The Salads

Some of you asked for the recipes; I'm happy to give out recipes. I just don't think much of what we do in the kitchen is a secret or should be a secret. If I find a recipe or make a recipe that I like, a little bell goes off in my heart every time you use it and the people in your life like it. When I menu for lunch, I usually go with salads. And when the entrees are salads, I go with a chicken, a vegetable and a fruit. They provide a nice range of choice for people and usually provide a nice range of color on the table, too. For this event, I used chicken, tomatoes and apples. The apple salad here is a curve but it is a recipe that I just love and is highly unique. Goes with almost anything and keeps nicely in the refrigerator afterward. The tomato salad is always a big hit and evaporates. Just can't make enough of those killer tomatoes. And the chicken salad is a signature dish here at Bellemaison. I can make it with the flu, in my sleep, with jet lag, under any circumstance and it always pleases and comforts everyone in the house.

Lemon Waldorf Salad
from The Junior League of Louisville CORDONBLUEGRASS


I am quite select about the apples, making certain they are crunchy and crisp and not mushy as some late winter apples can be. Of course, you must use Washington State apples. I also have been know to grill chicken and hot off the grill, chop it up and fold it in to this salad. mmmmm. mmmmm.


1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 T sugar
1 T milk
1 tsp grated lemon rind
3 Granny Smith or tart apples
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup toasted broken pecans

2 T lemon juice

1/2 pound seedless grapes


Stir together mayonnaise, sugar, milk and lemon rind.
Cover and chill.
Peel, core and chop apples.
Toss together apples, celery, pecans, lemon juice, and grapes.
Cover and chill.
Just before serving, toss dressing and fruit together.


Serves 6-8.

Killer Tomatoes

from the Junior League of Memphis HEART AND SOUL

I usually serve this as a salad that makes a nice accompaniment for chicken or beef and a nice complement for fruit. I also prepare angel hair pasta, then season, oil and chill the pasta and serve the tomatoes over the top, as a cold entree. Pass the bowl of grated reggiano and Bob's your uncle .

5 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
6 slices lean bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1/3 cup snipped fresh basil
2 T red wine vinegar
2 t sugar
1/2 t dry mustard
1 sm clove garlic, minced
s & p to taste
4 T extra virgin olive oil
fresh basil springs

In a non-reactive bowl, toss together tomatoes, bacon and basil.
In another bowl, combine vinegar, sugar dry mustard, garlic, salt and pepper.
Add olive oil in a steady stream, whisking until blended.
Pour dressing over tomato mixture.
Toss lightly.
Garnish with additional fresh basil spring.
Serves 6 for salad.

The Chicken Salad of Bellemaison

I have made this salad for any and every occasion or time people have been at my house in the last 20 years. I take the time to make my own croutons which really amps up the result. I also do a hot Caesar version of this that's quite tasty. This is comfort food of the highest order.

2 C cooked, diced chicken

2 C diced celery

2 C croutons

1 C mayonnaise

1/2 C slivered almonds

2 T fresh lemon juice

2 t dehydrated onion

1/2 t salt

1/2 C sharp cheddar cheese

Heat over to 450 degrees.

Mix all ingredients but 1 cup croutons and cheese.

Heat 10 minutes.

Top with cheese and rest of croutons and heat until melted.

Bellemaison Croutons

6 plain bagels

1/2 c butter

garlic powder

salt and pepper

Carefully diced bagels into crouton-size amounts and arrange on jelly roll pan.

Sprinkle with garlic powder.

Season with salt and pepper.

Drizzle with butter.

Bake in 400 degree oven for 8 minutes, then remove from oven and turn. Bake for 3 more minutes. Remove from oven and pour into cool dish.

JBelle

Bellemaison

The 'Kan EWA

omigod. My house was absolutely trashed.

That's how I knew everybody had a good time. For people like me, who tend to be a little picky about details, absolute chaos and bedlam is vital to every foremost effort. When I clean my house, first I create an even bigger mess than I started with; I create an absolute lollapalooza of a mess, then I put it all back together in the precise order that pleases and comforts me. So in getting ready for this party for forty people whom I do not know, save for the honored and the honored future in-laws, nothing else would do but to pull all the closets apart and strew the contents up and down the halls, to polish every piece of silver I own, to carefully dust and wash the glass of every piece of art I own, then level each, and to rethink every single flower pot, vase and floral receptacle in this house and on the front porch. No small order, all of that. But it makes me happy. So it was with this party. It was a race to the finish, vanquishing winter with its dark and dust, dullness and dreary and cold, cold, stillness.

And when I was done, the house at Bellemaison became spring with flowers, colors, aromas and light in the sunny afternoon air. I looked around when the party was at a high pitch and saw the furniture and floors littered with silver punch cups, toilet paper, ribbons, handbags and smiles, smiles, smiles, and I was ever happier. You have to make a real mess to get a real result. So it was all worth it because the O'Doherty Girls laughed and laughed, kept me laughing and left here laughing still, as they scampered down the driveway into the spring evening. It was my pleasure to please and serve them and the bridal shower left me content and grateful for such darling, honest people in my life.

Breanne is a lithesome Goddess. She is generous, beautiful and has flawless manners. Her two sisters are older and younger versions of her and the three of them would be quite intimidating in their beauty and grace, if they were not such compassionate, caring people. Breanne came to me in a moment of poise and care and said JBelle, there's a squirrel on the front porch eating the cake. I SHRIEKED, with absolutely no poise, at that damn razorback who has eaten probably about 2000 Apricot Beauty tulip bulbs over the last four years, ran out to the front porch to my luscious blueandwhite dottedswiss cake on my darling white wrought iron tea cart, all set up up for tea. The little porker wasn't even happy with a swipe on the corner. His grubby footprints led to the center of the cake, where he dug a divot of blue butter cream frosting, narrowly missing the B. He disappeared by the time I got there, clearly holding the higher IQ in the battle of wits that is him and me. I was horrified about serving guests cake with rodent germs but Breanne was worried about me and my parade, hoping the squirrel hadn't sent too much rain. And so in the end, that's what makes her gorgeous: her heart. It's ginormous.

It was a afternoon of girlfriends--love, care and laughter--in a springtime that you only get in the NorthLand. Viva la pedicures. Viva la wedding and bridesmaid dresses. Viva la dishes and linen. Viva la recipes. Viva la plans. Hopes. All of it. Viva.la.all.of.it.


JBelle
Bellemaison
The 'Kan EWA

Party #1: Shamus played football with The Christ Child and dated the lovely Breanne, who went to the protestant, do they call it public? high school. They graduated and he went to Gonzaga, she to the U. Soon she transferred back to Gonzaga and we came to believe what they knew and believed: this was forever. And now, they marry at St. Al's in a few weeks. We are all so very excited.

Bellemaison will host a bridal shower for Breanne this weekend, using the theme "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue." The Chows have been absolutely knocking themselves out making Breanne a scrapbook with that theme and thanks to the generous donation of old pictures from The Little One, one of those Catholic School Mothers who co-mothered Shamus and Breanne through Catholic grade school, we have a treasure trove of shots that will amaze and delight the bride to be.

The wedding colors are blue and brown and so we are weaving all hues of blue through the house with touches of brown here and there. The flowers in the dining room will be white hydrangeas and ferns with deep blue muscari and croci; blue hydrangeas and hyacinths and tulips in a pussy willow nest in the living room with paperwhites at the punch bowl in the breakfast room. Got some really good clear blue plates at Freddy's for $2.99 apiece and will use the white appliqued table cloth with the tiny, tiny stitches over blue flowers and birds. The Russians are coming for the annual springtime polish of the silver, so we should be all Gorhamed up around here. Least for another year.

We plan to divide the party into six groups and give each group six rolls of toilet paper, paper clips, scotch tape and a stapler and direct them to appoint a model and fashion a wedding dress. Adequately fueled by the lemonade and vodka punch, the results will be a clear indicator of spring, something that's lacking here in the PNW at this date.

And the menu. The menu will fall back on some of the traditional favorites here at Bellemaison. The back of the house is busy with the first party of the year as is the front of the house so we will use some tried and true recipes that don't challenge us and that people love; on this day, the girls at Party #1 will let their nutrition go for an afternoon, in celebration of love and spring and all that is hopeful. We can't wait! Viva la fat, salt and sugar!

Bridal Shower Menu

Passion Fruit Iced Tea
Vodka Lemonade Punch

Sour Cream Banana Bread
Orange Shortbread

Strawberries with sweet cream cheese
Savory Cheesecake
Dill and Cayenne Dip with vegetables

Lemon Waldorf Salad
Hot Chicken Salad
Tomato Salad

Tuxedo Cake
Iced Vietnamese Coffee
Cappucino

Ain't love grand?

JBelle
Bellemaison
The 'Kan EWA

I met Benedict the way many people meet the Holy Father: in Rome, just yards outside his private apartment in Vaticano. It was a gorgeous Wednesday morning and hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world had come for the Wednesday morning general audience in St. Peter's Square. I was there with PoleDancer PhD, who had somehow seduced me into taking her to Rome and showing her around, because...she had never been there. Truth is, Pole Dancer PhD has never been anywhere without her husband, let alone out of the country by herself. And she was passionate about seeing Thuh Pope! What is it about Protestants and the Pope? Have they all forgotten they came through the Lutherans to be where they are today? Giving $25 to the cancer fund annually and attending Easter and Christmas church services as a cultural rite of holiday? Is Thuh Pope! another part of that cultural experience? "I went to Rome and saw Thuh Pope!" So there we were, she and I, at a general audience of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.

He was formerly known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. When he became the successor of JP2, I was a tiny bit daunted and dismayed because of his extremely conservative, rigid politics. I know these Germans well. And as always, you can never separate the politics from the theology. Which follows which? But I was reassured by Monsignor Ribble himself that Ratzinger was a good man; that he was as people said, wicked smaht, and that his politics followed his theology and not vice versa. Besides, at his age, he had a brief window of leadership. I also realized that I really did believe that Ratzinger became Benedict at the invitation of Our Lord; that he was the successor of Peter by the hand of divine invitation. So Benedict is was. And is. I am a Catholic by choice and am blessed, not burdened, by church and the work of our Church.

Having done this general audience thing several times over, I knew what we needed to do to get to the best seats. I checked handbags and outfits before we left the hotel, in an effort to speed us through security. We left the hotel and walked into the Vatican past Castel Sant'Angelo, and wounded our way though the queues to the final security checkpoint, where we sailed through. I dashed up the side aisle and secured seats in the second row of the second section. Roughly, second row balcony right, for those theatre goers in the crowd. So we settled in to wait for the events of the day to begin.

A general audience at the Vatican is one of the most joyful things you'll ever do. Many of the people there have saved their money for years and years to be there, so they are gleeful and giddy as their dreams come true. People wear their natives costumes and nuns still looks like nuns in Rome, so there is much to see and hear, as the languages of the entire world swirl in and around your head, confounding and delighting you simultaneously. This is all staged in the set of St. Peter's Basilica, whose architectural splendor is hardly rivaled anywhere. It is a sublime experience, not duplicated in Christendom or in the other secular and religious capitals of the world. And if it's a beautiful day in Rome....

A roar went up from the crowd and the chants of "Il Papa!" began. In my previous experience, the Popemobile had come up a center aisle to the main altar set up on the steps of the basilica. I was confused by the chants of the crowd as to where the action was to begin, much as you aren't completely clear where a prize fighter will enter the arena to make his way to the ring. I scanned the throngs of people furiously, still more confused and getting irritated because I couldn't see Benedict's car and the security team in place. The crowd now thundered with a frenzy that made me a tiny bit panicky. I shrugged my shoulders in frustration and looked up and Benedict was at my elbow. He had entered on our side, right on our aisle. The people in the first row kissed his hand and bowed their head for a blessing and I stood there incredulously as he looked straight into my eyes, held them and smiled deeply, with an intensity and knowledge I still cannot describe to this day. I was literally struck down. Completely overcome, my eyes filled with tears and I had to sit down as the people and the Pole Dancer around me jumped and waved and photoed the Holy Father, Pope Benedict. I sat in my chair as the peopled towered over and about me, the energy of that one moment of Benedict's presence still clearly with me. After several more moments, I was able to join the crowd again, slowly rising to cheer in joy and jubilation of the moment and in adoration of our leader here on earth.

After the service began, I thought about what had just happened. The fact is, I was awestruck, thunderstruck, gob-smacked. I decided it was the surprise factor and it was such a close encounter at that, with the people in the first row all genuflecting, I had his undivided attention for a few seconds. I was just caught up by the wave and rolled into the surf, with the heat of the day and the swarms of people doing their part to overwhelm me as well. And I couldn't believe I never got a picture! He was right there and I couldn't get the shot off. Actually, I had dropped the camera. Anyway.

The Pole Dancer soon became fidgety and restless as the Holy Father greeted the crowd seven different times, in seven different languages. Already the novelty had worn off for her, but I am always blessed and humbled to be with people from my church that I have not met and loved every minute of the two hours we spent together on that day in June.

After the final blessing, Benedict came back down the center aisle in his car with his security team flanking him and to my utter surprise, AGAIN, his car turned and he came right in front of us. But this time I was ready; I got the camera focused and ready to go and has he approached us, once again, he looked deeply into my eyes and smiled, the smile of a person who has known me for thousands of years. My jaw dropped and an enormous electrical charge coursed through my body, knocking me off my feet, sending me back to my chair with a heavy thump and a clatter as my camera hit the bricks again. His car turned into the final exit and He turned and waved to the Pole Dancer and me. I feebly waved back, this time able to crack a little smile as I sprawled on my chair, completely weak with no physical capability whatsoever.

And then I knew, for sure, what had happened. And I knew what Paul has said is all true. Because on that day in June in Italy, the Holy Spirit paid me a visit, not once but twice, to remind me that not only was I wrong about Benedict but also that I don't have the wisdom of the ages. I don't have all the answers and I can't begin to think my way through all the answers and the variables that factor into the answers. I am not as smart as I would like to think, no matter what my accomplishments and experiences on this earth have been. The Holy spirit had me know that It works in ways known only to Itself but if I have faith, if I keep faith, the path shall become clear and wisdom will light itself, much as a beautiful painting on a wall.

So Benedict is so very special to me. Many, many people claim JP2 was their Pope. He was the only Pope I ever knew so I was happy to throw in on that one. Until that day in Rome, when the Holy Spirit spoke through Benedict, with a message of love and blessing that lives with me to this very moment. Love and blessings to you and all that read this. Keep the faith. Stay brave. Our time is at hand.

JBelle
Bellemaison
The 'Kan EWA

So The Bitch was back on the Palouse last night and she destroyed the place. Although it was a long, slow wind up, Elton John put on the show that had 12,000 mothers and kids dancing and singing together in an euphoric springtime rite of celebration. He is The Lord of arrangement, composition and performance. His left hand is like movable granite and his right hand is a gossamer jackhammer up and down the keyboard of the ten foot ebony Yamaha that is the co-star in his current road show that started in Dubai and will end July 13 in Weybridge UK.

Mike the Bike Stud was thrilled when Sir Elton opened with 'Funeral of a Friend'; Mike has seen EJ' show 8 times but never seen him do 'Funeral', his all-time favorite. And although the Palouse itself did a mighty rendition of its annual 'Springtime' yesterday, complete with delicious and sensual sunshine accompanied by sweet, soft air wafting in from the wheat fields, when the lights went down promptly at 8 pm at Beasley Coliseum and Sir Elton advanced the stage in embroidered tails, sat down at his piano and cranked right into 'Funeral', I knew this was why we had come to the Palouse on this day and that this was the show we had come to see.

The band is second to none. First with the legendary Nigel Olsson playing drums, can the night be anything less than a fulfillment of prophecy? Davey Johnstone IS Davey Johnstone on lead guitar. He can follow the Gossamer Jackhammer like he' s a dragonfly in a head set, darting in, out, over, under the lines and progressions; diving through the music, coming back up for air in a big spark, and then disappearing in a wisp of smoke. In a word, his music is thrilling. If for nothing else, Davey Johnstone is awesome because he looks like a heroin addict, a blond warrior and veteran of things best left unspoken. He looks like a bad, bad boy as only guitar gods can and should be. And I hear he's Scottish. The guy is the complete package.

The tech is all light and sound. Forty or so cams with spots from 3 points out. It's very eighties, but updated for grace and elegance. The tech perfectly, beautifully frames the essence of the evening: music. There's nothing particularly visual about this show, just wonderful, wonderful music emanating from a bright, colorful spot that's away, beaming in to you in perfect clarity, as you sit in complete darkness. It's a musical light and dark thing. Just killer.

So as I sat in the darkness with all the other sons and daughters of Washington State and let this music enter me, I could feel the decay and fatigue being separated and excised from my body, where its treachery has been lurking and slyly reproducing. And when we walked to the car under the starry, dark, midnight skies, I felt year and years and years, and pounds, lighter. And in the wonderful way that transformation is, I was smaller but bigger.


JBelle
Bellemaison
The 'Kan EWA

You Belong in 1986

Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

What Year Do You Belong In?

Oh my! Dare ya.....


JBelle
Bellemaison
The 'Kan EWA

[somewhere i have never travelled]

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond
any experience,your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously) her first rose

or if your wish be to close me,i and
my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility: whose texture
compels me with the color of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain, has such small hands

JBelle
Bellemaison
The 'Kan EWA

So I find myself in a place where I never dreamed of but I place where I always have always worked to be: my youngest child is graduating from college soon. My one ambition in life has always been the education on my children. I wanted it to be value-driven, thoughtful, disciplined, yet free from the "tyranny of precedent" as Clara Barton would have it. Their education has always been at the forefront of my ambition and of the activities and past times of our family.

As it turns out, I have raised one child whose politics are liberal, one child whose politics are conservative, one child who hasn't realized yet that he can vote and that people do vote. I've raised three children who are solid, bona fide, no matter whose definition you use, good cooks. One who likes to travel, two who like to be at home. I have three children, each with well developed senses of humor. One of my children will always be Best Dressed in any situation; two who will be doing what they can to keep up. uh oh. I bet I have ruffled some feathers with that one. All right. How about this? I have two children who drive expensive, fast cars that are head turner cars and one child who doesn't own a car.

My point is that they all act as their own agent, yet hold each other and me, quite dearly. They are all educated and learned. My work is done. Which is pretty darn scary for me, as I have to find a new job. And I dunno what exactly appeals to me better than showing my kids around and pointing out the pitfalls as we walk.

Sooooooo. Only one thing to do. Partaaaay. So partaay we will; celebrate our successes and anticipate our futures. One gig at a time. Let's do it.


JBelle
Bellemaison
The 'Kan EWA

This is an Air Force recipe that I have used forever. It is fabulous. And fabulous to have in the refrigerator for a quick sip. I put big olives, celery, pickled spicy asparagus, and/or pickled spicy beans in a tall glass, fill to half-glass with ice, then pour in the Bloody Mary. yeah baby.

Dick's Bloody Marys

1 can V-8

2 lemons, squeezed hard for juice

4 drops Tabasco

2 dozen shakes celery salt

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce


Combine all ingredients into half-gallon bottle. Fill to the top with vodka. Shake well. Refrigerate.

JBelle
Bellemaison
The 'Kan EWA

You have asked for it, waited for it, prayed about it and now here it is. The famous brunch recipe of Bellemaison, served with fruit salad and little tiny cinnamon rolls washed down with Dick's Bloody Marys:

HOLA MEMPHIS!
from the Junior League of Memphis 'Heart and Soul'

6 - 6-inch tortillas

1 1/2 pounds lean mild sausage

1 c chopped onion

1 minced clove garlic

1 tsp crushed dried oregano

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground red pepper

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

8 eggs

2 1/2 cups milk

1 4-oz can diced mild green chilis, drained

1 c dairy sour cream

two tomatoes, chopped small
two avocados, chopped chunky
1 can olives, sliced
large wedge iceburg lettuce, sliced fine
two bunches green onions, chopped chunky
salsa

Spray 13 x 9 baking pan and line with tortillas, cut to fit.

Using a fry pan, cook sausage, onion and garlic over medium heat; drain. Stir in oregano, cumin, red pepper and salt. Spoon sausage mixture into tortilla-lined dish. Sprinkle with cheese.

Preheat over to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat eggs and milk until well blended. Stir in green chili pepper. Pour egg mixture over sausage and cheese.

Bake about 45 minutes or until knife inserted near corner comes out clean. Let rest 5 minutes. Frost with sour cream.

Cut in pan and pass bowls of tomatoes, avocados, olive, lettuce, onions, and salsa.

Make 8 servings.



JBelle
Bellemaison
THe Kan 'EWA

I like 'you of my heart, send me a little word'. I would like to think that if I was being my very best self, I could be this. Call it all joy.

it may not always be so; and i say

it may not always be so;and i say
that if your lips,which i have loved,should touch
another's,and your dear strong fingers clutch
his heart,as mine in time not far away;
if on another's face your sweet hair lay
in such a silence as i know,or such
great writhing words as,uttering overmuch,
stand helplessly before the spirit at bay;

if this should be,i say if this should be-
you of my heart,send me a little word;
that i may go unto him,and take his hands,
saying,Accept all happiness from me.
Then shall i turn my face,and hear one bird
sing terribly afar in the lost lands.
                          -- ee cummings

JBelle
Bellemaison
The 'Kan EWA

Man. You gotta go with the classics. Wait! You knew this was coming! It's National Poetry Month! This for all my unhappy friends, with, yes, LOVE:


you shall above all things be glad and young

   you shall above all things be glad and young
  For if you're young,whatever life you wear


  it will become you;and if you are glad
  whatever's living will yourself become.
  Girlboys may nothing more than boygirls need:
  i can entirely her only love


  whose any mystery makes every man's
  flesh put space on;and his mind take off time


  that you should ever think,may god forbid
  and (in his mercy) your true lover spare:
  for that way knowledge lies,the foetal grave
  called progress,and negation's dead undoom.


  I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
  than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
                                   --e.e. cummings


JBelle
Bellemaison
The 'Kan EWA

I bet I didn't mention Las Vegas. That's okay, I guess, as LV is almost timeless these days. Where else can you go for a super-hit of fun, elegance and beauty, with now, surprise!, great restaurants? LV. Who knew?

We went for a long weekend in February and ran up and down the strip, squandering money at the roulette wheel, the pai gow tables and the Hermes and Chanel stores. It's a fabulous weekend! The people from Southern California tear around, all greased and cinched up, and make a terrific spectacle for the international tourists, who at this time, are about 50 per cent of the take in LV. Gotta love that puny dollar. Restaurants are the single biggest trend of the new millennium in new LV. In the old millennium, LV food was second to none in it malevolence. It's a new day and a new deal and you can now go to LV on restaurant treks. There are that many and they are that good. Bouchon delivers everything it promises. Emeril's for Cajun food was weak but it does remain a lovely restaurant, steeped in immaculate restaurant technique of impeccable service and flawless food. Just no heart and soul. Maybe true to form for an LV Emeril's? The Palmat the Forum Shops is fabulous for steak. They do meat and all that meat needs with a touch that is sumptuous and soothing. Best all time steakhouse. And finally, Italian at Bertolini's at the Forum Shops by the fountain still is one of the best, lovely dinners in town. We were there on election night in 2000 when President Bush ran against Al Gore. We sat down and ordered wine and antipasti and when they brought it, they said things were too close to call. Then when they brought the funghi e pasta, they said VP Gore won. When they brought the tiramisu, they were then saying, Wait a minute! Come to think of it, I am going to book a room at Caesar's for Election Night 2008 and relive the moment. And celebrate.

Saw The Divine Miss M on the 3rd night of her new show. She looks fabulous. She is singing fabulous. Her set and tech is phenomenal. She mentioned the tech budget figure and it escapes me at the moment, but my jaw did drop at the mention. And I was happy for her. What a buzz to perform in that theatre with a stupendous production budget at this point in your career. She was wickedly and profanely funny. Her gift shop is chock full of cute and wonderful things. It's all so, so good. Saw 'Love' with Cirque du Soleil. Hauntingly gorgeous. It explores the backstories of the songs and the childhoods of the Fab Four. Alls I gotta say is that the Cirque must have 6 or 8 clinical psychologists on staff; how else could they climb into your head and heart so fast and go so deep? Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Beautiful.

Oh, yeah. Speaking of which, then there's the Bellagio. When is it that you go to that place and they aren't at the top of their game? Wynn, Schmynn. The Bellagio is a sensory feast and a true place to promenade when in LV much as one promenades on the Champs d'Elysee when in Paris. And everyone goes there, at least to look around. It is a teeming mass of a broad spectrum of international humanity. My favorite Bellagio delight is breakfast in the breakfast room. Five Star Food, which with scrambled eggs give you new appreciation and respect, Five Star Restaurantmanship, Five Star Design. But another emerging favorite came up this trip: on Sunday morning I bought a NYT and wandered down the hall to the chairs set in the windows outside the bathroom of the convention center. Sat in the sun, sipped coffee, read the paper and watched people. Yuuuum.

How can you not love LV? It' s both a definition and a reality in and of its own.

JBelle

Bellemaison

The 'Kan EWA