wildflowersoul

So, a little more detail on NYC, though Drew hit the highlights of our many wonders of serendipity.

For lo, the hotel was not where/what I thought it was, but it was super cheap and had comfy beds, and that's all that matters. So on Thursday we arrived in the city, checked in, then headed down to Chelsea to attempt to find the club. It turned out to be in a converted church, which was a great venue to see a show, not such a great venue to try to find, as it was devoid of signage and addressage. And what on earth is up with New York's casual disregard for street numbers making any kind of sense? I don't know how a street ends with number 121 and picks up a block over with number 20 (and this is all West, not going West-to-East or vice-versa, which I could understand). So we found the club, realized that our Must Get To Show panic was for naught, as the ticket time was the door time, and found ourselves some absolutely delicious Mexican food at a little hole in the wall place. Seriously, the best enchiladalas I've ever had. Yum yum. So then the show, Architecture was fantastic, there were lots of high school kids.

Saturday we wandered, ducked into a bookstore to kill time during a torrential downpour, and then met up with our walking tour in the Lower East Side. The tour was entertaining and interesting, and was a good way to see parts of the city we otherwise wouldn't have ventured into. After that we headed on a semi-wild goose chase to find Waikiki Wally's. Got a teensy tiny bit lost and ended up stumbling onto The Library Bar. It turned out to be lucky we did, as we killed time there, figured out that the tiki bar was about a block away, and still managed to show up for tiki time about 15 minutes before the place opened. Go me. But we tikied, we headed back uptown for some comic books, dinner, and beer, and collapsed for sleep and listening to high school kids in the room next door play poker until 6am, at which point they kindly called us (for the 7th time that night) and informed us they were going to McDonald's. We informed them that we weren't their friends.

Sunday involved aforementioned cupcakes, walking from the Upper West Side to the Village, wandering around there exploring and hanging about, then visiting Vol de Nuit. That place was spectacular, and well worth the very weird opening time. What bar opens at 4:00 on a Saurday? Anyway, we then headed back towards our hotel, drank some more, grabbed some pizza, and hotel-ified.

Yesterday morning we walked around for a couple of hours, through the park and through a huge street fair, then drove home through sunny and un-trafficy Connecticut, which was not Teh Suck this time.

Yay!! I *heart* New York.

Off to kung-fu, here's hoping I didn't fall too far out of shape this weekend.

Such a lovely weekend. I could close my eyes and pretend it was the middle of summer. Friday night we tikied (dirtymikesell, the Tiki Room is just not the same without you!), then headed to Jillian's. We had pool-playing intentions, but never actually got around to playing, as sitting and talking was already a boatload of fun. Drinking and talking is a good activity.

Saturday Drew & I stayed in, as we were out late Friday and were feeling lazy. I did manage to head out to the Brighton Petco and Starmarket for groceries, and can report that the Star there is cheaper than the one in Porter Square. It also has a better selection and is less crowded. Now I need to decide if it's worth the $9.50 to take a Zipcar out an extra hour each week for groceries and just go there from now on. The one in Porter has been an absolute zoo of late. Though farmers' market season will soon be here, and I can do all my veggie shopping there, so it may become a moot point.

Yesterday I met up with tenillypo for lunch, and tried some new chicken salad that did not make it onto The List. My quest continues. Did some laundry, ran some errands. You would think all that running around would have tuckered me out, but sleep was elusive and annoyingly hard to come by last night. I also downloaded the Arcade Fire album that all the indie kids got their panties in a twitch about last year, and I must say, it is a fine slab of indie rock. I'd even say it's the best thing I've heard in a while.

Alright, folks, give a big welcome to tenillypo! Miss T. has finally joined our ranks, after years of cajoling from yours truly.

This weekend has already been mucho fun, and I'm about to go out Tiki-ing. TIKI TIKI TIKI!

So last night we attended a Red Sox game. I definitely had fun, but 9 innings is an awfully long time to sit still somewhere. Baseball should only be 7 innings, that's totally sittable. Towards the end I got a little bored, and wanted to walk a good way towards home since it was nice out, so we left a little early. Walked from Fenway to Central Square, which is a very healthy walk, and then got home in time for the Daily Show.

Tomorrow: Kowlooooooons!!!! Tiki tiki tiki!!!

This is the plan for tonight: Karen, The A-Dot, Drew & I, and um... whoever else may be inclined to come by will tiki it up at the Tiki Room around 7. From there, either Alterna Rock night at Axis or sing along at Jake Ivory's. Call or drop an email if you're interested.

Tiki Bar! Tonight!

I have no details as of now and can't be online during work, so if you're interested call Drew or email me at my work email (can't call me, since Karen has my phone).

So busy! So much work!

Home Sweet Home
Sooo, a final log of what I did on my summer vacation.
Tuesday: went to Powell's, that place is Awesome. It's the biggest bookstore Ever, it pleased me greatly. Spent a bunch of time there perusing the Napoleanic War section looking for a book to bring back for eye_abstains. Mere and Jeremy showed me around downtown Portland. I have to say, after all the hype about how much I'd love the city, I found Portland to be a tad on the disappointing side. I was expecting something...different. I'm not sure what it was, and I bet if I had had more time to explore it I'd have liked it better. I really liked the theater-pubs, though. Saw Office Space in a really nice renovated theater and had a tasty beer while viewing said movie. What a great idea! Boston needs to get working on that.
Wednesday: The Long-Ass Drive. Wow. It was long. Left Portland at 11 am, got to Berkeley around 10-ish pm. It was very pretty through the mountains and whatnot. I would definitely like to drive the Pacific Coast Highway sometime and hit up some vineyards. So we got to Berkeley where Christine and Lucas were house-sitting for a professor. What a house. It was on a hill, the back porch looked out over the city and had a clear view to San Fran and the Golden Gate bridge. Sigh. I want that house.
Thursday: Putzed around Berkeley, then went to Davis and hung out drinkin' Pabst for most of the afternoon. I've made an important decision, folks: I don't like Pabst quite that much anymore. In fact, given a choice, I would probably opt for something other than PBR to drink. Gah! What have I become?!
Friday: Christine had to work for a bit, so we went back to Berkeley. Met up with Julia, another friend from Bates, and then headed off for San Francisco. I really, really wish I had thought to spend more time there because it was very, very cool. There was a big pride celebration going on to celebrate the Supreme Court's recent decision re: anti-sodomy laws in Texas, it was very nice to see all the rainbow flags and whatnot. Warmed my little heart. After much, much labor, we finally found TIKI PARADISE. It was all I hoped for and more. There was a lagoon with a rainstorm every 20 minutes, tiki huts galore, and tasty tropical drinks. Rode in a trolley. Explored the waterfront area. I saw sea lions!! We were going to find more bars, but by the time we got back to the area where we were staying we were tuckered out and just sat in our hotel room and drank.
So that was that. Spent all day Saturday on the plane. People don't usually talk to me when I'm travelling, but I was sitting next to a very chatty guy who told me stories about drugs, cops, being a dj in San Diego and astrophysics. It did actually make the ride go faster, which was nice. Our plane actually landed a half hour early, too! So I went home, changed and headed out with Tenille to ta_chuang's goodbye party. Would've stayed longer if it weren't for, you know, the whole being on a plane all day thing.
All in all, a good time. It wasn't a very relaxing vacation, but I got to see some good friends and some interesting places, and that's what matters.

Get your tiki on! I can promise that I will do the tiki dance, though it will only be an anticipatory tiki dance and thus will not performed in the middle of the bar (get me drunk enough at Rock Bottom and I may just do it there...but you didn't hear that from me). Given that Friday night will involve somewhat cheap Rock Bottom goodness, I'm thinking that Saturday might be a good night to do dinner at the Tiki Room. A little more low-key than last week, as my funds are being stretched thin, but still, it will be Fun. I promise. Yeah.

TIKI! tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki

that's my tiki song. it has a dance. I will do the tiki dance later.

so excited!!!!!! wheeeeeee. *heart* tiki.

tiki bar!!!! tiki bar!!!!! so excited!

ahem. so after being obnoxious and gloating about not getting the cold that's going around... i've got it. curses! i shake my tiny fist.