The glorious results of a unfortunate online dating experiment.

So, my foray into online dating had some bizarre effects on the other aspects of my life:

*I've been drinking less alcohol and more tea. (Yay - though I've got a newly opened box of PG Tips if anyone wants 'em.) Also, in general I've found myself more inclined towards hanging out with people who don't drink as much.

*I deep cleaned my apartment and put away all of my laundry (not a regular occurrence, despite my regular Domestic Goddessing fits,) but I didn't go to bikram for two weeks.

*I have finally reached the point where I have learned not to respond to texts from Jesse and have decided that as per multiple suggestions I will move forward with a restraining order if he refuses to cease contact with me as requested. It seems bizarre that I would need to get a R.O., but blocking him on Google Voice didn't work and I've been told time and time again that harassment is harassment regardless of the medium.

*I finally started feeling guilty about neglecting my fish to death (they truly are the red-headed stepchildren of my household) and leaving my last White Cloud alone in misery, so I cleaned out the tank and visited the fish store for a few more WCs and a betta to keep him company.

*I haven't been cooking; I've just been living on Trader Joe's snack foods.

*My boy-crazy-ness is on hold.

All in all, I learned some great lessons and came out with fresher outlook on some of my dating habits and...a new attitude, babe.

I like a little hustle and bustle and I do it all in 4 inch heels.

I'm beginning to think staying busy keeps me sane.

This week I'm testing that theory with a pizza date with a longtime friend, 2 nights of bikram, a beauty appointment, a pre-pet sitting meeting with a few local friends annnnd that's all before Friday. In the meantime, I'm trying to coordinate some kind of mini-vacation to Oregon or California before my coworker goes on maternity leave in December and I'm stuck in Seattle.

In other news, I should be receiving these boots this week (so hot, right? don't be jels) and after being told I smell "lovely" by everyone from bartenders and random people on the street to close friends I have decided to restock my special signature scent blend. It's like Christmas in October! Also, in hopes of maintaining my "excruciatingly hot" status (thanks, Sailor) I've been inspired to sign up for a month-long membership at Seattle Integrated Martial Arts.

I imagine by the end of this year my ass is going to be in spectacular shape and I'm going to be so zen I won't know what the hell to do with myself.

Convenient timing.

It appears that Seattle's summer is mostly over, after a somewhat pathetic showing of something like 1000 minutes of temperatures over 80. This just happens to coincide with a 5 day juice fast/supplemental-based cleanse that I decided to challenge myself with and I had expected to spend the weekend hermitting at my apartment, starving and barely in control of my bowels, so I wasn't too upset about the rain. Oddly enough, I've felt mostly normal and managed to be surprisingly productive even outside of my abode. I've woken up earlyish each day and found the energy to hit up a friend's yard sale with Cec, to walk over to Westwood Village to shop for a few pieces of workout wear appropriate for my upcoming Bikram (hot) yoga classes and run other errands, do the normal weekend tidying and squeeze in an at-home yoga session. It may not sound like much, but I had anticipated being basically immobilized by hunger and bowel flushing (oooh, I know how sexy that sounds, y'all) so as Charlie Sheen would say - I'm "WINNING."

What I've found so far with the fast is that 95% of the time I'm not even hungry, despite having intense cravings for all kinds of junk food pretty much constantly. Conversely, I've been thinking about healthy food and what I am going to eat once I'm back on the solids almost the entire time as well. My first dinner will consist of the eggplant I grew in my balcony garden (most likely sauteed or roasted,) oven-baked salmon caught fresh by one of my bff's Dads and possibly rice or potatoes. Maybe a biscuit or a chunk of baguette. I really love bread and nothing about this fast has changed that. I've still got tons of fruit in my fridge from the preparation for the cleanse, a grocery list chock full of more nutritious snacks and staples and meal plan ideas that should keep me on track afterwards. Yeah, I seriously have been thinking about food unceasingly since this began.

Next up is Round 2 for the day of supplements and juice with a big 'ol dose of fiber and a quick pick up of the homestead before I try to drag the Madre to the Indoor Sun Shoppe to help me spend the generous gift card that (the brilliant and amazing) Cec gave me for my recent birthday. Later, I'm thinking Round 3, pedicure, meditation, reading and journaling: it's gonna be a juicy one - I've decided to document (as far back as I can remember and then moving forward) the specific reasons I am not with any of my exes or other gentlemen I have briefly dated, mostly because it would be far too scandalous to post it here...but sometimes a girl needs a reminder, right?

Progress!

Please do excuse the blurry picture, I have yet to master the camera on my new phone and I'm no pro, even with a regular camera.

This is my current set up for veggies and herbs, minus the calabrese broccoli which has just been started in another area of my balcony. I hijacked an old picnic bench from The Madre (and strung the cutest little set of lights underneath -more pictures to come, swears) to create enough height for the green babies to get enough of the sun and add ambiance in addition to it's functionality.

From the top: I have burpless bush cucumbers, ichiban eggplant, neon glow chard, chives, Moroccan mint and chocolate mint. This weekend I have a feeling I'll add some basil - all of a sudden I have to desire to be able to make fresh pesto.

Last weekend I picked up a hanger for my butterfly garden pot; installation should be a quick

weekend project and then I'll be on the lookout for a new pot to accommodate the new mini bee balm, which is apparently pretty bushy. On the floral side, I'm really focusing on plants that are known to attract butterflies and hummingbirds, but the bee balm also has the added benefit of being a wonderful tea herb and salad garnish. I truly just thought the flowers looked neat. I haven't seen any hummingbirds around and I have my doubts they'd target my 4th floor balcony, but a girl can dream, right?

By the time I've got everything organized for my housewarming there should be a bounty of pretty things out there for my guests to enjoy. This weekend when I'm not working on the garden and getting the rest of my place prepped, I'm going to take advantage of the forecasted rain and find some time to hang with the bffs as well as finish reading my current book. Hopefully I can round it off with a nice pancake brunch (a friend's brilliant housewarming idea) and some mimosas in Ballard and be ready to return on Monday to another week of work hell.

...and I'm feeling good.

I spent a little time hanging out with one of my exes recently (no, not "Bear," though we did go back and forth yesterday on facebook, with no positive results) until it became more and more clear that he was still a hot mess and came with way more baggage than I'm interested in checking on Alyson Airlines.

Since I quickly put the kibosh on that one, I have returned to my temporary boy boycott and am continuing to settle into my apartment. Honestly, I don't know that I've ever been happier! I feel more functional and evolved than I ever have been before and completely content to be single as I move forward.

Almost every weekend I get out with the Madre to wander around to find new plants and supplies for my balcony garden. The vegetable portion is coming along nicely; last weekend I added eggplant and burpless bush cucumbers and I am digging all the greenness. My hanging "butterfly garden" pot has yet to bloom, but I picked up some miniature bee balm to placate the part of me that wants flowers NOW. Sadly, I think it's too late this year to bloom the dahlias and peonies I had hoped to plant.

On the nerdy tip, I'm almost done with Clash of Kings from the Song of Fire and Ice series. My coworker who is a book behind me went on vacation and I barely resisted the urge to paper her monitor with spoilers. I've got book 5 (acquired at the reading last week) just sitting on my shelf, staring at me and pressuring me to hurry the eff up, but these books are all just a little under 1000 pages a piece so I don't imagine I'll finish before the end of the summer.

Still, as I lie in my bed reading at night with a view of the progress on the balcony and Gizmo and Bread beside me, I can't help but feel like my life is really GOOD.

Creating a sanctuary.

First thing after I woke up on Saturday I called The Madre and we embarked on a mission to find a new ceramic fountain bowl to replace the one broken in the move (her treat!) Apparently, tabletop fountains have fallen out of popularity and we have checked three different stores earlier in the week with absolutely no luck. After a little bit of online research she found some leads at a popular nursery on the Eastside, but I really wanted to check out the Indoor Sun Shoppe first since so many of my friends had raved about it and their website also suggested they had fountain supplies.

Just in case you're doing your online research and thinking you can trust the sparsely updated local store's websites - DON'T. Seriously folks, it seems no one makes their own tabletop fountains anymore. My cats love the damn thing and it always gets a good giggle out of guests who catch them drinking from it, so I couldn't imagine not fixing it.

The Indoor Sun Shoppe sold us a nice, used (workable) bowl that we found tucked back by the gravel for practically 70% off the original price so Ma decided we should also pick up the gorgeous orchids that caught our eye(s.) After that, we still thought it might not be a bad idea to trek over to the Eastside to check out the other nursery's fountain making kit.

Guess what? Yeah, they didn't have that in stock either, but I picked up some extra rocks, chocolate and Moroccan mint to grow on the balcony and some chive seeds to plant then spent the rest of my afternoon assembling, planting/re-potting and arranging my living room. As I laid on my couch that evening barely able to keep my eyes open I could feel the bruises smarting while I cuddled with Bread.

After sleeping in as late as possible, I unpacked boxes all day Sunday and took a walk over to pick up some groceries once it cooled down to make sure I got out to enjoy at least a little of the fabulous weather we had. As I wandered through Westwood Village I couldn't help but smile - despite all the black and blue, I am so happy to be back in this neighborhood and so thrilled to see my home coming together. I definitely have plenty more boxes to unpack (mostly books and the fra-gee-lay stuff now) but I can see the bones of a place where I can be safe, comfortable, creative and content.

It's curtains for us...

No really, draperies and such.

In addition to my paint-related day dreaming, I've been eyeing some curtains to aid with privacy and to help disguise the ugly-ass blinds. I've had some creative results dealing with them in previous homes (a valance composed of scarfs, anyone?) but this time I'm really leaning towards a professionally made set of drapes to bring some drama to the bedroom and livingroom. Our place is going to be fun and welcoming, but I would definitely like it to feel classy and sexy too.

What (simple accessory) could accomplish this better in the bedroom than velvet curtains? So sumptous and luscious, they just purr loveliness, in my opinion. The ones on the right come from Urban Outfitters - I think I prefer the turquoise color, mostly because I feel the olive might be too matchy-matchy with our current bedding. Oddly enough, I'm really digging the goldenrod color as well. The one thing I'm not super excited about is the $50-a-panel price tag. Ah well, someday I will have my velvet drapes, just maybe not too incredibly soon.

On the left we have the sheers I've been eyeing at Overstock.com. I don't hate the valance, but my friend Cec thought it was pretty atrocious and I generally trust her design taste. Otherwise, I am drawn to the color and the pattern; I have no problems imagining these shading the atrium window against the lovely gray/brown paint, in front of our new gray sofa. The window is stinkin' huge so I would need two sets, but at $30 a set, they're quite a bit more affordable than those at UO.

Truthfully, I need a bookshelf and some side tables before I need curtains, but I'm having a damn fine time letting my design imagination run wild.

Note to Self (re:shoes)

No more (attempts at) shoe shopping with Bear unless you are specifically looking for flats and/or military inspired boots. O_o

To my ladies: what is up with all the ugly boots this season? And thigh high everything - WHHHHHHY?

Priorities!

Okay, so I didn't go to class. After contemplating what my teacher could possibly (most likely)intend for the last class in the 6 week series I couldn't really find a reason to justify driving from West Seattle to the U District and paying for parking. I've still got Rosetta, a good workbook and loved ones who are more than happy to help me continue learning so I'm not feeling too guilty.

Instead I spent the evening reorganizing my drawers. This weekend the Madre and I searched far and wide (aka as Southcenter's furniture district) for a lingerie chest to help accommodate Bear's clothing when he comes back for his holiday visit (and beyond.) My tidy Virgo tendencies would not do well dealing with him living out of a suitcase, even if only for a week and a half. Because I had skipped the Jingle Run (why I don't own waterproof running gear in Seattle baffles even me, but it was too effing wet) but I still wanted to hang out with my Mom, I figured this was the perfect day to get out and look.

Um, so, I learned a lingerie chest is a very specific type of furniture that places don't keep a lot of versions of AND they usually run around $300 on the lower end. So, off to ikea we went to purchase the $150 version, which we put together in 3 hours the next day. It's simple but beautiful and I seriously felt a sense of accomplishment after making it through all 27 steps without resorting to drinking or throwing things.

The piece it is replacing was a much smaller 2 drawer chest with a usable surface area. Because I didn't go to class, I finally had a chance to make the adjustments to lighting and decor around the bedroom as well as getting the clothes redistributed. Again, my donation pile grew and also I ended up lugging everything downstairs to take to Goodwill.

With only a number of days now until my boyfriend gets back, I have A LOT OF SHIZ TO DO. I believe shall be coping with a little bit of retail therapy to balance out the grocery shopping, fish tank cleaning, bedding washing, girly grooming, etc. I earned it, and I am making it a priority too.

Can this even be called nesting?

I've noticed a trend: every time my boyfriend leaves for Turkey, I get the overwhelming urge to buy things like art and throw pillows.

Okay, not things like art and throw pillows, we're talking actual art and throw pillows.

I gather up stuff and take it to Goodwill, I clean like the dickens, etc. I think of it as nesting, but it definitely doesn't seem like the typical/standard pre-baby "nesting..." Probably because it's not, I suppose - there's no babies happenin' up in my goods anytime soon (PTL.)

On Friday I finally bought one of my friend Valentina Vitols photograph prints - one that I had my eye on for ages.

Saturday I bought...Wait for it...A throw pillow.

This time I even threw in a new throw for good measure. (Unfortunately, due it it's "bunnysoft" awesomeness my cat Gizmo seems to have adopted it as her long lost mother which means not only will she not leave me alone when I'm cuddling in it she apparently also feels compelled to drool all over the darn thing.)

Continuity counts!

I recently realized I am supremely bad at following up on the posts I write. I suppose that an entire month of blogging with a post every day will likely help remedy that, but I swear I will also be making more of a conscious effort.

For instance, I had about 3 blog entries scheduled to post when I realized that some of you might actually be interested in the following:

I did in fact end up staying in on Halloween (sort of.) Bear left me with an updated entertainment set-up, so on Saturday morning the Madre came over to help me take my old 27" tube TV down the 3 flights of stairs to my car and then to Goodwill. I'm pretty sure I heard one of her knees give way on the 2nd flight and I know that I ended up straining some muscles in my arm and back, but we got 'er done and went to lunch at my favorite salad bar. I ran a few more errands, did a bit of shopping, grabbed some sushi takeout and Sapporo, got in my pjs and settled in for the evening to watch Teen Witch and give my poor back a break.

Sunday was intended to be mellow, with a visit to a nearby friend's place to watch the Skeleton Theater. It was really rainy and quite cool that evening, so we warmed ourselves fire-side and chatted as the kiddos came for their treats. When we decided to head over to watch the show I grabbed my phone so I could take photos to send to Bear and realized I had multiple missed calls from various unknown numbers as well as new voicemails. Turns out the Madre had locked herself out of her house and had been frantically trying to get in touch with me so I could use my set of keys to let her in.

I ended up missing the show to go and rescue her, but had a lovely night with my friends nonetheless. I can't say I'll necessarily make staying in on Halloween a trend, but this year it was exactly what I needed.

Blah.

and meh.

Had one of those weekends that vacillated between wonderfully cozy and absolute suck, and I ended up on the other side in a funk, for sure. Even with a haircut scheduled and a light day at work, my Monday wasn't looking too great.

Thankfully, by the time I left Helle at 8 PM (after sticking around for a glass of wine and a long overdue chance to catch up with one of my besties,) I was the proud owner of a new Sour Puss oven mitt/pot holder set, the happy reciever of multiple hugs, and less of a sad-sack.

Of course, we covered the "howsitgoings" and jokingly discussed the fact that it always seems to be Mercury's fault when things are going wonky with our lives or the people and things around us. Today when my friend posted a link to this article covering Mercury's latest antics, I had to smile...until I read the following:

"Communication planet Mercury battles it out when Pluto, the planet that tends to obsess to the point of domination. If you’re feeling at all depressed, unsatisfied, anxious or even wishy-washy about something going on in your life, those thoughts could lead to compulsions, and those compulsions could show their nasty little faces when you’re interacting with those closest to you. Meaning, while you may try to divulge your emotions and frustrations, you could end up causing harm to your relationships by saying too much, being too harsh or acting without enough care and consideration. At the same time, it’s important to be aware that someone else may bring their problems onto you, and in a wrong or ineffective way."

Whoa.

It's fine if you don't believe in astrology, but that hit the nail on the head for me. This week I'm definitely doing a little bit of hiding (mostly just to let the stuff in my own head blow over, but it sure ain't gonna hurt to get my filing done.)

I HEART electricity.

After dealing with two separate power outages due to fallen trees within one week in different neighborhoods of the city, I have to say I'm not sure I'm ready for what this fall/winter may bring weather-wise for the Pacific Northwest. I'm thinking it's a probably a good idea to maybe double check my flashlights and replenish my supply of batteries, candles and blankets over the next few weeks just in case.

Those of you who were running around in Seattle's 75+ degree weather this Saturday may not be convinced, but the Farmer's Almanac is predicting a "mild & very wet" winter for the Pacific Northwest. I'm pretty glad I started stocking up on rainboots.

Officially Embracing Fall 2010®

I am thoroughly convinced and resolute, folks - I don't care if it was sunny and beautiful for a while this weekend, because it was surely followed up with clouds and sprinkles. This is Fall in Seattle.

I spent most of my weekend on the Island and by Sunday morning (ok, let's be real - I woke up at noon) the sound of rain falling from the balcony above the window in Bear's bedroom had become a very familiar noise. I did my usual social media and email catch up via blackberry from the warm comfort of the blankets next to my sleepy boyfriend. Perusing through my daily influx of discount offers from Groupon, LivingSocial, Tippr and the like I found THE PERFECT DEAL for getting into the spirit of Fall (see? I'm so ready I'm even capitalizing it these days.)

For a surprisingly small amount of money, the bf and I have earned access to The Farm at Swan's Trail and it's huge 12-acre corn maze ("it contains over 250 actual roads and 400 places and towns marked by signs...There are 4-1/2 actual miles of highways and country roads within the maze,") putting course, cow train, hay maze, and petting zoo. Oh, and I can't forget to mention the WAGON RIDES and PUMPKIN PATCH, right?

You might think it strange for a grown woman to be so excited over all this and equally cruel to intend to drag my unassuming bf along, but I've got it under good authority that fun can and usually is had by all; the yelp reviews are pretty assuring too.

Whatever, it's all part of the Officially Embracing Fall 2010® campaign. The Official Search For Rainboots continues this evening, followed by a huge helping of homemade spaghetti and garlic bread. Maybe even some hot tea. While wearing a sweater. Yeahhhh.

Wait, that was it?

Ughhhhh, I am not ready for it to be so consistently gray in Seattle.

I've come to the conclusion that my only option is to consciously make the decision to embrace fall in a big ol' bear hug despite the fact it feels like I barely got to enjoy the summer. Don't get me wrong - I was looking forward to the new season, I just wasn't expecting it so soon.

I truly love fall and it's fashion; give me a great pair of jeans and boots, a fuzzy sweater or a fitted blazer and a cozy scarf and I am a happy happy girl. Essentially my first step will be rotating and assessing my wardrobe; this is technically perfect timing since I have a huge pile of laundry that currently needs to be put away. Then I'm contemplating finally going and buying myself a pair of cute rain boots so I can be ready to go out and play in the cool, wet weather.

Last year I was a bit distracted from my usual fall lovefest; this year I want to go to a corn maze and the pumpkin patch and carve pumpkins and burn candles that smell like the woods...I want to cover my furniture in soft, fluffy throws and pull out my slippers and pajama pants and read in front of the fireplace while I sip hot tea or hot toddies...I want to make soups and fresh breads and go for runs in the rain...

Ok, yeah, now I'm ready.

We made it...

...to San Francisco and back. The trip was mostly fun and only slightly stressful, though in my opinion we didn't get to see nearly enough of what I would consider the "big" version of Seattle (with less tattoos and more homeless people, it seems.)

The show was cool (I always love to see people singing along and the gussied-up girls trying to get as close to the stage as possible) and there definitely seems to be a younger Turkish crowd there than I've seen so far in Seattle. They even had raki available at the bar - a very nice touch, but I may never drink the stuff again.

All in all, we did get to visit Chinatown, the Fisherman's Wharf and historic piers, Ghiradelli Square, Haight/Ashbury and I brought home some cute little souvenirs for me, the Madre and my best homegirls without making myself broke for the last 2 weeks of the month. The weather was mostly cooperative, I had a great time taking photos of graffiti and I swear I'll visit the Tonga Room when I go back.

Tah daaaaahhhhh!

I successfully stay-cayed, y'all! An entire week was spent enjoying not working (except for a few IMs and one phone call) and having my lovely boyfriend camped out at my apartment.

There was continued laziness and lots of Breaking Bad, tons of eating, shopping and touristing, then finally yesterday I tore myself away from Bear and spent my last night of freedom at home giving myself a mani/pedi and watching episodes of Royal Pains (after one morning of TV at Bear's I was seriously missing cable television.)

Today it was back to work for both of us - for me, my 9-5 and getting the ball rolling on many more posts for CultureMob, for him it's back to rehearsal for his upcoming show at Chop Suey (deets here - friends, if you want to buy tickets in advance hit me up to avoid fees) and working on some new projects.

Also, I'm totally effin' giddy to mention that tonight I start my training for the Aflac Iron Girl 10k! Fellow blogger and runner Emily sent me a message about this run on Monday and I was immediately jazzed at the idea of having a reason to hit the sidewalks again. I've been a slackimus maximus with my running all spring and although I haven't fallen to pieces/gotten out of shape, I am anxious to tone up as well as being extremely curious to see how much better my lungs feel now that I've had more than 3 months of smobriety. I need to update my running playlist ASAP (any suggestions? what do you run to?) but otherwise I'm itching to lace up my nikes and git.

I need a new addiction like I need a hole in the head.

But of course I got sucked into polyvore trying to find a outfit to coordinate with my new shoes. I understand that it usually works the other way around, but you must understand my love of shoes.

Hello, Love by Alyson O'holic

Gah, I could never imagine buying a Valentino bag but I know I can find affordable versions of all the other pieces, not to mention I already own the gun/flower necklace and the shoes. I still feel like it's missing something - what do you think?

Fashion break! Finding style inspiration is easy with polyvore.

I have a confession to make:

So far this year I have been a major fashion slouch, falling into an easy pattern of tanks, tee shirts, jeans and flats ALL THE TIME. I have occasionally pulled out the skinny jeans with the sky-high heels and donned a dress on at least one outing, but in general I've been super low maintenance.

As the weather warms and the sun becomes less of a stranger my "I MUST WEAR A DRESS" urges become much stronger, I start digging out my sunglasses and rotate the lighter items into the front of my closet, tossing anything that I don't wear anymore to make room for the inevitable new items. A few weeks ago during a visit from Simla (maskott's manager,) I received a lovely delivery of gifts from Bear's parents, including a pair of these shoes (and a buttload of other adorable clothing to get the season started):

How did they know that clogs are so IN right now??

Honestly though, I have NO idea what to wear them with. With a cut like this on a shoe, I feel you really need to stick with as much bare leg as possible to avoid "shortening" yourself, even with such a high platform.

I turned to polyvore for ideas. They actually do have this exact shoe, but no one has made a "set" with it yet so I searched for "clog" and chose a similar shoe and checked the related looks. Here are a few cute ones I liked:

308. Clogs...new trend 2010 by ஐBlackberryஐ featuring Steven by Steve Madden shoes

(it needs a jacket and possibly more rock-ish earrings, but I dig the dress!)

Most of the time the items that I see and like in the sets are way overpriced ($375 for that little striped dress? I don't think so!) but I find inspiration, take a few notes on key details and keep an eye out for a more affordable version.

. by sasha?sasha featuring Steven by Steve Madden shoes (I pretty much love everything about this except the shorts - easy enough to imagine with a distressed jean miniskirt, which is more my style)

Voila! I am now infused with the Spring/Summer 2010 style spirit (and a little creeped out by the naked bunny above!)

Where do YOU go to satisfy your fashion lusts?

I was a Pagan in a previous life.

Or at least that's what Faye the Tattoed Psychic said. For various reasons, I'd buy it.

I had an awful time trying to sleep on Friday night - earlier in the week I had applied to be a paid blogger with CultureMob and was actually given the opportunity to "develop" my own genre, which had me anxiously figuring out the best way to convince the operator of the site (and myself) that I had the passion and ideas to legitimately carry an entire topic. 3 AM found me dashing off an email that I hoped would do the job. It did! Saturday morning I woke up to a contract to post on the CultureMob Blog covering Classes, Workshops and Lectures or as I like to call it, the "Get Smart" category. Eventually, I'll really be a paid writer, y'all. Not that I'll be able to quit my day job, but it's a start.

Saturday I ran around all day selling/dropping off clothes for donation and shopping, finally getting rid of the last pile I had pulled from my closet before I settled in to wait for a chance to Skype with Bear. His band was busy with an interview/performance on a HUGE Turkish talk show until the wee hours of the morning (his time,) but once he was home he managed to pop on for a while to tell me how it went and wish me a good night.

I was up at a decent time on Sunday because I had a morning full of plans. After I grabbed some cash and dropped off my car for an oil change (responsible vehicle ownership FTW - now I should probably wash it :/) I hit Cupcake Royale for some coffee and 'cakes to go, walked up to the Farmer's Market to snag some more asparagus, eggs and salmon for later in the week, picked up my car then rushed home to drop off the perishables before I scooted off to Helle.

Danielle the lovely proprietress and owner of Helle has invited Faye the Tattooed Psychic to do a series of lectures/classes on healing yourself and your spirit, and for 2 hours I happily sat on the wooden floor within a circle of women in awe of Faye's talent and straightforward attitude. How serendipitous that one of my bff's is giving me the fodder for my first writing gig!

Afterwards, I came home and slipped into bed for a nice, cozy chat with my boyfriend on Skype. Have I mentioned that I really miss that dude?