample she came to , until she actually got a painful paper cut on her nose! Injured in the line of duty! I wonder if workers comp applies?
So I look forward to seeing her inspiration board, look forward to losing 10 pounds before Spa Girls weekend, look forward to the line hitting $2 million in bookings. I even look forward to what new turn our conversaton will take at the next Dorm dinner (or breakfast)!
It's good to start looking forward again!
Meredith
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