Nelsonville Music Festival 2018

Nelsonville Music Festival 2018!! Summer, Yumi and I were a posse this year. We started things off Thursday afternoon with RADATTACK on the Porch Stage.



They were super fun!



Then we headed to the Main Stage for Sunflower Bean.






Beer Garden at sunset!



Blueprint at the Porch Stage.



Summer!



The Deringers!



Friday afternoon, we headed back out to catch Bedouine at the Boxcar Stage.



Yumi!



Baby Jasper!



Jasper and Yumi!



Riley, Vana and Jasper.



Over to the Main Stage for Nick Waterhouse.



Yumi and Missy!



Suzie and Valerie!



Erick and Missy!



Yumi and me!



Summer and Jeremy!



Dancing to Combo Chimbita.






To the Main Stage for The Decemberists!



Suzie and Summer!



Glowing.



Lead singer Colin Meloy wasn't feeling well, and by the time they got to the grand finale, the Mariner's Revenge, he asked if anyone in the audience would be able to hop up and sing for him. This guy Dan volunteered, and saved the day!



Hero!



It was pretty epic.



Somebody posted a video of it on YouTube.



Giant whale!















Then, it was Saturday! Yang and Summer.






Look, it's Dan Jones!



Kevin Morby on the Main Stage.



Riley and Valerie!



Kristi and Yumi!



Mmm, Kaiser's.



ALVVAYS.



Me and Lil' Kate!



There was a new feature at NMF this year, the skate ramp stage!! The D-Rays played a set on the skate ramp as the skaters did their thing. This was definitely one of the highlights of the festival for me. So fun!!








Go, Moss!












Anne and Suz!



Mer, Anne and me!



Go, Craig!



Bubbles!



Tank and the Bangas. This band was an unexpected delight!



So bizarre and fun.



Giant pizza raft! I love NMF.






That's when we noticed Summer's mom, Debi, was right up front! So Summer surprised her.



Bill and Debi!



George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic. A national treasure!



A giant octopus made of balloons was marched through the crowd. It was pretty sweet!















Good night, NMF!



Sunday was the last day. Sadness!! We started out with River Whyless at the Main Stage.






Vana and Jasper!



Yumi, Mer and Pete!



Ice cream!



Yumi and me!



Honey for the Heart parade!






Yumi and Ashley!



Counterfeit Madison, back again from last year!



Yumi and me in the hot hot heat!



Counterfeit Madison is always a good show!



Look, it's Summer and Dan, The Decemberists hero!



The tUnE-yArDs.



That was our last show at the Porch Stage. Bye bye, Porch Stage!



Lori, Jude and Rik!



The final act of the festival, Ani DiFranco.



Our final photo of the fest! With Debbie! Til next year, NMF. We love you!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! We gathered at Mer, Pete, and Kate's house. We relaxed on the porch and enjoyed coconut mojitos. My only pic of Mom! Peeking out from behind her mojito.



Salad and grilled asparagus!



Chicken salad wraps.



And little chocolate tarts! Dad has been on a low-carb diet, and it's been an excellent challenge to come up with satisfying and delicious menus. This one was over the top! Happy Mother's Day, mom!

Happy birthday, Kayla and Derrick!

We celebrated Kayla and Derrick's birthdays with a pizza party at Stroud's Run! The weather was perfect, and we had a wonderful time relaxing by the lake. And of course, we got to enjoy one of Jon's famous chocolate cakes!



Ben and Suzie! One shoe on, one shoe off.

Happy Birthday, Dennis!

It's Dennis's birthday! Moss and Kristin hosted a burrito feast at their house. I made the famous Smitten Kitchen chocolate peanut butter cake.



Chips and guac!



Kristin and Jasper!






Birthday boy!



Look who rolled in!



Get that man a margarita!



Kayla and Derrick!



Vana, Kayla and Derrick.



Me and Ben!



Beards!



Burrito bar!



Awwww yeah!



Look at that burrito rainbow! They were delicious.



Kristin and Moss were able to coax a bunch of smiles out of Jasper.



Awwww, sweet boy.



Derrick relaxing in the hammock by the fire.



Accordion tunes!



Ben and Dennis!



The police AND the firemen showed up! EEK! Someone called and complained about our fire. We had to put it out. Boo!



Birthday cake time! I forgot birthday candles, so Dennis had to blow out the citronella.






Make a wish!



Not a great photo, but this cake was AMAZING. It was so moist and chocolatey.



Jasper was being so cute on his way out that he gathered a crowd. He was cooing and cawing and generally making loud adorable baby sounds.



Little baby showoff!



Happy birthday, Dennis! We hope you have a great year!

Clean Cooking Club

Nancy hosted cooking club this month, and the chefs were Yumi, Emily and Nancy. The theme was clean -- a spring cleaning of our bodies in honor of Spring, featuring healthy and nutritious ingredients. Emily started us off with a cocktail! This gorgeous concoction had ginger-infused palm sugar syrup, vodka, lime juice, turmeric tincture and soda water. CHEERS!



Yumi made steamed artichokes with an herb aioli dip.



I love artichokes so much. These were divine!



Nancy made a chilled grapefruit and fennel soup that was simply grapefruit segments and juice, sauteed fennel, water, and fresh dill. So simple! It was so refreshing and delicious.



Yumi made a delicious kale and farro salad with lemon tahini dressing. With apples, onion, pistachios and avocado. This was like a carnival of flavors and textures! So yummy.



Bowl of soup! Nancy's sister Valaree made these napkins, so it was sort of like she was dining with us!



My nail polish was the exact color as the design!



Nancy also made roasted salmon...



...served with a warm grapefruit shallot sauce with honey and cayenne.



Mmm! Eating clean has never tasted so good!



Nancy made us each a little jar of sugar scrub with sugar, coconut oil, lemon juice and zest, honey, and lemon essential oil. They smell AMAZING. I can't wait to try mine!



For dessert, Emily made GORGEOUS smoothie bowls. Blueberries, blackberries, cherries, banana, almond milk and almond butter, topped with star fruit, berries, chia seeds, redbuds and violets.



They tasted as beautiful as they looked!



What a delicious evening. And we all feel so clean!