Vegetation and the Sugar Plum Fairies

I have been a blissful lump this weekend. The most strenuous thing I've done (in fact the only time I've left the apartment) was walking down to the city center on Friday to check out the lighting of the Christmas tree. It was pretty intense you couldn't move there were so many people, I honestly hadn't realized that there *were* that many people in Dundee.

But I'm getting out of order. I justified this weekend of of absolutely nothing, after my vow of having an adventure every week, by having a girls night out on Thursday. My girl flatmates Kristine, Kaia, Sarah and our upstairs neighbors Robin and Danika and I went out for Mexican and The Nutcracker.

Girls night out.

Now let me just pause and explain Mexican in Scotland, I suppose I should cut them some slack because they are physically ridiculously far from the country of origin, and we did actually have a great meal even if it wasn't quite Mexican. So first of all Tortilla chips of the non Dorito variety DO NOT EXIST in Scotland (this is something I'm willing to hold against an entire country....DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW LONG IT'S BEEN SINCE I'VE HAD NACHOS!) so there were no chips&salsa free or otherwise. Sarah even mentioned that someone had warned her not to order it because she was liable to get a plate of fries with a side of salsa. Because this is one instance where it would be sacrilegious to conceded to the vernacular and use "crisps" in place of "chips". They also don't understand the proper way to serve a margarita but as it still tasted like a margarita I won't complain.

So there were a few pre-entre hiccups but we were all laughing and having a good time so no harm no foul. While we were in the process of ordering Danika and i decided that we were absolutly craving some good, spicy, brown, sauce engorged Mexican rice. So the two of us and Robin ordered it as a side with our fajitas (well Robin got a weird taco). Our fajitas come and the amount of guacamole and salsa served with it is deplorable and the salsa didn't live up to it's definition other than being vaguely sauce-like. But there was plenty of cheese and taco sauce so I made due. I would like to take this moment to mention that there was a strange off white blob in the middle of the sauce tray that no one could identify by sight.  Danika looked at me and I bravely stuck my fork in it. I was expecting the give of a slightly off-color sour cream. This was hard, or about the consistency of real butter, I stuck it in my mouth and guess what it was?

Seriously Scotland!? Why, in the name of all that is good and holy, would I want to put freaking butter on my Fajita? It's possibly the only instance in which butter is NOT appropriate (except possibly when Mom grabs the whole tub of margarine and starts dipping any available cracker in it...'cause thats just wrong).

So after the butter is discovered, I start putting together my first wrap with admittedly spectacular chicken. The waitress is wandering over with bowls of what mush be our rice and I pause a moment so I can add rice-y deliciousness to my  creation.

She sets down three bowls of white rice with peas.

You can even see the mound of butter

I drench it in taco sauce so it at least *goes* with the rest of my meal and soldier on. It actually is quite delicious and the company is great. I would go back and just not order the rice. It doesn't hurt that I've been in Guacamole withdrawals and I managed to at least get a taste of my fix.

And on to the show.

Caird Hall was not exactly what I was expecting on the inside. It is a huge columned building exactly in the center of town that I originally mistook for a court house. It's beautiful and imposing and all the thing a place where you are about to witness a ballet beloved around the world aught to be. Except once you got in to take your seat, although the plaster molding was spectacular, the stage was tiny and the seating made you feel like you were in a high school gym with fold-up chairs  set up in rows (possibly not that bad but that was the image that comes to mind). All the shows I've been to previously have been at the Dundee Rep theater which I think skirts the line well between modern architecture and the intimacy of Victorian theaters.

So I was mildly disappointed and the first Act of the nutcracker is always boring. I mean would it have killed them to throw in a couple lines of dialog rather than forcing the poor dancers into stilted choreography meant to convey the story of a Christmas party and sibling rivalry. I honestly think they always just try too hard to convey a story that everyone already knows anyway. But after the interval and we get in to Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker suite" it's glorious. I had my first "wow it's really almost Christmas moment of the year." I Love the second act it's so easy to get caught up int he candy coated set, exotic costumes and familiar music not to mention the actual dances and dancers.

This picture makes the hall look decent (it wasn't, Kaia is just a good photographer)

I was totally in the Christmas spirit when we left. And I youtubed "Fantasia" when I got home because I had been matching up the music to the animation in the back of my mind all the way through the Suite. Dancing mushrooms and radishes are always a good way to end the night.

Then I spent the rest of the weekend watching Battlestar Galactica, Big Bang Theory and eating Grilled Cheeses