a little about (me &) Dan

Dan and I have been vegetarian for the past two months. I have been mostly Vegan. Which means for 95% of the time, I eat vegetables, fruit, beans, nuts and DO NOT eat meat, dairy or egg products. I believe that I need to do this to not feel like a slug (and I think most animals are cute). I FEEL better when I do not eat crap. Dan feels hungry. So, we are compromising and I am cooking up seriously delicious stuff - Like the basil pesto pizza above (i made the pesto by myself!). Super yum. And this eggplant caponata below.I have also been tinkering with the mandolin for several months. Just a little at a time. Dan backs me up on guitar when I play the two songs I can get through without cursing: America the Beautiful and Amazing Grace. (it is just wrong to cuss while playing church songs)I tried to play the fiddle for a couple of months, but they are FREAKIN expensive. The little student rental I used was pitiful. I want a real fiddle. Till then, I will happily learn a new mandolin song a month and one day I will be able to strum along with Dan, without swearing.

Dan brings me flowers. ALOT.

Dan sits with Marvin. ALOT.
Dan wants me to run with him. But I am not a runner (yet) so I go and walk instead. He bought me some shoes. it is really nice to have a pair that are NOT six years old. These are the best shoes ever! They are bouncy and lite and COOL.

I am really enjoying how my life is shifting. Playing music. Cooking. Watching less TV. getting outside. working reasonable hours. It is good. and I love me some Dan. Can you tell?

hello Universe? it's me, Danielle

Oprah and Eckart Tolle swear that in order to get what you want out of life, you have "tell the universe" by shouting the specifics outloud. After conversing with the universe this morning, I decided blogging the nitty gritty of my wants and dreams would get me doubly heard. Also, it might allow YOU, my blog readers to HELP me. "You never know who knows who", as my mom used to say.

First, on a Personal note: (you have to state your wishes in the present tense, in order for the universe to take you seriously) I am going to write mine and Dan's story into a best-selling novel. It will have its own point of purchase display in Barnes and Noble and people will WANT to pay full price for this witty long-lost-love story of two north carolinians who found each other via the internet, after twenty years. ahhhh. Technically, I need to get an agent, do a formal book proposal, and actually finish writing the book. Which I started in April.

I already spend at least three hours per week deciding what to do with my newfound income. I've decided to appoint Mike Absher as my lead financial advisor. Although Mike ensures its not necessary, I pay off Dan's college debt in two payments. BAM. Then, I write AT&T Universal a lumpsum check paying for all my photography equipment .

After our novel puts twelve million into our bank account, we find the perfect gently-used RV to begin a vacation of visiting friends. (It has a seriously luxurious bed, a big stove & cooking area and a full bathtub. These amenities are hard to find in an RV. I marthastewart some trendy seat cushions, curtains and throw pillows (learning to sew happens magically). Little touches like these make our mobile-home homey). And we hang art. I secure the art with duct tape because neither Dan nor I are the best of drivers.

When we set off on what I will call the "american friends tour" first to Seattle where I finally get to see my dear friend Claire. Then Ericka in Oakland, CA where we also visit the redwoods (the tallest living trees) which somehow Ph.D. Dan has never seen. Next, Dan gets to drink beer with Keith in Idaho and Niki and Reed in Denver. Technically, Niki is still in NC, but in my vision with the universe, she is teaching leaf science in Colorado. We then will spend a week with Danielle in Boulder, which is super for our souls because we do yoga, eat healthy food, listen to pink floyd, and Dan fly fishes. Danielle also gives me this piece of her fabulous art for our RV art collection.

Then, when we drive to Reno to gamble with Todd and Ricky. At Lake Tahoe I suddenly become a talented skier. And my outfits are fabulous. And Todd and Ricky finally get married in Vegas and the photographs are terrifically retro: envision tuxedos and throwing dice and lots of smiling and clapping, because of course they win lots of cash. Then we go to North Carolina to see David, Judy, Carol and Tony (our parental units) and friends in Raleigh, Charlotte and Chapel Hill. No one asks us for money.

Then, dear universe, there is Photography: My residential interior photography is published in HUGE magazines like Country Living, Dwell, Elle Decor, Metropolitan Home and Better Homes and Gardens. My mother is overcome by proudness while in Lowes Foods grocery when she reads the words "photograph by Danielle Anthony" on the Cover. And perhaps upon buying said magazine, Judy tells the check-out clerk that her daughter took THAT photo. My celebrity is the talk of the town at our next family reunion, which last year was because of my famous pasta salad with vienna sausages. I photograph modern and country residences and interiors throughout the US, have a few assistants and now shoot with a Hasselblad. I enjoy this work very much. And I have incredible style. My outfits are hip and make me look thirty pounds thinner (perhaps the universe should be told that I attend a gym more than once a year).

Ok, so there it is, shouted outloud: Danielle Anthony wants the following:

1. best-selling memoir novel.
2. friends tour.
3. to become famous photographer.