June Lake Mountain Music Festival

The pics are finally up!  2011 Singer-songwriter showcase for the June Lake Mountain Music Fest.
Such a fun time! with such great talent!  Thank you Borza, Thank you June Lake for welcoming me back each year to this beautiful, magical place that has become so dear to my heart.  Thank you!

P.S.  Wehby!  I need "Sack-Up!" on my ipod!  get on that shit!


http://www.junelakemusic.com/index.php/gallery/photos/2011-songwriters-showcase

oh the little things...

Steve Aoki...

  was okey dokey.   Dj Steve Aoki performed at the Madonna Expo Center along with 3 other dj's who were all pretty fun.  However, while everyone waited hours for Steve Aoki to finally come on, the crowd gets more faded and sloppy while the Expo Center rapidly turned into a giant sauna.  No, actually I would say 'steam room'.  Dreadfully hot and sticky.  So the high is peaking, your body is fading, now comes Aoki! to save the day.  Or rave night.  This rebelious long haired asian threw one hell of a party;  from popping champagne bottles and spraying the sweaty crowd to destroying the overdressed Madonna Inn cake and sharing with the crowd to tossing water bottles for the under age teen ravers ... this dude party's.
 So nontheless the concert was fun.  really fun.  From a music show perspective I was a bit disappointed with the djing part of it.  It seemed like he made his track list beforehand and auto-played the whole show.  I enjoy seeing the talent on the turn tables such as a little scratching and first hand mixing... but everyone has their own style and Aoki plays up the party/fun side of things so that's ok.
As for the expo-center venue,  big but not well ventalated so beware.
Oh- and let me just vent for a moment about one other thing, tickets.  Tickets were $25 for general admission.  Tickets are available for sale at the door as well.  Thinking nothing of it my friends and I decide to buy tickets at the door; $40 for general admission!  bullshit.  Personal upsale?  I still was able to buy my ticket for $25 but as for the boys, they were still charged $40.  A bit of a rip-off.

Thank you Madonna Expo Center for holding a great show!  Lets keep it up during these colder months!

Bassnectar: I've got a fever...

and the only prescription, is more BassHead.


fucking fantastic show.  There was a lot worry about how a major electronic show would do at the Avila venue, but together, they made super sweet love and had a beautiful turnout.
With the ocean, sunset, and moon-a-rising in back, and a 1.5 million dollar stage and light set-up in front, this show made everyone's musical summer delight on the central coast.


Thank you Avila (thank you Katie!) for taking the chance on such a huge event,
and Thank you Bassnectar for rocking everyone's socks off... or tutu's off- I suppose there were more raver's than not;  you kicked off your tour strong and gave such a great performance and threw one hell of a dance party.  You did have to address the crowd a couple times but that's ok, these little junior raver's need the correct guidance and who better to get that from.


Thank you thank you for bringing the muZic!

June Lake Love

amazing : beautiful

Travelling in France...

 I will begin with Paris.  Breathtaking ... city glory...  the mecca... reminds be a bit of NYC. 
Noone smiles too much;  well, to strangers at least.   Head nods are their sign of recognition which I'm totally down with.
Here is one thing I learned about ze French:
What do the French eat for breakfast?
BREAD
What do the French eat for lunch?
BREAD
What do the French eat for dinner?
BREAD! and duh wine... all the time.


But dammit I'm talking bread all the time!   Maybe the secret to staying slim is not that we have to keep carbs OUT of our diet, but have carbs all the time.  and for a snack, cigarettes.  Then walk everywhere.  This is key.  
And to all the functioning alcoholics out there, eat bread.  It soaks up the alcohol enough to prevent a hangover, but not enough to take away the buzz so... that's a good thing.

Hendaye, je taime.

Accueil a Hendaye

I was lost but now I'm found...

back again to share mine and their tales.  an endless summer...

                                           an endless taste for delicatesse...
                                           oh my summertime...

the key is lime zest...

to keep the love alive. 

: Key Lime Pie
for my returning love and my returning sunshine.
it's on summer-time.
we're talkin' dream sex.

recipe: coming soon... stolen from Houston's restaurant.

dy-no-mite

a day off.

some sun for my sad plants: " I'm trying to keep you happy sweet ones. " 

...while reading the hunger games

music.  peace.  inspiration... 

... oh but where's the motivation?

 and again... thank you friends. Thank you Noelle, Thank you Dee.  Thank you thank you thank you.

peace of living...

  I know it's not forever, but this temporary stay is having such a calming effect on my soul... the soul thing is longterm I'm hoping.  Regaining peace and contentment within myself and the world around me.  Letting myself breath again and thanking God everyday of how grateful I am and how lucky I should feel to have so much Love around me.  Friends, family; they go hand in hand really.  Your closest friends are your family... however we have to admit it's not always the other way around. ;)  
Thank you                     
                           for this day, 
                                              this love,
                                              this life,
                                                     
                        and to all the people, who make it happen.                                    
                                                                                                          


whatever "it" is.


love,
jro

I love my ladies.

 What a day in Santa Barbara.  Beautiful, relaxing, an easy day.   And a little shopping never hurt anyone...

it's said so much but how it is oh so true ... LIVE , LAUGH , LOVE , and Be Happy.

strawberry rhubarb pie. omg...

I have never messed around or been interested in rhubarb because I was always turned off by the celery appearance.  and please don't hate on me for this, but I have never cared for celery.  It's the strings.  It's weird.  Anyway, I had a request for strawberry rhubarb and decided to give it a shot.  I went to the farmer's market and picked up some delightfully sweet strawberry's and about a pound and a half of these giant rhubarb sticks...   after a beautiful Saturday afternoon of baking, I made one of my new favorite pies!  I had to use a crisp like topping because I used left-over dough and only had enough for the bottom.

slice 3 cups worth of rhubarb. (1/2 inch or so)

4 cups of strawberries.  Large slices or just cut in half.

I used what little dough was left and made little strips across the top then filled in the blanks with the crumble.
CRUMBLE:
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. oats
1/4 or 1/3 c. brown sugar (depends if you want more of that sugar crunch)
a dash of cinnamon
4 T. chilled butter (cut into small pieces and cut into dry ingredients to make it crumbly)


INSIDE THE PIE...
3 c. of rhubarb
4 c. of strawberries (if they are large strawberries I would suggest doing 3 cups)
3 T. cornstarch
3/4 c. white sugar
1/4 t. cinnamon
1 t. fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 T. unsalted butter


Preheat oven to 400 degrees f.
Combine all dry ingredients.  Take about 2 T. from the mix and sprinkle over the bottom layer of pie crust.  Now take the strawberries and rhubarb and lightly toss in the mixture.  Make sure it is all coated; then pour the filling in the pie shell/dish.  Top with more dough, or crumble topping... or both!
bake for 35 minutes.
tip: juice can tend to rise up and over the pie onto the bottom of your oven so I suggest places a baking sheet or stone underneath the pie to catch spills.

If you let the pie sit and cool like you are supposed to you will not have to much excess juice.  My neices could not wait so we had to break the rules and dig in.  Still delicious though.

baker baller.  holla.

chocolate dipped creme filled cupcakes...

if heaven had a flavor...

use chocolate cake recipe for cupcakes,


cream filling:
1/4 c. unsalted butter
1/4 c. shortening
1 1/4 c. confectioners' sugar
1 pinch-o-salt
3 T. milk
1 t. vanilla extract,


whipped topping:
about 2 cups of heavy whipping cream
1/2 c. confectioners' sugar (or to taste)
1 t. vanilla extract


chocolate topping:
2 c. semi-sweet chips
2 T. canola or vegetable oil
melt on low heat until chocolate and oil is blended and smooth,
let sit and cool for about 5-10 min.
now DIP or POUR chocolate over cupcakes,
then refrigerate until chocolate has completely chilled or hardened,
and ENJOY!

                                      

breathe...

take a moment...

                                                      stop...
                                                                                           and breathe.

my Geisha

my Geisha.  

Made with love for me by my favorite artist.

today...

today feels like the rest.  A wondering spirit with pushed thoughts.  Thank god for friends to keep me sane.  
today, today I miss my love.  Wondering does he feel the same way I do?  Does he love so much, so deeply that it almost feels unfair to have this when so many don't?  Because I do.  I feel lucky to know something, someone of such greatness.  and such beauty.  ugh!  with So much love and happiness comes the unimaginable pain of everything else.  "when it hurts so bad, why does it feel so good?"

Madonna Stencil

if a wood chuck could chuck wood

made with love for lovely sister, mother, teacher Kristie