His name is Duy and he is one of a kind. Someday I may chronicle the story of how a country girl from Southeast Oklahoma and a bartender/business owner from Cam Ranh Bay Vietnam became the best of friends. Here are just a couple of tidbits about Duy.

1) He once told me he was moving to San Diego. My reply, “Schmandiego, you’re not moving anywhere.” So, when I told him I was dating Nathan (my husband), his reply was, “Schmathan, you’re not dating anyone.” They get along famously now.

2) We like to call Duy the “Third-World Redneck”.

3) The story of how Duy came to live in America is one of the greatest adventures ever told.

4) Duy loves cooking and fine dining, but he is in constant search of the stew he used to get in his school cafeteria. He has never found it despite eating at many cafeteria-style restaurants.

5) Duy is one of the funniest, most generous people I know. His new wife Winnie is a lucky lady and I’m so excited for them!

I might also mention that Winnie looks like a Barbie Doll, only prettier.

See. I told you.

This picture is a blast from the past. Everyone looks so young!

Send your camera with Duy to Vietnam and this is what you get:

This is cobra that Duy ate on one of his trips. I can hardly stand to think about it … insert shivers, goosebumps and nausea here.

Here is Duy in his element — making great drinks and playing the perfect host to his friends and family.

Here’s to Winnie and Duy and their life together!

I am now officially in the market for a washboard.

See those red wrist bands on their arms. This was the magic wrist band. Without it, you could not get a drink. To get the wrist band you must show your driver’s license. Guess who couldn’t find her driver’s license? This girl. It was 95 degrees, I might mention. Finally, my pal Duy showed up with a pitcher of margaritas. He never disappoints!

Matt won the best shirt of the day.

I may have perfected the 1970′s filter with this pic.

It is my opinion that the best show of the day may have been much later …

On Duy’s back porch.

And, this weekend — these bands sorta melded into a musical stew that almost brought a tear to my eye. Several members of each of these bands played a show in OKC for Cinco de Mayo. Nathan was asked to play guitar and all the people in the group are great friends of ours. It was kinda like a reunion. Lots of laughing and listening to old songs that really bring back memories.

The weekend started off with a Friday night practice at a very colorful downtown location.

We were upstairs in this building. It was hot. But, there was plenty to take our minds off the heat.

Or, maybe the heat got to us a little bit.

Brent drove in from Odessa for the show. We call him the “Odessa Kid.”

Warren came up from Chickasha, Erol drove in from Tulsa and Tony, Toni, Tone … he and his washboard came from the rolling hills of NW Oklahoma City.

Clay drove in from Austin. And, Roy drove in … no really, he drove right into the building.

There he is leaving the building.

I took pictures and listened to songs that I truly treasure. I also contemplated how to blend all the names of the bands — I finally settled on Honey Fire Love Park. Has a nice ring to it I think.

I’ll update with photos from the show when I get a chance. For now, here’s a few more pics from practice.

We got there so early it was pretty easy to park — though it was expensive!

Since we were so early, we went to the Myriad Gardens. It’s always pretty and I’m very impressed with all the upgrades to the grounds. So impressed, in fact, that I didn’t take one single picture of the outdoor areas.

Here are some views from inside.

I want one of these at my house.

The water feature, not sure about the rabbit on the bicycle. I’m not saying I’m opposed to it, but I don’t think it matches my other decor very well. Maybe the monkey would blend in a little better …

Saw lots of interesting art. I could have spent my whole paycheck on some of the pieces.

And then we sampled some local food and drove on the new I-40 home…

Just for the record, we did all of this before noon-thirty. Not a bad way to spend an Oklahoma Saturday morning.

Sometimes a photo just grabs me. I know I’ve taken better, but this one just said, “Spring!” to me.  I think it’s the dead branch in the middle of all that color. We have had a nice wet Spring and I’m so glad. If we could possible keep the 165 degree summer at bay until July, I would be so excited.

I just realized I’m talking about the weather. My only other option for blog posts right now is to talk about work. I refuse to blog about the countless hours I’m at work right now. However, I do think a post showing the mountains of paperwork piled on my desk might be interesting. Not.

Let’s get back to better things … like Spring! I would like to particularly address butterflies. I like the challenge of photographing them in the wild. You know, like in my friends’ backyard – otherwise known as the Great Outdoors.

We made sushi again. It was delicious. I think sushi is also very photogenic.

We were pretty proud of our sushi adventure. Then, our friends Duy and Winnie invited us over for dinner with some friends. Oh my!  My photos do not do justice to the food. Not to mention that I failed to capture the fact that Winnie looks like a model while she’s serving it!

These are the crab cakes I dream about these days.

I either love or hate crab cakes. These = Love.

Here’s part of the spread. It included Brussels Sprouts, seared scallops, green mussels, grilled quail and steaks the size of my head.

I loved the quail.

Okay. I loved it all.

But, of course, they had me at the Brussels Sprouts!

Thinking about inviting myself back over there very soon for round two.

So, right now anyone reading this should be saying in their head right this minute, ”Welllll, welllll, well…”

Please make sure you say it slowly and add plenty of sarcasm and a tone that implies I should have updated this blog months ago and you can’t believe I have the nerve to just post something out of the blue. I offer no lame excuses. Just know that I am fully aware that I am perhaps the lamest blogger in the blogosphere.

So, I looked back at my photos and I know that we’ve got some catching up to do. I’m going to start with a party that my friend Angee planned for my friend Andria. I met Andria through our super duper brunch group which may now be officially defunct. As a matter of fact, the next time I see any of those girls, we’ll all probably be saying, ”Welllll, welllll, well…”

I can see a pattern in my life lately.

So, Angee owns The Social Butterflies. She makes pretty things, cooks tasty food and plans events of all kinds. This party was a birthday party for Andria’s sister and it had a Mad Men theme. At the time of the party I had not watched a single episode of Mad Men. So, I just trusted that the candy cigarettes Angee bought online were a good idea.  Since the party, I have watched around a thousand episodes of Mad Men. I love it and Nathan asks every night if we can watch something else on Netflix. I hate to tell him no, but I’m addicted. I think they put nicotine in those episodes.

Anyway, this party was cool and full of cool people. I’m not sure I was cool enough to attend, but I just smoked a few candy cigarettes like all the cool kids and took some photos.

See, they looked like Lucky Strikes. Clever.

The cupcakes were yummy!

I could make this blog a lot longer, but I’ve got another Mad Men episode to watch before Nathan comes in here and tells me he wants to watch a National Geographic Episode about something as exciting as the Gobi Desert.

We had chili right before Thanksgiving. Mya loves chili.

She waited oh so patiently just in case some chili might fall on the floor. It helps to touch the person who is eating so they won’t forget you are there. I think that’s her strategy anyway.

I’m calling this one … Dog Waiting For Chili.

Then before Christmas we hosted a Tastefully Simple Party. It’s like a Tupperware party, but it’s for food. My friend Angee has these parties and she came in and whipped up a bunch of dips, breads and cakes. There was a big spread of food.

And, there was one guest who was particularly interested in the products that were offered.

I’m pretty sure it was Mya who ordered all beer bread and chocolate cake.

First off, the cabin was great. I highly recommend them. For around the cost of a hotel room, we had a two-bedroom house right on the lake. This was the front deck.

Shortly after, I saw the sunset and I began to unwind.

Then my family arrived and chaos ensued. I’m in love with my cousin’s kiddos. I love them like my own. And, I’m happy to report they were all blessed with very healthy and active lungs. They are loud! They also move so fast they are kinda blurry to me sometimes. Mya spent the entire evening on a leash because we knew she would join right in with the kids.

It was Jack’s 6th birthday, so Lindsey brought a cake. He had help from his cousins in making a wish and blowing out his candles. Jack’s the one in the middle. This picture makes me laugh.

The next night we had a much quieter evening with all the adults in my family. My grandmother, who is recovering from a stroke, is pretty speedy these days, but she’s not so fast that she’s a blur. It was great to see everyone at any volume or speed.

Nathan and Mya spent some time outside. I can tell you that Mya is now fully socialized!

The lake was also beautiful in the morning.

We then headed out to Broken Bow on our way home. It just didn’t seem right to drag Christi all the way down to Southeastern Oklahoma and not take her to Broken Bow. So we did. I forget how pretty it is there.

We also visited Girls Gone Wine. We did a wine tasting and I was very impressed. It’s a great place and the wine was great. My cousin Le’ met us there and was the perfect hostess. She’s kind of amazing.

I practiced restraint and did not taste everything on the menu. Plus, I was about to drive over a mountain. So, I took a bottle home for New Years Eve, instead!

We took part of the Talimena Drive home. It’s a National Scenic Byway right here in the great state of Oklahoma! It’s really pretty and quite amazing. It’s prettier in the fall when the leaves are changing, but we still enjoyed seeing the mountains.

We had a great time. But, you know who was really ready to be back home?

Mya is a great traveling dog. She likes the open road.

I do too.

I realize the holidays are over and that you are sick of pecan pie. But, I like to run about a month behind and I actually have pecans left over this year. So, if you have pecans left and you want a quick, easy, delicious snack that is similar to a pecan pie, then this recipe may be for you.

We were having a get together around Thanksgiving and my friend Angee could not attend. “What about my coming by the day before to help you get ready,” she said. “I could make some pecan bars?”

I gladly took her up on help and was certainly happy that I did.

She sorta rocks in that Martha Stewart meets Desperate Housewives meets soccer mom meets rock star kinda way. And, heck yes! I’ll gladly drink a glass of iced tea while you whip up a little something for my party.

I didn’t get all the details, but I’m pretty sure this is the recipe she used below. It’s completely stolen from the Internet and I found the same recipe on countless sites.

Sadly, I must report that these pecan bars were the closest thing to real pecan pie I had the pleasure of eating this year during the holidays.  Nathan and I both love pecan pie, but it just never happened.

And, oddly enough, Angee doesn’t even like pecans or any dessert with nuts. I think that makes her nuts! But it sure was good to see her and these pecan bars were almost as delicious as spending time with a great friend!

Pecan Pie Bars

Ingredients

 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix

1/2 cup margarine, softened

1 egg

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups dark corn syrup

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

2/3 cup yellow cake mix

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.  Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

3.  Reserve 2/3 cup cake mix.

4.  Mix together remaining cake mix, margarine, and 1 egg.

5.  Pat in prepared pan.

6.  Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

7.  Beat together 3 eggs, vanilla, reserved 2/3 cup cake mix, corn syrup, and brown sugar. Pour on cake in pan. Sprinkle pecans on top.

8.  Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30-35 minutes.