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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

It's all Greek to me!

So yesterday I got a phone call from my daughter's hoity toity English teacher, Mariko.  She and a couple of my pals said they wanted to sacrifice their beauty sleep and desert their families so we could stay out late together eating Greek food and watching movies about French food.  

I was so excited I peeled off all my clothes and jumped in the shower.

It wasn't long before I remembered that I'd been cleaning and scrubbing all day and there was no soap or shampoo or satin fresh shaving cream within 100 square feet.  There was, however, a bottle of lemon lime soft scrub and a scrubbing brush so I'm not complaining. (Though I will say I've gained a new sensitivity for porcelain and tile cruelty.) 

I was ready and waiting (and squeaky clean) by 5 p.m.  Since there is no Olive Garden in Hawaii, Mariko and pals took me to The Olive Tree Cafe, which is one of those hip Greek joints where the combination of sparkling lemonade and Greek bluesy music makes you want to start spilling your (psychological) guts.  

When Mariko asked me what I wanted to eat I shrugged and said,  "It's all Greek to me."  

So she ordered for all of us. 

First we had babaganoosh, which is a fancy way of saying tortillas and eggplant.


Then we ate Shawarma. 

And for dessert we had baklava.  I have no photographic evidence of it, but it it was finger lickin' YUM-O!  

Mmmmm.  Mmmmm.  Mmmmmmm.

Great food.  Great conversation.  Great friends.    It was all very intoxicating.


My only disappointment is that Mariko isn't hoity toity at all.  (I hate it when my blanket stereotypes and sweeping generalizations are way off.) 

Here I am with Mariko and Pam.  Pam is also an English teacher who is light on the hoity toity, heavy on the uber cool hippy vibe. (Just between me and you, Pam is a fantastic writer who should be hoity toity.)

Here I am with Pam and Colleen (sistahs). Colleen is one of my closest friends. She's the reason my kids get so far in the History Day competition every year.   

LY Co!


Lub this photo!
 
After dinner we spent a few hours becoming even more intoxicated by French food with Julie and Julia.  Great movie!  (Nothing like the book.)  Meryl Streep is amazing.  And Amy Adams ain't bad either.  

After the movie Colleen said, "I heard Amy Adams is a Mormon."  

"And so was Lionel Richie, (before his wife smacked him around)," I said with a hardy har har.  

Then we got into a fist fight over it in the parking lot.

But that darn Colleen googled it, and tamnit, she was right. Bless her heart. Amy Adams was a Mormon until her parents divorced when she was eleven.   

And so was Jewel, until her parents divorced when she was eight. 

(I bet Colleen didn't know that!)

Anyway, MUCH MAHALO Mariko for making all the arrangements and for driving and for using handwritten directions instead of that skanky GPS.  

For a second you almost made me forget I was moving away!


26 comments:

Nutty Hamster Chick said...

First!!

Nutty Hamster Chick said...

OK, that hasn't happened for a long time, so I needed to revel in it.

I wonder if it is a sign that I am lucky and thusly things will go well with my IRS audit tomorrow morning. Yikes.

I had read that about Amy Adams as well. I loved her in Enchanted. Perhaps I should see that movie.

Glad you got to have a girls night. I need one of those.

Sandi said...

So tell me if Greek food is any good? You will never ever convince me that Mariko is not hoity toity. no way.
Girls nights are the BEST!!!

nevadanista said...

And don't forget Katherine Heigl - so was she. And Alice Cooper too, and Steve Martin... wait did his wife smack him around too?

April said...

Nothing like an evening of food porn to forget your running away from paradise and leaving behind Jack Johnson.

Mariko said...

I didn't forget. Not even once. Especially because we talked about it the whole time!
Except when we were talking about sex.
Ism.

I am so working on the hoity toity thing. If I become professionally hoity toity will you stay?
I'd like to do Indian food and an Indy movie as well as French food and a stupid movie.
You were totally way better groomed and dressed than me. I should get some of that tile scrub.

Mariko said...

ALICE COOPER?!
I LOVE ALICE COOPER!

I knew we had a vibe going.

Missy said...

Sounds like you had a great time. I am so jealous.

Missy

I am LoW said...

I love that you have Jason Castro on your music list. I love him.

Oh, and nice post. (as always)

Heather and Kyle said...

Hey deb, I am loving being a mom. Ethan is such a good baby. He sleeps good, we have to feed him formula cause I dont make much milk. Cant wait to see you guys

April said...

I've met Alice Cooper before. True story. I didn't get a picture tho. My camera was far away. He is really nice, and didn't have all of his makeup on pretending to be scary. He was just going fishing and wanted directions to the lake. I think I'm taller than him.

Barbaloot said...

Did you really use soft scrub? Please tell me it was a joke. I feel (if you're gonna live in Utah get used to in pronounced as "fill") like that would take all your skin off!

nevadanista said...

Well, hee hee hee, the Alice Cooper thing is only partially true - his family were members of a splintered off group. But hi father's name was Ether Moroni - the poor thing :D

And I'm just perpetuating the rumor about Steve Martin :)

No way, you hoity toity ladies were talking about sex whilst eating Greek food? Whoda thunk? :D

The Crash Test Dummy said...

Pat, how did you IRS audit go? I hope my blog really did bring you good luck. It's enchanted that way. Speaking of Enchanted, I LOVED that movie too. I should have known Amy Adams was a Mormon when I saw it.

Sandi, YES Greek food is VERY good! YUM-O. I'm still waiting for your wedding/shower/reunion report, btw.

Alice Cooper's dad was named Ether Moroni? LOL! No wonder the guy wears make up and acts scary. April I can't believe you saw him going fishing!!! HOW Cooool!! What does he look like without make-up. How funny he's shorter than you! Ain't that just the way with stars.

True story: I met Oprah at church up at Wildwood in Provo. I told this before so if you've heard it you can tune out now. She was with Stephen R. Covey. And she had no make up and hair. Not glam at all, but it was before she lost all the weight so she was still super sweet. She even smiled while my MIL talked her ear off. Bless her heart. Stedman was there too and he is way way way taller than me.

Was Katherine Heigl really a Mormon too? Did her parents get divorced too?

About the Greek girls night out. Yes, we did talk about sex. without the ism. We talked about race too, with the ism. But we didn't talk about sex until the ride home. Greek food and French food has a way of bringing out the best in you that way.

Barb, I exaggerated a bit on the soft scrub thing. ew.

Unknown said...

cool sounded like super fun! Enjoy your time here! I think you should play tourist so if people Utah ask if you've been there, you can say, yeah, I have. Instead of, no, I never had time since I was too busy working. that's what I say when someone asks me if I've been to (popular tourist spot).

Just a thought.

ANYWAY good luck with cleaning and packing!

MakingChanges said...

Am I so untrusting of people that I had to google Amy Adams to make sure you weren't pulling my leg, or my hair? Totally shocked, although Enchanted is one of my all-time faves!

Oh, and if you keep hanging with the hoity toity peeps you are going to be hoity toity, too, and then what are we going to do with you when you make it here to the desert?

Funny Farmer said...

Christina Aguilera's parents were married in the WAshington D.C. temple but divorced when she was seven - and it is unclear whether she was actually baptised.

Roseanne Barr attended LDS church and activities from age 6-16, but was never baptised because of a conflict with her jewish grandmother.

I luv luv luv GNO's. They never happen often enough it seems. I could do them every week...but the hub starts to get jealous if I have too much fun too often without him.

The Crash Test Dummy said...

Oh Funny Farmer, our hubs could be twins.

shhhhhh

How come I never got to leave the church when my parents divorced? And how come I'm not a famous pop star/actress?

hee hee J/K peeps! Sheesh!

The Songer said...

Ooooo Greek... Utah has some of the best Greek I've ever eaten.. particularly in Brick House / Highland area... now Im Ono for some Gyros and Baklava!

Guess who else is mormon?? Eliza Dusku... (I think thats how you spell her name) she was in my cousin ward growing up... but since Ive seen Bring it on and all the Buffy stuff... i have no idea if shes still a TBM!

So when are you really leaving? I hate goodbyes and usually dont like to say bye to people, thats why i and say things like c-ya later.... and end my sentences with...... I think it lets people think i might be still there.... It's not final like a period (.) So if i dont get over... dont hate me... i just rather look forward to seeing you in utah next spring!

have fun tomorrow.... I have a three and a 1/2 hours of class and much rather go out with you guys... but Im anal about my grades ... so im going to class...... have fun! .....

Welcome to the Garden of Egan said...

Too cute of a post! I think I need to go to Hawaii and meet your awesome homies, and maybe play on the beach.

TisforTonya said...

all these used to be mormons in show-biz... shoot, I missed my opportunity years ago on that one

glad you got a good send-off... and especially glad those gals are all not as hoity toity as they ought to be

Cranberryfries said...

My inlaws (whom I happen to be staying with right now) are really great friends with Jewels parents. In fact they used to babysit Jewel all the time. I met Jewels dad last year when he was passing through town. It's funny to hear my m-i-l talk about going to Education Week with J's mom. crazy crazy.

Looks like a fantastic girls night out. Glad you had some shower cleaner so you didnt send them all away screaming. ;)

When you come into town can we go play too?

Sandi said...

If I gave you a wedding, shower, reunion update, you would be asleep in 2.1. So if you have insomnia,(or restless leg syndrome in my case) let me know and I can help you out. When are you splitting??????????

April said...

Alice came into my store to ask for directions to a local lake to go fishing. He is really little and has a largish nose. He probably weighs only 110 pounds. He was very polite! He lives in AZ. He walks a little hunched over...not that I noticed or anything. :)

Bachman Turner Overdrive.....from the 70's. I hear that the Osmonds are mormon too? Is that true? hehehe!

The Crash Test Dummy said...

Iwa, I am so happy to hear about the good Greek food in Highland since I will be close to that area. So close I'm almost hot. I totally hate goodbyes and understand completely your approach. And your obsession with good grades. I don't like periods (.) either. Or commas (,) Especially while I'm trying to pack. UGH! Yes, I said it.

I am leaving on Sunday, ya'll. Sunday is my last day to breath in and breath out the HA of life. (Just saw the new PCC show).

Debbie I can't believe that your MIL hangs with Jewels mom. I am soooooo star struck right now. Can we be best friends?

April, NO WAY! The Osmonds are MORMON? whodathunk?

So girlz, guess who is getting married in St. George next Friday. Wolfgang!!!!!!!

I am so tempted to get up at 6 a.m. and drive to the temple and then do some lunch with my homies and then drive back. I know my hub's mouth will drop open at the thought, but he'll still be in Hawaii. HA. But I'll be driving my IL's car and they will FREAK Dance at the idea!

The Crash Test Dummy said...

Iwa, I don't know who Eliza is. Am I the only one?