Friday, March 30, 2012

i'm glad you came

Hello, alcohol, my old friend. Let's just get that out of the way - I'm buzzed, and am likely to remain that way until well into the morning. Now let's see how I do on my blog post!

The day started off in quite a sedate and challenging way - I woke up at eight so that I could make my flourless chocolate cake in time for it to chill sufficiently in the refrigerator. As you might imagine, that was tricky, since I'm not at my best at eight a.m., but I somehow managed to pull it together. The cleaning lady showed up while I was baking the cake, which is the ultimate #firstworldproblem, so I had to mess around downstairs while she cleaned my bathroom, since I couldn't shower until she was finished. How annoying, right?!?!

sssanyway, I showered in time to drive downtown, where I went to Crate and Barrel and bought some fresh tealights and votives, etc. Then I went to Samovar and worked for an hour on Nick and Ellie's story while eating some jook (an abomination that I never would have eaten in Iowa, since it's rice custard, smoked salmon, sriracha, etc., none of which I ate at home) and drinking some chai (also not an Iowa beverage, since it doesn't seem to contain Lipton tea). Ellie and Nick continue to develop, which is quite satisfying; I live in hope that they will treat me better than my previous books, but I doubt it. Then I went to my salon and got my bangs trimmed and my eyebrows waxed; both my stylist and my waxer were astonished at how quickly my hair grows, and while they tried to treat it like a blessing, it's clear they think that I'm a mutant. Sigh.

Post-grooming, I bought groceries, then came home and prepared for my dinner party. My friend Rat kind of invited himself over, but since I hadn't had anyone over in awhile, I was quite happy to indulge him. So Rat, Tom, Adit, and Priyanka came over tonight, and I made risotto al barolo (a Mario Batali recipe for risotto with onion, parmesan, and red wine) and truffle butter pasta (which I can't eat, but I love the risotto, so screw the pasta). I also made a salad with candied walnuts, dried cranberries, and gorgonzola, which was delish, and I spread out some peppers, carrots, and celery with hummus. And there was that awesome flourless chocolate cake, with vanilla ice cream...and two bottles of red wine...and after Tom's pronouncement that the Catholic church would be dead within the century, I had several Hemingway daiquiris, which is both my joy and my downfall.

So a good time was had by all, I think, and everyone helped clean up, which was lovely. Then I got conned into going to see "The Hunger Games" with Priyanka and Adit -- I wasn't going to go, but when I learned that this particular theatre serves alcohol, I was all in. So we drove to the Kabuki, bought a bottle of malbec, and got into our seats just in time to see Katniss be reaped -- yay. I loved the movie, all in all, and now I shall go to sleep, and my alcohol-infused dreams will hopefully be all about my secret non-gargoyle young adult book, which I think could rival "The Hunger Games" (at least on nights like tonight, when I'm too drunk to be modest -- sorry, kids). Goodnight!

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