Sunday, December 17, 2006

I Can Show You the World...

Friday night a friend and I went out to eat and to the ballet! The company that did the performance is a local Christian ballet company. They are fairly well known (worldwide) and have dancers from all over the world in their company. It is called Ballet Magnificat. The professional troupe is WONDERFUL and is headed up by Kathy Thibodeaux the only American to have won the International Ballet Competition silver medal. She's amazing...50 years old and still dancing beautifully! She is married to Keith Thibodeaux, who most of you will know as little Ricky on I Love Lucy! Anyway, the ballet was called A Christmas Dream and was set to the music of The Nutcracker. It was a beautiful presentation of our struggles with sin and how Jesus rescues us and welcomes us into His eternal kingdom. Beautiful! This picture is from a dance called Kingdom Kids. The girl in the green on the left is a little girl I used to take to ballet class...Go, Katie!!! NOW, on to the food.
Before the ballet we ate at a little Mediterranean restaurant called Aladdins. It was really good and gave me leftovers. If you're ever in the Jackson, MS area and want a local, "hold in the wall" restaurant, I recommend this place. They offer chicken, beef, lamb, and vegitarian fare. Vickie got the gyro plate. I haven't had lamb in forever and this was wonderful. Well flavored and tender.
I got the chicken lula. The waitress told me that it was ground chicken, with the spices ground into the meat, shaped into kabobs. Well, it wasn't exactly in a kabob shape. To me they looked like a fish filet. But the flavor was really good...nice spices. Both plates came with fresh hummus, salad, and rice. I'll definitely go back...I can even walk to it from my apartment!
Now, here's a meme that I picked up from Stacy at Hambones. It's not really food related but it's Christmas themed and is fun!

Holiday: Christmas or New Years? Christmas for sure! I've never really done anything on New Years. Usually I babysit; most of my friends now are either married or dating, so hanging out with them wouldn't be much fun. Hopefully I can cook something up!

Cookies: Sugar or Gingerbread? Sugar - I love the simplicity of it!
Decorations: Santa or Snowmen? Snowmen, in fact I just bought some $1 snowmen glasses at Kroger today!

Decorations: Reindeer or Elves? I guess I'd pick reindeer, but really neither.
Colors: Red or Green? Hmmm...I like both, but I guess green.
Colors: Gold or Silver? I really don't know, probably silver but I'm starting to like gold a little more now.

Tree Topper: Star or Angel? An angel. It's on my parents' tree. Mine has a gaudy looking something we got in Kyrgyzstan.

Stocking Stuffer: Fruit or Candy? Well, I've never gotten fruit in my stocking and I don't know if I'd want to because I eat that ALL the time. So, I guess I'd go with candy.

Tree: Real or Artificial? Artificial.
Cartoons: Charlie Brown or Rudolph? I don't know if I've actually seen either all the way through.
Movie: It’s a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Carol? I don't watch either of these but the preference would be It's a Wonderful Life.

Stocking Stuffer: Jewelry or Gift Card? If I was dating someone...jewelry. Alas, I am not, so I'll go with gift card.

Christmas List: Naughty or Nice? Niiiiice! Unless you start talking about microbiology.
Drink: Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Honestly, NEITHER
Holiday Ghost: Past, Present, or Future? I don't understand the question!
Vacation Spot: North Pole or Winter Wonderland? Winter Wonderland. I DREAM of a white Christmas.

Holiday Song: Jingle Bells or Silver Bells? Jingle Bells
Holiday Song: Silent Night or O’ Holy Night? O Holy Night!
More Fun: Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Both are so different. Christmas Eve we usually go to Christmas Eve service, which I love. And it is fully of cookies...um, hello! Christmas Day is fun, too! We spend it together just relaxing and celebrating the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ, who came to be the sacrifice for us!

Lights: Clear or Multi-Colored? I like both! My tree has white but colored is more homey to me.
Ornaments: Bulbs or Bows? Bulbs
Tree Decor: Ribbon, Popcorn, or Garland? None of these.
Gifts: Wrapping Paper or Gift Bags? I prefer wrapping paper.
Better To: Give or Receive? Okay, honestly they are both mucho fun, but I like giving and seeing people love the gift!

Okay, if you'd like to do this, go ahead. I'm not tagging anyone specific because I know how busy it is. But if you do this, let me know so I can check your answers out!

4 comments:

Stacy at Exceedingly Mundane said...

Oh wow, great post Claire! I have never seen Ballet Magnificat (I married a ballet-hating guy), but I used to go to the IBC a lot before I got married. I volunteered the year Kathy T. won her silver medal, it was wonderful!

OK, email me and tell me where this restaurant is! We have a great Greek place about 1/4 a mile from our house and I love going there. This one sounds good too!

So glad you did the meme and played along, I loved reading your answers. I must look for the snowmen glasses at Kroger. I went TWICE on Friday and never saw any glasses!! Oh, and I found whole wheat pastry flour at the Kroger on Lakeland, by the way, if you're looking for any :)

Merry Christmas!

The Cookbook Junkie said...

Yeah! I can post on beta blogs again!

I wasn't expected to be able to so I don't know what to say LOL.

Unknown said...

Stacy - You should go some time. It's not like the prim and proper "the ballet" that he's thinking of. It truly is worship and has their training group and children's classes involved.

Check out the glasses...I LOVE them! I will definitely be checking out for the flour at Lakeland.

Paula - I'm glad you're back and I'm sure that your comment language will return to you! :-)

gail@more than a song said...

"shimmering, shining, splendid.....a whole new world"
From Aladdin I think, if you were going for lyrics that is!
Beautiful picture and the food looks good too!
I think Stacy got whole wheat pastry flour for me too. I hope you're enjoying your break.