Awesome. Today was awesome. I should leave you in suspense and close out now (or, I should close out now because I have to get up in seven hours so I can go down to Palo Alto and train with Alyssa), but I guess I'll record for posterity.
[begin boring part]
I spent some quality time lazing in bed, which was key since I was still recovering from the debauchery earlier in the weekend (and knew I would have more debauchery in the rest of the weekend). But I eventually dragged myself out of bed, had breakfast at the cafe down the street, and then went to BevMo to buy a lot of wine and to Whole Foods to buy a lot of groceries. Then I came home, was v. relaxed about taking a shower and getting ready, etc., and then called my parents. They were the usual - they told me stories about strange deaths, normal deaths, meetings with governors, the weather, etc., which is all pretty par for the course for them. But I talked to them while enjoying the sun on the roof, which made for a surreal juxtaposition of their #smalltownlife and my #firstworldproblems.
After I finished talking to them, I commenced preparation for tonight's family time dinner, which I volunteered to cook for since I hadn't cooked anything more difficult than tuna salad in ages. I made chicken bouillabaisse, which was divine; I also made truffle butter pasta, which I couldn't eat, but it seems to have been a hit.
[end boring part, begin ridiculous part]
Claudia showed up early, so we had plenty of time to catch up sans other people (and she also chopped the potatoes for the bouillabaisse for me while I finished getting ready, which was a real champion move). The rest of the family rolled in later, as is typical for this particular group at my particular dinner parties. It was all the usual suspects (Chandlord, Katrina, Claude, Terry, John, Jess, Adit, and Priyanka), + this guy named Hugo who is friends with Chandlord and Katrina. I think most of us thought that Katrina's email saying that she/Vidya/Hugo would be in attendance was a joke, given the questions we asked Hugo (namely, 'are you human?'), but it turned out that the guy was a winner...
...and this was confirmed when we did a reverse candle ceremony to welcome Claudia (aka Santy Claude) back to the bay area, and Hugo managed to hold his own. The candle ceremony is typically done when someone moves away; as you'll recall, each person holds a candle, says something about the person leaving, and blows it out. The last candle ceremony was a switch on that format, since it was my thirty-second birthday and everyone blew out one of my birthday candles (which were stuck in a ham sandwich). But in this one, each person said something about Claudia and how they felt about her coming back, something about their last week, and then everyone else in the circle had an opportunity to ask that person a follow-up question.
With nine people, this took awhile, but we all learned a lot about each other and ourselves. Also, before the candle ceremony, it was determined that they would read the second sex scene from Thorington's book, which was just as horribly awkward and ridiculous as it usually is. But we all survived (nay, accepted) the emotional trauma, and I think we're all better off for it (even if we now all know that Adit = Gavin (jhokes)).
[end ridiculous part, begin filler part]
But all good things must end, and so everyone left and I spent some time taming the kitchen. And now I must sleep if I have any hope of surviving Alyssa tomorrow + pursuing my other social activities - goodnight!
[begin boring part]
I spent some quality time lazing in bed, which was key since I was still recovering from the debauchery earlier in the weekend (and knew I would have more debauchery in the rest of the weekend). But I eventually dragged myself out of bed, had breakfast at the cafe down the street, and then went to BevMo to buy a lot of wine and to Whole Foods to buy a lot of groceries. Then I came home, was v. relaxed about taking a shower and getting ready, etc., and then called my parents. They were the usual - they told me stories about strange deaths, normal deaths, meetings with governors, the weather, etc., which is all pretty par for the course for them. But I talked to them while enjoying the sun on the roof, which made for a surreal juxtaposition of their #smalltownlife and my #firstworldproblems.
After I finished talking to them, I commenced preparation for tonight's family time dinner, which I volunteered to cook for since I hadn't cooked anything more difficult than tuna salad in ages. I made chicken bouillabaisse, which was divine; I also made truffle butter pasta, which I couldn't eat, but it seems to have been a hit.
[end boring part, begin ridiculous part]
Claudia showed up early, so we had plenty of time to catch up sans other people (and she also chopped the potatoes for the bouillabaisse for me while I finished getting ready, which was a real champion move). The rest of the family rolled in later, as is typical for this particular group at my particular dinner parties. It was all the usual suspects (Chandlord, Katrina, Claude, Terry, John, Jess, Adit, and Priyanka), + this guy named Hugo who is friends with Chandlord and Katrina. I think most of us thought that Katrina's email saying that she/Vidya/Hugo would be in attendance was a joke, given the questions we asked Hugo (namely, 'are you human?'), but it turned out that the guy was a winner...
...and this was confirmed when we did a reverse candle ceremony to welcome Claudia (aka Santy Claude) back to the bay area, and Hugo managed to hold his own. The candle ceremony is typically done when someone moves away; as you'll recall, each person holds a candle, says something about the person leaving, and blows it out. The last candle ceremony was a switch on that format, since it was my thirty-second birthday and everyone blew out one of my birthday candles (which were stuck in a ham sandwich). But in this one, each person said something about Claudia and how they felt about her coming back, something about their last week, and then everyone else in the circle had an opportunity to ask that person a follow-up question.
With nine people, this took awhile, but we all learned a lot about each other and ourselves. Also, before the candle ceremony, it was determined that they would read the second sex scene from Thorington's book, which was just as horribly awkward and ridiculous as it usually is. But we all survived (nay, accepted) the emotional trauma, and I think we're all better off for it (even if we now all know that Adit = Gavin (jhokes)).
[end ridiculous part, begin filler part]
But all good things must end, and so everyone left and I spent some time taming the kitchen. And now I must sleep if I have any hope of surviving Alyssa tomorrow + pursuing my other social activities - goodnight!
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