Whenever, Wherever by Shakira

It is no wonder that I love throwing parties.  My mom has been throwing parties for as long as I can remember.  She also loves to cook and bake and I have so many memories in the kitchen with my mom and my sister.  My mom loved turning our time in the kitchen together into a party.  Her favorite music in the kitchen was the Mermaids soundtrack and we could often be found be-bopping around the kitchen, measuring, dicing, and mixing.

Not only did we have our own personal cooking parties, my mom also threw parties where the guests were encouraged to help out.  There were burrito bar parties and pasta parties, but tonight, we are going to a pizza party.  My mom had recently moved into her new house and since she went from an apartment to a house, the front room was furnished solely by a drum kit.  At this time, my mom was in a rock n' roll band and she played the bass guitar!  They practiced in her living room!  I know!  We started the evening by making 3 or 4 pizzas topped with all kinds of yumminess.  During dinner, I was tasked with selecting the music.  I chose a Rock compilation, going with the theme of the rockin' good time we were having, but unfortunately, Breaking the Law by Judas Priest came on, which is hardly dinner music.  My mom hissed at me:  "Jennifer!  Look around the table!  Change the music!"  Everyone was completely silent, eating quickly and aggressively, just like the music.  Ooops!  I then put the Chocolat Soundtrack on, but I was feeling silly, so I put the first song on repeat.  I was giggling by the third repeat and then Jared T. finally caught my eye as he had noticed, too.

After dinner, an energetic doing-dishes dancing party took place and we listened to Shakira's Whenever, Wherever in English and in Spanish, over and over and over again.  I remember most everything I said seemed to shock Nathan T. who would constantly exclaim: "Jennifer!  Ohhhhhhh my gosh!  You're so crazy!"  Jared didn't seem to shock so easily.   The evening later still turned into a drum lesson (for me) and some rock n' roll, including my mom on bass guitar.  I know!  I still find it hard to believe!  Food + my mom + music = a super fun party!