if you like it then you should have put a ring on it

I'm about to fall asleep, a combination of too much fun and a later-than-usual bedtime. My workday was only so-so; I was productive throughout the day, but it was with fairly mindnumbing tasks that didn't exactly make me feel accomplished. I left around five, grabbed some coffee at Philz, and made the trek back to the evil city with the intention of coming home and reading a book. However, Vidya (aka Vidius Chandicus) called while I was driving back and asked if I wanted to meet up for drinks and dinner with her and her friend Kathy. I readily agreed, and after I got home and freshened up, I walked over to meet them at Martuni's. The clientele is almost uniformly older gay men, but it's one of Vidya's favorite bars. I had a Bailey's on the rocks in honor of the season (for some reason Bailey's makes me think winter), and we sat on bar stools pulled up to the piano where a musician was playing/singing such classics as Billy Joel's "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" and some song by Earth, Wind and Fire.

We had a generally lovely time at Martuni's, but decided to go out in search of dinner. We ended up at a Middle Eastern place a few blocks away, which was a total scene but was fun enough that I forgave the annoying waitress, the more-annoying clientele, and the group of small-time opera singers having a birthday party near us. The place was pretty quiet when we showed up, and so we had dinner inside but made a reservation to have hookah on the patio after dinner. I had a chicken dish with couscous and a nice cucumber yogurt; we also split a bottle of Malbec, which was v. much enjoyed. We also discovered that Kathy and I have a scary amount of stuff in common (quilting, secret affection for sci-fi books, hermit-like tendencies, etc.)

We then adjourned to the patio, where we spent a couple of hours puffing on a mint-flavored hookah. It was lovely; the mint vapor was v. refreshing, and it was nice to lounge on a couch and hang out for awhile. The people watching was excellent, particularly when some dude whom I deemed 'the Angel' showed up - he had ringlets of shoulder-length blonde hair and was wearing a white cable-knit sweater and brown leather pants with some sort of weird side-slung fanny-pack like thing that looked like a knife pouch from days of yore. And of course, the company was good too, although I was quite disappointed that Vidya didn't attempt to befriend the Angel so that we could see the inside of what I am positive is an amazingly ridiculous apartment.

So, it was exactly the type of evening that I needed, even if I have a stomach ache from too much food + too much hookah + too much alcohol (actually I didn't have that much, but I probably should have refrained from the mango and cucumber cocktail -- I mostly ordered it so that the waitress would stop trying to describe it to me and annoying me with her awful voice). Now, though, I should sleep; I have hot plans to get a pedicure and write most of the day, so I should sleep. Goodnight!