Mom Time!

Thursday morning I got up and did some cleaning, then went into the city to meet Ethan for a working lunch. And work we did, for over two hours. We made some great progress on putting an order to the show, but by the time we finished my brain was ready to explode. Stopped to pick up my CSA on the way home, and I got:

-Blueberries
-Kale
-Savoy
-Bok Choy
-Lettuce
-Purple top turnips
-Broccoli
-Squash
-Eggs
-Cucumbers

Came home and did more cleaning while waiting for Mom to track down her baggage at JFK, since it ended up taking a different plane than she did. Matt came over to help make dinner, and by the time Mom got here it was almost ready. Yay Mom! We had glazed ham with apples, mashed turnips and potatoes, and broccoli, with chocolate ice cream for dessert. Good food, good company, good conversation.

Hurry up and get some culture!

Monday morning I returned a book at the library and did some prep for my class in the morning, then worked in the evening. Nothing too life changing.

Tuesday I worked in the morning, then went to Coney Island for class. It was really hot in the museum, but we had interesting speakers and learned lots of stuff. Afterwards we went downstairs to see what the Sideshow class was learning, and they were pounding nails into their heads and swallowing swords. Cooooool. Got sushi and blood orange gelato and made Matt eat it with me.

Wednesday morning I went to the Brooklyn Museum to see the Murakami exhibit, which is closing on Sunday. Saw lots of crazy animae style art, but my favorite part was in the cartoon video where the alien bounces down the hall, and instead of saying "boing" he says "byong byong byong." That tickled my funny bone. Anyway, it was cool to spend the morning seeing some art. Got groceries, went home, wrote a bit, and went to work. It was busy because the show at the Rose Theater upstairs this week is "The Bacchae" starring Alan Cumming, which got a great Times review, so lots of people hurrying for an 8:00 curtain. It went fine, and hopefully we made decent money. Ran errands, then went home.

To work, then to China

Saturday morning I had to work, so I left Ali to her own devices. Came home and waited for her to come back from meeting Mary and some friends, then she and Matt and Randy and I went to dinner at Amorina, followed by dessert at Cocoa Bar. I think it started to set in that Ali was flying to China in the morning, because she started making a list of all the things she hadn't done yet. We went home and took care of some of them, then called it a night.

Sunday morning Ali and I got up, finished the list, then put her into a car that arrived right on time at 8:00am and sent her off to Newark Airport to head to China. Weird that she could wake up in my apartment and finish her day halfway around the world. After seeing her off I went back to bed, then Matt and I had brunch and I did some writing at his place while he did some computer work. Went back home and worked on music, then met with Ethan to work on the show. Got good stuff done, then went back to Matt's for Indian food.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of barbecue

Friday was the 4th of July, so of course we had to spend the entire day celebrating. Ali, Randy, Matt, and I all had breakfast at Tom's, then Randy had to go to work. The rest of us gathered at Matt's for an all-afternoon-and-evening barbecue. We started at two, actually had guests by around 3:30, and Ali and I were some of the first to leave at 10:30pm. Whew! Lots of Bouchon folks, Ben and Atsuko, some of their friends who we also know. It was a mixed and fun crowd. We did two sets of grilling, and by the end of the night I had hot dogs coming out my ears. A fun time was had by all, but I was ready to be done with parties for a while by the time we left.

Race you to the end of July!

Monday I worked in the morning, then met with Ethan in the evening. Ate leftovers for dinner.

Tuesday I worked in the morning, then headed to Coney Island for my first Burlesque Master Class. It was a total blast! My instructor knows so much and obviously loves to teach, and she has all these friends coming in as panel speakers, and the class is held in the Coney Island Museum so there are old bumper cars just sitting around. Very cool. Anyway, had a blast, then hopped back on the train and went home.

Wednesday I think I slept in and then cleaned things. Worked in the evening.

Thursday I worked behind the bar in the morning, which was great except I had to throw a guy out for the first time, which was weird. Had lots of support from the rest of the staff, and it was nothing terrible or dangerous, but it gave the shift a weird feeling. To make up for it, around two my bar included two guys who were totally in love with everything they ate, two people who it turned out were from Minnesota and had grown up across the Ford Bridge from me, and Matt, who came in after getting out of work early for the holiday weekend. How nice! Also, it turned out one of the food-loving guys knew someone I knew I high school. Weeeeird. Met up with Matt and went to pick up my CSA, which this week included:

-Strawberries
-Bok Choy
-Eggs
-Red beets
-Swiss Chard
-Head of lettuce
-Salad mix
-Giant turnips

Went home, finished building my night stand, then found Ali on my doorstep! She was very tired from lugging her bags, but we dragged her to the grocery store and then had a very very late stir fry dinner. Welcome to New York, baby sister :)

Back from Vacation Panic

Sunday morning we got up and had B&B breakfast with the two other couples, who we'd also eaten dinner with the night before, so we knew each other a bit, which was nice. Ate delicious quiche and coffee cake, then headed back to the city. Had a pleasant drive back with a stop at a diner, then hit some crazy rain coming back into the city. Still had time left on our car rental, so we decided to stop by Ikea. However, we didn't think about how long we'd have to wait in line and ended up dashing through the rain to return the car on time. Ooooh well, at least I got a new nightstand. "New" as opposed to "the pile of boxes I've been using since I moved in." Came home and started to freak out a little about the coming week. Interesting how only 36 hours out of town can still give you that "back from vacation" panic. Matt and I made dinner, then watched "Mighty Aphrodite," which was really funny.

The Wedding

Saturday the 28th was Austin and Anja's wedding! We started the day by meeting Flora, a friend of Austin's who had taken a bus in from Toronto overnight and was catching a ride to Connecticut with us. We had bagels, then hit the road in our Zipcar. Matt drove and I navigated, which is the best combination for us by far. We didn't get lost once, and with a brief stop for lunch dropped Flora at her B&B and made it to ours around 4:00. That gave us just enough time to get pretty before driving to Tyrone Farm, where the wedding was held. The farm was totally gorgeous, great views of rolling hills and all that. The ceremony started right at 5:00 and was really fast, so before we knew it, they were married! Had a cocktail hour with snacks under a tent, then dinner in the barn. We were sitting with some friends of Austin and Anja's, some of whom we'd met before, all of whom were friendly. Had a great dinner and danced the night away.