The Great Florida Road Trip (and Other Roadside Attractions)

Summertime and the livin's easy.  The end of the school year came, as it always seems to, quickly.  I had a great summer planned with two trips and time to get work done as well.  I want to create my own text book for Journalism, and gather resources and plan for the American Cultural Literacy class I'm teaching next year.  So far, things haven't quite worked out as I planned.  The mission trip to Nicaragua was cancelled, and I chose NOT to go back to Italy, where my soul lives, to go on it.  So that's pretty dissapointing, especially since it seems like everything in my life is currently pointing me towards the choice I now think I should have made.  But... it's too late now.

I have had plenty of time to get work done, though, and am still going to a journalism workshop put on by ASNE (American Society of News Editors) in Missouri.  Not the most exciting location, I suppose, but a place I haven't been, free travel there, and an opportunity to learn how to do what I do better.  I can't really complain.  Plus, I'll get to spend some time in Chicago and Michigan afterwards, so that's even more of a plus.

I needed to take off, so to speak, for at least a little bit, so I decided on a little road trip.  The Room mate and I took off together for a long weekend, beginning in Orlando and ending in Sarasota.  I wanted to visit friends, as well as see Eatonville and the mermaids in Weeki Wachee, so we set off with those goals in mind.

We left Friday night and headed to Orlando.  We got in late and attempted to sleep in, but the excitement or the new bed or our 30s prevented us from accomplishing goal one.  So, we got up earlier than we wanted to and made the short trip to Eatonville.  Before stopping there, since we had so much time, we decided to do a little geochache stop... and jump shots.  Y'know, for the kids.

I wanted to go to Eatonville for two reasons.  One, it's historically significant.  It's the first all African-American incorporated town to exist in America.  Two, it has literary significance--a writer I teach, Zora Neale Hurston--spent her childhood there, and many of her stories take place there.  If you don't know her stuff, read Their Eyes Were Watching God and let your life begin to change.

Here's proof I was there, a marker in the median indicating the year the town was officially established, 1887.  There wasn't much to see there, but we found the woman in the library extremely helpful.  There was, theoretically, a path to walk (not well marked and extremely confusing) and an art museum we had to wait to see (the woman who ran it stepped out), but it seems there is some sort of movement, although slow, to make the town more of a destination.  I think it should be.

After a morning in Eatonville, we headed to Old Town Disney to walk around and each lunch in the car.  The joy, the nostalgia, of peanut butter and jelly never gets old.  I think the find of the afternoon were some glass rings that cost $1.00, which is exactly how much a giant glass ring should cost, in my opinion.  I bought three.

From Old Town Disney, we headed to meet a friend at Epcot.  I haven't been to Epcot in probably 14 years, since the band trip when I was in high school.  All I know about it is that the countries are there (except South America, or even Central America, does NOT represent.  At all.  Lame Disney.  Lame.  Little did I know that the most magical thing that has ever happened to me at Disney, a place of magic, was about to happen.

Eric, T, and I got on "Spaceship Earth" narrated by Dame Judy Dench.  Once we got through the caveman days, and through ancient Egypt and the invention of papyrus, and into ancient Rome when it happened.  The ride stopped.  The usual announcement came on, something about staying seated and resuming soon, but after about three minutes of this Eric said, "Y'know, I've had to evacuate people from Toy Story a bunch of times."

"What?  What do you mean 'evacuate'?"  I reply, a dream forming in my mind.

"Well sometimes the rides just don't get going again, and we have to evacuate."

"That's POSSIBLE?!  I want to get evacuated  from a ride.  That's AWESOME!"

And then... about five minutes later... it happend.  We got up out of our "spaceships," onto the path along the side of the ride, and walked out into a light drizzle, Fast Pass for Mælstrom in hand.  It was so awesome that I cannot truly and effectively express how awesome it was.

Although it was hard to top the evacuation, there was still plenty of Epcot to see.  One of the rides I remembered from my youth was the one that goes through the gardens, where "scientists" (Eric says they're legit) work on growing plants in all kinds of cool ways.  Here are some Disney sunflowers, because they're pretty.

After a few rides, we headed to meet some other friends in the countries, where Eric, T, and I stopped for a picture.  In Morocco.  Like ya do.

We ate in China (nothing amazing) and then headed to Norway so T could ride the ride.  Good thing we got those Fast Passes, 'cause in Norway we encountered the longest wait of the day--25 minutes!  We skipped the line and got right on... then found this guy at the end.

No, I did not realize that my viking had only had one horn.  Don't judge.

We then headed back to Spaceship Earth, and completed the ride before the way out, and even traveled to the future, where we sent ourselves a postcard.  Pretty fun.

The next day of our road trip was packed: tubing in the morning and mermaids in the afternoon.  I don't have any photos to share from tubing, mostly because we were, y'know, on inner tubes.  In water.  And water and cameras don't really mix.

We went down the Rainbow River, about a two-hour course down a lovely river in northern-central Florida.  It took us a little less time, mostly because I'm really not good at just floating, so I paddled a little bit...or a lot bit.  Still, we saw turtles and lots of birds, and some summer houses and boats I lusted after, and some great trees.  It was a little too relaxing for me, but enjoyable.

Then we ate some quick lunch in the car and headed to Weeki Wachee State Park, where there are women who do a mermaid show three times a day.  They swim all under water, in tales, and take hits of oxygen from these tubes located all around the tank.  It's pretty outstanding, actually.  It's a little girl's dream come true.

Here I am, wishing I could be as awesome as the mermaids.

And here's a shot from the show.  We saw "The Little Mermaid" and these are two of her sisters.  The black tube between them is the oxygen hose.

I'm just saying that seeing the mermaids was on my Florida Bucket List, or even my Life Bucket List, let's be real, and now I can proudly say it's checked off.  And it was awesome.

Our final stop on The Great Florida Road Trip was Sarasota, where I have a friend, T and I have a mutual friend, and T has family.  We picked up a pizza and brought it to her grandma's and ate it with some tomato and mozzarella that we picked up at the side of the road from an Amish stand.  Sweet.

The next day, we took T's cousins, who are nine and six, I think, to the Ringling Museum, which is free on Mondays.  Only the art museum was free, and the grounds, but it was something new to do, at least.  There were quite a few paintings of Italy and from Italian masters, which just put a little salt in the still-open wound of not going to Italy.  I saw some of the artists I'd seen at the Louvre, as well, like the guy who paints vegetables into portraits of people, which I enjoy.

The girls weren't really into the art (can't blame them) but I think they liked walking around the grounds, which were lovely.  They were made to look like they're straight from Italy, and I feel like they succeeded.  Do you?  

This is a picture of the house, which we didn't go into but walked around the outside of.  I'd like to head  back someday and check out the rest of the property.

John Ringling's wife, Mable, had a rose garden on the property, which was also lovely.  We didn't spend too much time there; it was small, plus it was hot outside so we were all sort of ready to leave.  Some of the flowers even smelled nice, and they looked lovely too.

That night, before we headed home, we met two friends at a Vietnamese place for dinner.  It was delicious food, and great to see the guys and catch up.  I feel like all of my friends are moving away, and this road trip was a great way for me to be proactive about seeing the few that have only moved cities, not states.

This trip was a great way for me to cross several things off my Florida Bucket List, which is probably pretty close to being completed now.  It wasn't Italy, but it was a nice little break, and a way to celebrate not having to work until August.

Much love.

The In Between

After I got back from lovely, lovely Italy, I spent time longing to be back there. Italy changed me and it was hard to adjust back to normal life in Miami. The food here tasted gross for a while, and there was really no purpose to my days. I don't do well without purpose. Once I got back, there was about two weeks before meetings started up at school and I spent the days watching Netflix and knitting, mostly.

I went to the movies a few times, which is sort of different for me since I've sort of hated most movies for a couple of years now. First, I saw Stupid, Crazy, Love on a room mate date. I, as a rule, hate romantic comedies and movies about crap like true love and everlasting happiness, so I can't say I was a huge fan. However, the movie was worth the price of admission to see the scene where Ryan Gossling takes his shirt off. It's a thing of true beauty and I would like to personally thank Canada for their contribution to the world. Thank you, Canada. I want to hug you... and then Ryan Gossling. A lot.

I also saw Captain America for free ninety nine, which is exactly in my price range for movies. So it could have been a flaming pile of crap and I wouldn't have felt bad about it, but, as it was, it wasn't so bad. In general, I like comic book/superhero movies, and Chris Evans isn't too hard on the eyes, either. Plus Americans weren't portrayed as evil capitalists, or stupid money grubbers or anything stereotypical and negative. It was a little bit refreshing.

Harry Potter again was a good life choice, and this time I wasn't slightly distracted by the subtitles using different names for the characters. It was still pretty bittersweet to see, but worth it. I invested, like, ten years of my life into loving Harry Potter and all that that means, and now it's done. I know he will stand the test of time, but it's sad to know there'll be nothing new about him. And I also wonder what the next cultural phenomenon will be that affects so many people in that way--what will the next Harry Potter be? I certainly hope there will be one.

Midnight in Paris was a movie a friend told me about; she said I should see it due to the literary connections in it. I didn't really know anything about it except that it was directed by Woody Allen, whose work I could take or leave, and had Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams in it. It turned out, my friend was right. I really liked it! First of all, it's sort of about Paris in the 20s, when all of these amazing artists were centered there. Let me just say that I love me some Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, and Adrian Brody's Dali was hilariously awesome. The movie also had a nice message--which you'll have to see to get, given I don't want to spoil it--and beautiful Paris scenery, which only made my heart ache to go back to Paris. Finally, it's sort of about what I love about traveling--going off the main road, and just seeing what's out there; finding the magic of a city beyond tourist destinations and photo opportunities. Anyway, definitely rent or Netflix it.

The last movie I saw was The Help. I haven't read the book, nor do I really have the desire too. Someone told me it was hard to get into, someone whose opinion I trust, and I just don't have time to read books it'll take me ages to get into. So anyway, I saw The Help and enjoyed it as well, but it was tough for me. Civil Rights stories are always tough for me because I just wonder... I wonder if I would have been strong enough to do what was right or if I would have just gone along with society and tried to find peace with myself, as if that could be possible. Thinking about that time in American history is just sad and intense, but also powerful. I wonder what it's like to fight for something like that, to believe in a cause, to have leaders so powerful and articulate.

Emma Stone is great one of my new favorites, and I love me so me Allison Janney, too. Not to mention that the entire style of the movie--the south, the costumes--was just beautiful. If I could look like a southern housewife in the early 60s every day, I would not be mad... Except for the big hair, which just seems like a lot of work. At the end of the movie, yeah, I felt all warm and fuzzy about how this little white girl defied society and made her little piece of the world better and all that wonderful stuff, but I think ultimately I just took away that the smart, independent, writer chick ends up alone. What a shocker.

In the in between of Italy and school, my Russian Ballerina friend celebrated a birthday, which turned out to be the last one in Miami for a while. She recently moved to DC to pursue her dream, and I can't begrudge her for it. She had a birthday dinner at a place called George's in the Grove, a spin-off or whatever that's called in the restaurant world, of Le Beuchon du Grove, where Eric, T, and I ate amazing French food last year. It's this, like, fancy French place that, all of a sudden, turns into a club complete with Black Eyed Peas and a smoke machine when they celebrate someone's birthday. Weird. But the food was YUM (you can probably guess what I had... Hint: it used to have a swirly shell) and I had lovely conversation with some new people, and lovely wine, and it was a lovely evening all around. August birthdays are the best. :)

o far, the school year has been just meetings with one Freshmen/Senior day with kiddos. I'm looking forward to it, though. I've got high level and low level English kiddos, and then my journalism kids too. It should be another good year. This year is the first I'll be teaching all classes and levels I've taught before, so that is also a relief... every other year I've had to prepare from scratch. No. Bueno.

Our new principal seems good, similar to Sr. Pat, who is now in Naples. It seems like several people are doing some strange posturing or just behaving awkwardly, but I just figure I'll keep doing my job the way I know how and everything will be fine. So I'm going with that.

My classroom, my little kingdom by the sea, is all set up and ready to go. I even have four new computers for journalism, which is SUPER exciting. I can't even stand it! I'm a little obsessed with my "Jrnalism corner."

The biggest drama in my life upon return has been FIU drama, of course. For about a week I was in a craze; I didn't know if I'd be able to take classes or not. But after talking to several people, emailing like crazy, and having calming, if not necessarily helpful, lunches with friends, something worked out, as things like that tend to do, and I'm taking two classes this semester. One is Intro, which I should have taken, y'know, FIRST... but who's keeping track, really? The other is going to be an independent study project, so that'll work out perfectly. Excited to start back.

Finally, as I return from Italy another friend is moving there. I only wish I'd had the tip on this job before I came back! But a friend in Boca, who is also on Team D, is moving to Florence soon and had a Harry Potter-themed farewell. The party was very well decorated, due to some awesome *ahem* fans and decorators, but the real triumph of the night was a recipe for alcoholic Butterbeer which was a TOTAL win. :)

I'm glad to be back but I miss Lancelot. I'll get him back soon enough, though, when I get to see my fam on Labor Day weekend.

Until then...

Much love.

The one in which I cover all the cultural bases...

It seems 2011 is going much the same as the end of 2010... busy, busy, busy! Trying to find time to update this blog, while also living life and acquiring the material to do so, is difficult as ever. I actually began this entry back in the middle of January, but haven't had time since then to finish it. So far, 2011 has been pretty great and I've been keepin' it classy, trying to go to culturally and mentally enriching events.

First, back in January, I went to a poetry reading at Books & Books that was partially organized by my ballerina friend, Anya. The poet was a Haitan/feminist/lesbian/writer/actress/playwright/Michael Jackson fan named Lenelle Moise. I got there a little late, but within the first two poems I saw she mentioned both Michael Jackson and zombies (twice). She was a great performer, almost dancing her poems as she read them, and I really dug what she was doing. I've been really into poetry lately, so actually seeing some was a great treat. A simple YouTube search will yield some results, if you wanna check out her stuff, too.

Soon after, I headed to Boca to meet up with The Weave and head to the Palm Beach Opera House to see Verdi's Requiem, an opera. I kind of wanted it to be a fat chick in a viking helmet just singing her guts out and breaking glasses and stuff, but it wasn't. Turns out, this opera was based on a church service... or something. There was a choir, and a lot of Latin (or maybe Italian, I don't really know), and four singers in front who were, like, soloists or something. There was this pretty intense theme of timpani bangs, which was my favorite part, but the rest of it I didn't really get. The music was kind of lovely, and very intricate, and I enjoyed myself, but wish I knew more about exactly what I was listening to. It seems like opera is something you really have to be INTO to appreciate completely.

I also got some culture by seeing some of my boy Willy Shakespeare. The Aussie, my co-worker and friend, played Juliet in this year's Shakespeare Miami production of... you guessed it... Romeo and Juliet. She was a little more bad@$$ than your regular Juliet, sword-fighting and stuff, but the ending was still the same. I always want it to be different and I get surprised every time I see it... Like I don't know what's coming or something. I don't know... Shakespeare is just so brilliant that no matter how many times I've seen it, the play still gets me, and surprises me, and changes with each production and actor and staging.

The quarters were a little cramped (people have NO respect for blanket boundaries even though our spots were saved) but, hey, it was something free and fun to do on a Saturday night. Plus, we got to pick up and chat with The Aussie's mom, Momma O, who was enthralled by my GPS that spoke Aussie... or sort of spoke Aussie, as it turns out. She, apparently, couldn't stop talking about it throughout the rest of her stay.

Speaking of Aussies and they joy they bring to driving and life in general, team Australia had The Third Annual Australia Day party a weekend later. The party was at a park, and some claim to have seen a manatee in the water, but I just watched the pelicans and enjoyed the company. The day was rainy, but good times were had anyway. I tried my hand at cricket (again) and found that I had improved exactly none since the last time I attempted to play, about two years ago. We also enjoyed Australian treats like faerie bread (bread with butter and sprinkles... that's literally it...), Vegemite sandwiches (made that mistake once, never again); and lamingtons (which are DELICIOUS).


For Valentine's Day, T and I did a "room mate date" since neither of us celebrated with an actual Valentine. I obtained free movie tickets, and she had a gift card for the theater, so we had a cheap night out. I wanted to see The King's Speech, but T didn't want anything that serious so we settled on Just Go With It, the Adam Sandler/Jennifer Aniston/Dave Matthews (surprise!). I'm glad it was free... let's just say that. I think I've reached a point in my life where I just can't watch romantic comedies (except the classics, of course) without bringing along my cynicism and a healthy dose of REALITY. They just end up making me angry, rather than entertaining me. It wasn't an awful movie by any means--I just can't enjoy romcoms at the moment. Dave Matthews was funny. And Nicole Kidman was funny. And Jennifer Aniston looks great. That's about all.

The last bit of life I need to report on is a little daycation kayaking adventure, or as they call it here in Miami, kaYAKing. A few of us from work drove down to Key Largo, rented kaYAKs, and headed out on the bay for a couple of hours. It was a beautiful day, and so peaceful and lovely out on the water, not too hot, not too cool; there was even a breeze.

We kayaked out into the bay into a little area of mangroves. The trees, which might be my favorite of trees, were on both sides of us, and in the middle was a little river where speed boats, bought at the Miami boat Show that weekend, sped up and down at crazy speeds and pushed our little kayak crew off into the surrounding trees. We got to see them up close and personal on several occasions. Check them out...

In between speed boats, Kim and I made friends with some guys from Minnesota who were fishing. We brought them luck because as we paddled over, they caught a fish! We eventually asked our new friends to take a group photo of us, which we managed after much awkward paddling and camera passing.

We kayaked for about two hours, and headed back to watch the sunset over the water with a cold beverage, and then headed to dinner. The sunset was beautiful, and I wished I was still out on the water to see it, but our boats had to be back by 5:30. Things on the shore weren't so bad, though.

Dinner was delicious, and all together the day was a total win. It was a perfect little get away that was much needed. I should take more daycations, just days to be in the sun and smile and laugh.

The consequences of the day, however, made themselves known at 3 AM when I had to get up and go to CVS to get some Aleve because I was in total AGONY, my arms just ached and ached and I couldn't make them stop. NIGHT. MARE. Aleve, however, did the trick and I was able to go to sleep. Lesson learned for next time: make sure I have Aleve on hand.

I've so far succeeded in being better about balancing FIU, work, and life this semester. I'm glad about that, although finding time to update here is still proving to be difficult. I need to get better, though, so I can chronicle my summer. You see, as many of you know but some of you may not, I am going to be in Italy for at least five weeks this summer! I am SO excited! I'll be living with a host family and getting paid to teach, so the trip is actually going to be quite affordable, not to mention amazing. I am so blessed!

Much love.

Birthtober

Hi everyone! I'm still alive, although busier than I've ever been. I know I haven't written in ages and ages, but i can never seem to find a moment to just sit down and do it. School and work are keeping me extremely busy. I've been studying and reading like crazy, trying to keep up with and ingest everything. Three years of this life is going to be tough, but, hopefully, worth it. I do like what I'm learning but I almost feel like it's undergrad again--I know what I want to study so why am I taking all the classes that aren't about that subject? I know that the knowledge all builds upon the knowledge before it, but yeah. Anyway, I'm content but busy.

So... Let's back way up. October was a month of birthdays for me. A co-worker and good friend had a surprise party for her big 3-0, and The Weave also had a birthday soiree for 10/10/10. It was pretty outstanding, except for the fact that I spent the majority of the party (at least two hours) dying on the couch because my blood sugar was super high and wouldn't come down. I later came to discover that my infusion set had come out, which is why it wouldn't go down. Thankfully, CW drove me back and I fixed the problem. Boo for parties ruined by blood sugars.

The next morning, though, we had a lovely birthday breakfast out, and, since my problem was now solved, I could thoroughly enjoy it. It was very festive, as you can see...



For Halloween I, of course, carved a pumpkin which I later brought into my classroom and lit up as I read my students "The Raven." Every year I think it's so awesome and every year I feel like the kids don't care. But, in a paraphrase of Mother Theresa, I do it anyway. So yeah, this is the pumpkin I carved:


It looked pretty cool, I must say.

Now, usually, especially since I've been here, I'm not into Halloween. It's basically all about girls wearing a bra and panties (or less) and calling themselves a "nurse" or a "cop" or something ridiculous like that, which, to me, is NOT okay. Just cal yourself a "bikini model" or a "stripper" but let's not pretend you're something legitimate. So yeah, no me gusta. But this year, a friend celebrated a milestone and so we threw him a party. It was a Halloween/zombie themed party because "the undead never grow older," which, let's be serious, is pretty brilliant. So I was a zombie for Halloween this year and it was a good life choice. Here are the birthday boy and I:

And here are a couple of hard up zombies who just need to feast on some flesh, human or not!

I looked pretty awesome and it was fun; much better than going out and having to deal with a Miami Halloween. No thank you.

The rest of my life is pretty much consumed with work and school, both of which are going well. I'm not going home for Thanksgiving tomorrow, due to time and money factors. It's one more in a line of a few Thanksgivings I've spent away, which actually seems to be the pattern at this point, but that's okay. I still have many, many things to be thankful for this year, and many people too--like all of you. Thanks for being in my life.

My next update will probably be Christmas break, when we'll find out how the semester went for me... Cross your fingers for me!

Much love.

Why My Life, Both Literally and Figuratively, Rocks

This blog has been heavy on the concert news lately, and this entry will be no different. One of the many reasons my life rocks is because, well, lately anyway, it has rocked. See, last weekend was awesome.

Friday night was our department party, which was both delicious and fun. I get my tri-annual baked brie fix and I shook things up a little by bringing something other than taco pie. I made those appetizers my mom makes--the little breads with mushrooms, cheese, and crispy onions. They were a hit. :)

Two people in our department are leaving, one retiring and another moving to another school. It's sad to see them go--they're both wonderful people and teachers, and ILS will seem... strange without them. But it already seemed strange without this year's seniors so I suppose I'll have to deal. Schools are like that, I suppose--they have to change and I have to deal with it. But, our two dearly departed members will be missed, and I'll hold memories of our retiree smashing an alarm clock with a ball peen hammer close in my heart...mostly because it was hilarious and brilliant.

Now for the best part--the department party was moved from Saturday to Friday because of me. You see, I campaigned hard to change it so I could go to the James Taylor/Carol King concert on Saturday. I made GOOD choices, as I always encourage my students to do.

I went with my concert buddy Drew, and our seats were the cheap ones, so they were pretty far away. But, the way the stage was set up, they weren't bad. The stage was a circle in the middle that rotated, so everyone in the arena had a good seat at one point. It was pretty awesome.

We got there right as it was starting, and I had to pee during the first song, which was James singing "Something in the Way She Moves." Then Carol sang, "So Far Away" which was in my head for two days after. She sounds and looks better than she ever has, and "So Far Away" basically made me transcend to another plane of existence. It was so beautiful.

The pair sang all the big ones ("Up on a Roof," "Smackwater Jack," "Natural Woman," "Sweet Baby James," ) but had this really weird dynamic of a sad song ("Fire and Rain") followed by an earth shaker ("Steamroller" or "I Feel the Earth Move"). It was an emotional roller coaster! I'm crying about "Fire and Rain" and before my tears are even dry, Carols feelin' the earth move... And homegirl was FULL of energy. It was amazing.

They ended with "You've Got a Friend" like I knew they would. They came back for an encore as well, then outstayed everyone else in the band to do one last song, "You Can Close Your Eyes" which is one of my favorites. It's my lullaby.

It was an amazing night and I'm so happy I went. Drew and I both had an excellent experience just basking in the glory that was JT/CK. *sigh*

Here's the stage, with Carol at the piano and James rockin' some sweet guitar.

And here's the entire set up. I loved the photos in the middle just rotating... it was awesome.

The next day was Sunday, and my church held a service at The Fillmore, (where I saw The Swell Season and New Kids recently), and Jon Secada came for a free little concert. Even though it started 45 minutes late (UNacceptable!), it was a cool evening. The service was good and seeing Jon Secada was pretty cool. He didn't sound quite as good as I remember, but for a free show, it was cool. I can't believe I remembered those songs!

I couldn't manage to get a very good photo, but here it is.

The following "week" at school was fairly uneventful--it was finals week. My schedule worked out perfectly this year--I had the last two exam blocks off, so all my grades were in and done by Wednesday, and I had time to pack up my room and get everything squared away. The faculty lunch on Tuesday came out nice--my last event as part of Student Council. It'll be nice to not have to do it next year, and I won't have time anyway with school, but it'll be so weird to not be a part of some major events at LaSalle. I guess I'll still have to go, though, to get my fix. lol

Our gift this year was a laptop case, since we're all getting lap tops instead of desktops for next year. I kind of wish the school'd just given me $600 to pay for the laptop I already have, but whatever. The case fits mine so all is well.

This weekend was also pretty awesome. Friday night I had a little "going away" party, even though I'm coming back. A group of us went to Hollywood (up north a bit) to a restaurant called Taverna Opa. I've heard quite a bit about the place, including the words "belly dancers" and "dancing on tables." These statements turned out to be the truth.

The place is a Greek restaurant and the hook is that there are women--belly dancers--who dance on the tables, and encourage patrons to do the same. I rarely need encouragement to dance on a table--an invitation's really all it takes--but a little Uzo didn't hurt...

And with that, I climbed up on a table!

The restaurant is right on the water, so our view was beautiful, and the food was absolutely superb. I had roasted lamb that was so good, I asked our waiter if he could legally marry us (the lamb and I, not the waiter). I wanted to eat so much more of it than I did... not to mention the hummus (sooooo good!) and "Flaming cheese" we got as appetizers. My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it!

After dinner we headed to the boardwalk to have a stroll and see the beach. I went down to the water for a minute and stuck my feet in, and we sat outside a country bar and watched semi-trashy tourists line dance. Priceless entertainment, my friends.

On our stroll, I found the other love of my life, my new boyfriend...

You can be jealous, I would be too. :)

Saturday my Russian Ballerina friend and I went to the ArtWalk in the Wynwood Art district. It's a pretty cool event, and it's free! You see, on this particular street or area are several art galleries. Every second Saturday of the month, they all open their doors and you just go and walk around them. There are all types of art in the galleries--paintings, sculptures, photographs, and each gallery is different. Some have free food and drinks, others have music or entertainment, and it's really cool and artsy. I even ran into some co-workers!

After the ArtWalk, we headed to a bar called The Electric Pickle to see a band play. The band was pretty good and did a rockin' cover of "Steal My Kisses" which I tried to explain, in Spanish, to a dude sitting near us who was commenting, in Spanish, about how good the band was. It was pretty funny, but I think I got my point across. :)

Well my friends, I'm about to embark on another adventure as I pack for Michigan and then head to Boston on Saturday. I'm looking forward to a summer of new experiences, people, and places. Stay tuned here to see what I get up to!

Much love.

A "Swell" Story of the Jacket of Destiny

Last weekend, I got a special treat. A friend from Michigan and her husband were in Key Largo for their belated honeymoon. They came up on Friday night for a little happy hour and dinner action, and we got to catch up. It was so great to see Sucker (and Jason too!!) and just talk and hang out. I still can't believe she's never been to Florida before! Crazy! But I kind of love this picture because we were laughing when T took it. :)

That Sunday, T and I went to the beach to hang out with a friend who's leaving Miami. It was so relaxing to just bake in the sun, and the water was so warm! There were tons of plants in the water so we didn't make it out too far, but chillin' in the shallow end has its perks too.

We stayed until the late afternoon and the tide started coming in, so we all began to build a moat to prevent water from getting our towels all wet. Mine was totally awesome--and effective.

As if all of that wasn't enough excitement, Monday The Aussie and I went to see a show at the Fillmore. I'm embarking on a one-woman campaign to keep that place open! I'm obsessed! But anyway, we went to see The Swell Season, a phenomenal band that began after the movie Once. The two actors/musicians from the movie, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, met while making it, fell in love (like they did in the movie), and formed a band. The song "Falling Slowly" from the film actually won an Oscar that year. Glen and Marketa have since stopped dating but they still make beautiful music together with The Swell Season.

Anyway, we went to dinner before at a Japanese place (that was delicious!) and as we were headed back to the theater, The Aussie realized she forgot her jacket at the table, so we turned around. This jacket, however, is no ordinary jacket. This was the Jacket of Destiny. As we retrieved the jacket and proceeded back to the Fillmore, who do I see coming around the corner but Glen Hansard himself! I go, "That's him. That's Glen."

"Huh, are you sure?" The Aussie replied incredoulsly.

"Yeah, that's Glen." At this point, I decided to pursue him, like ya do when you see a rockstar. I walked quickly, then ran a few steps, then went back to walking, then ran a few steps, until I was within speaking distance. "Excuse me," I began, "Are you Glen?" He said that he was, and I was like, "We're going to see your show in a bit!" We talked for a little bit, Glen claiming that the "spring break-ness" of Miami was a bit interesting, and then this other group of people came by and stole our moment, insisting on taking a picture with Glen. It was okay though, because then The Aussie and I made them take a picture of us with Glen. All of this was with much thanks to the powers of the Jacket of Destiny. :D

He was super cool to us and I loved his Irish accent a lot. :)

Anyway, we got to the show and our seats were pretty amazing, second section back right in the center. Not bad for buying them a week before the show! The opening act came out, a guy named Tristan Clopet, who apparently is friends with a friend of mine. Um, dude, next time you hang out with rock stars you LET ME KNOW. Kthanksbye. He was pretty good--guitar playing, singer/songwriter guy. He sang a song about his nephew and it was super adorable.

The Swell Season released a second album in October of last year (I think) called Strict Joy, and many of the songs they played at the show came from this album. They sang most of the songs I know from it, which was awesome. They opened with a song called "If You Want Me" and Marketa and Glen just switched back and forth between piano and guitar/microphone. They play together so well and even if they're not in love any more, their voices sure are. They just sound so perfect together. Glen's voice is kind of Bob Dylan-esque (if Bob, bless his heart, could sing) and she sounds like this haunting, ethereal bird or something. Just thinking back on it makes me wish I was there, again, in that room where magic was happening.

The pair talked to the audience quite a bit, and Marketa was shocked by the fashion choices of people (read: women) in Miami, and the fact that there was a roof top pool with a bar in it at their hotel. She called Miami "mental" but in the best possible way. Marketa's accent, by the way, is also extremely awesome. She's Polish (I think) and learned English in Ireland. Picture THAT combination! The Aussie decided that Marketa is her new best friend, and I couldn't agree more.

At one point in the show, everyone left the stage except the violin player (who is now my new boyfriend) and he played an old Irish tune as a solo. He had a CD out, apparently, and now I must track it down. It was a super cool moment, especially having just (0kay, not JUST but you know what I mean) returned from Ireland where I got to hear all kinds of music of that sort. *sigh*

Towards the end, the two sang "Falling Slowly" together. How cute are they?

They, of course, came back for an encore. First, it was just Glen who grabbed the guitar and stepped away from the mic and just wailed this song called "Leave" acoustically, which was amazing. Angry Glen is awesome. Then the rest of the band trickled back out for a few closing songs (it was a long encore!), and a little tribute to Bob Dylan, whose birthday it was. They sang "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" acoustically and everyone seemed to just be jamming and having a great time. It was the perfect way to end an amazing night.

I think my version of heaven will be that concert, on replay, for eternity. I can dig.

Much love, friends.

Gettin' My Culture On

I've been getting my culture on lately. I've gone to several performances in the past couple of weeks. It kind of makes my nerd heart happy.

The first was an event my Russian friend invited me to. She's a Russian ballerina who works, at least at one of her jobs, for a non-profit that promotes the arts. Through her work, she got tickets to the Presidential Scholar's performances here, and I went to the dance/film one with her. It's basically a gathering of amazingly talented high school seniors that are up for the President's prize--apparently a very big deal. There were, if I recall, about fifteen dancers and five film makers who showcased their talents that night.

The film makers, for the most part, seemed pretty cool, and the dancers were mostly awesome. There was one kid who choreographed his own piece, and it was spectacular. As he was dancing it with his partner, I knew that something special was taking place. They were perfectly, and I mean EXACTLY, in sync with each other. That kid has amazing talent. If there is a single winner (a point I'm still unclear on), I hope it was him. There were even two tappers! I loved them, of course. The best part was the finale of "Single Ladies." You haven't lived until you've seen "Single Ladies" done in a tutu. Life. Changing. :)

Then that Sunday, I went to see a co-worker, The Aussie, perform in The Taming of the Shrew for Shakespeare in the Park. The performance as at The Barnacle (if you can remember that far back, I went there two Independence days ago). The show was great (and free), and even if the evening didn't go exactly as I planned (I got stood up... awesome), I had a great time with a friend, a bottle of wine, and my love, Willy S.

The performance was interesting, considering the subject matter of the play. At the end, Katarina gives a speech about how women should submit to their husbands and blah, blah, crap, so it's pretty tough for modern audiences to get it, or to relate to it and not hate it. The way it was played in this show was that Katarina was sort of in on the bet at the end--she was saying all that chauvinistic stuff to win the bet, not because she believed it. It made the play go down a little better. And The Aussie was great in the show--she seemed to play an Elizabethan, cartoon, version of herself. It was brilliant. And I loved her GIANT orange wedding hat. That thing was brilliant!

The next day, Monday, I went to the Panthers vs. the Thrashers at the Bank Atlantic Center, which some of you will remember is the site of realized dreams, where I met Donny, Danny, Jordan, Joey, and Jonathan. *sigh* Anyway, I heart hockey, and even though the Panthers are a far cry from my Wingies, it's still hockey. Or something like it. Unfortunately, Tiffany and I missed the only goal of the night because we were in the bathroom (bad decisions, clearly). We did, however, get nachos--the magical sort of "nachos" that are sold at sporting events and movie theaters that are really just chips and "cheese"--so all was well with the world. I was very grateful for another fun, free night of entertainment.

The next night, I went to see Eric and he showed me a magical little treasure of a place called SpecialTEA, a tea house out by FIU's campus. The place was brilliant. I had a decaf grapefruit tea that was DELICIOUS, and the food was good as well. It was great! If I went to FIU, I'd probably move in.

That Friday was Winter Formal, where, of course, I was a chaperon. Despite the dance floor smelling like Caesar dressing and teenagers sweating (you can't imagine how gross it was), the dance seemed to go well and the kids seemed to have a good time. We had to kick them out at midnight (a good sign) and didn't have to stay too late picking up. I didn't even take a picture, although it's sort of a tradition that I do. It really wasn't that exciting, I guess, and I was just happy to bring home a few roses and leave the hotel before 1 am.

The next day (I know, I know. The fun is exhausting, but stick with me!), Tiffany and I went to the South Beach Comedy Festival show called "Friends of the Daily Show." It was three stand-up comics: Rory Albanese, Rob Riggle, and John Oliver. Tiffany won free tickets to the show for recycling electronics on campus (I won a canvas bag and a DVD!), so it was awesome. I've been here three years now and always meant to go to a show for the Comedy Festival, and never managed it. But this year the stars aligned or something and I made it! The show was good, and it was great to see three comics instead of the standard one. All the guys were funny, although the acoustics of our seats were kind of... awkward. And I was sitting next to THE RUDEST people EVER. This one dumb you-know-what kept talking AT THE TOP OF HER LUNGS about asinine garbage that had NOTHING to do with the show. AND she was on her cell phone CONSTANTLY. I just want to meet that girl's mother and slap her. And then slap her daughter. Luckily, they left after two comics.

The last guy, John Oliver, is British so I had a bit of a hard time understanding what he was saying, due to a thick accent coupled with the aforementioned awkward acoustics. I'm pretty sure he was funny though. A good laugh is always a welcome friend. :)

Then last Sunday were my last two culturally enriching events. My friend The Russian was performing in a show called "The Steadfast Tin Solider" at a children's theater here. She played The Ballerina (Remember I mentioned she is one?) and so we went to see her show. She did a great job (duh) and it was a cool show, definitely for kids, but a cool show. Although the mimey emo puppet guy was kind of creepy... Anyway, the best part was when she came to the side of the stage trying to look all somber, and then saw us and started smiling. :) It was cute.

After the show, we went to RA for some eats and drinks, but I couldn't stay too long because I promised a friend I'd go see his band, which turns out to be awesome, play. They played at a "Battle of the Bands" show at a pub called Churchill's, which I fell in love with immediately. It's this crappy little dive of a place, and apparently where Marilyn Manson played his first show ever. It's sort of historic for punk music, I guess.

So anyway, I headed out there with a friend and watched The Albany (this is me starting the buzz...) rock out. Turns out, they're great. I totally dug their stuff... Now if they'd only play on less school nights I could maybe become, like, a groupie or something. lol

I've had an amazing last week or so. I love being busy, and it's great that we had midterms all week and I don't have any grading at the moment because things are just getting started again. I need to take advantage of it!

See you all soon.
Much love.

The Holidays are Upon Us...

I know... It's been too long. I'm sorry about that, but I DO have a lot to update about, so get ready!

First of all, I meant to mention in my last post that, well, a while ago now, UM had an advanced screening of Precious and Tiffany and I went. That movie... was brutal and beautiful all at the same time. It's hard to describe it--it's almost so shocking you don't even react to it. I dunno... I'm really happy I saw it, and everyone in that movie or that had anything to do with it deserves a nomination of some variety. It was definately an experience, and I would reccomend the movie. But be prepared for brutality.

Now onto my Thanksgiving celebration. I went to Eric's house on FIU's campus and he made an amazing turkey. It was only his second bird, but man, was it good! He's a winner, ladies and gentlemen! In fact, here he is with our little friend...

I contributed pumpkin pie (which Rent-A-Husband ate four pieces of) and rosemary, garlic, and goat cheese mashed potatoes, which were DElicious. Rent-A-Husband made stuffing (enough that I ate it for the next two weeks) and sangria which was like the nectar of the gods. Here's our little bartender doing what he does best...

Eric's friend Lora was also in attendance, and she's super fun and awesome. It was a tiny but lovely little party. Afterwards, we played Apples to Apples and this happened...

There is no coincidence, my friends. :)

Also in the holiday spirit, Tiffany and I had a Winter Party to celebrate all things winter. We had our tree up and made wintery food (cheese and beer soup, ham, hot chocolate) and had people over for a potluck. However, we had to clear some counter space to put out all the food (there were crock pots, plural, involved) so we put the liquor in my bathtub. I thought it would be hilarious to take a picture with all of it so... I did!

Nothing says "Joy of the Holidays" quite like a bathtub full of liquor. Nose and horns provided by Tiffany.

And this is our happy little holiday crew, minus Bubba, who's still in Michigan. :(

The night ended, as so many good nights do, with Apples to Apples. But for some reason, I wasn't winning like I usually do. Totally disappointing. Anyway, it was a great time and thanks to everyone who was there! :)

Oh, and just for good measure, here's our tree this year. Tiffany did it in purple. Quite pretty.

Let's see, what else? Two weekends ago I went to Orlando to with Eric to see RENT with the original Mark and Roger. I actually met Anthony Rapp (Mark) in college; he came to Grand Valley for a talk and he signed my CD and sang and talked for a bit. It was awesome. And seeing Adam Pascal (Roger) live has been a dream of mine since I first saw the show in 1997 or 8. I LOVE his voice--I want to liquefy it, put it in a tank, and shower in it every day. That's how magical it is to me. Seeing the both of them was a dream come true--no lie--and I enjoyed it so much. Plus, it was great to spend a day in Orlando with Eric and Lora, and even Lora's mom. It was so, so, so great.

Last weekend I spent at school for ETC #59, which was, as usual, great. I'm always blown away by the ETC experience and the kids that attend. This one was particularly emotionally exhausting for several reasons, but we all made it through and are better for it. I gave the talk on trust and it went pretty well, and a kid was actually able to open up to me about some stuff that was going on with her that she doesn't share, so that was awesome.

Speaking of... one of my kids stayed after school twice this week and, like, poured her heart out to me. It was great, in a way, because I think she really just needed to talk and have someone listen, but in another way it was so tough on me because, like, how do you convince a 17 year old girl she's not in love? Or that there WILL be other boys who will love her? It was hard, but I was there for her so hopefully, that's what she needed. She said to me before she left that she'd heard that sometimes God speaks through other people, and that maybe I was one of those people. I really hope that's true.

Anyway, at the moment I'm killing time before Tanya gets here because we're going to Orlando today! I want to see Disney at Christmas, so I'm really excited.

Wish is safe travels and I'll be in Michigan on Tuesday!

Much love.

Sometimes All You Can Say is "Wow."

My life of late has been, in a word, chaos. Serious chaos. I miss the days when I would come home, sit in my underwear, drink a glass of wine, and grade papers. Those days are over.

A couple of weeks ago, I had social plans literally every night of the week. It was a little bit ridiculous. Monday night, I went to a friend from church's house because he was cooking (Pad Thai, YUM), Tuesday I went to UM to see Blake MyCoskie speak (more on that in a sec), Wednesday we had the first SALTT trip of the year, Thursday I invited a friend over and I cooked, and Friday was Flavour at church. I never understood the meaning of longing until that week, when I truly longed to just be at home. Don't get me wrong--I like having a social life, and Lord knows it took me long enough to establish one, but change is always tough going for me. Anyway...

So Blake Mycoskie. Most people know him from the AT & T commercial (hot guy walking on a beach, giving shoes to kids, "chief shoe-giver) but he is the owner and creator of TOMS shoes, a shoe company that donates a pair of shoes to a child in need every time a pair of shoes is purchased. It's pretty amazing, and the story is pretty great too. Plus, he's hot. And a do-gooder. So yeah, we're pretty much in love. lol He spoke for about 45 minutes and then took questions, which I couldn't stand because everyone was all, "I'm so awesome I started this charity but I don't know how to make it work, blah, blah, blah." Lame. I'm a friggin' teacher--I save the world EVERY DAY. Whatever. So yeah, here's me and my TOMS, Blake, and the rest of the crew.

And here's just the two of us because Tiffany is a good friend.

In other adventures in my life, The Aussie had a friend in town (pretty remarkable, considering) and she wanted to show him a good time, so we went to my favorite place in Miami, Crazy Pianos. It was a pretty big group, and we had a great time. Tiffany and I looked cute, so, of course, there was a photo op!

It was a fun night. And to continue the adventure, I finally took advantage of the fact that I work at a school, on the bay, that owns sea kayaks. One of the science teachers, The Aussie, her friend, and I went to school on a lovely (read: hazy) Sunday afternoon and hit the water. Here we are, ready to go!

Here's Becky and I, looking like pros. She IS a pro... me not so much!

We kayaked out into the bay, and then headed back toward the channel and actually went through this tunnel onto the grounds of Viscaya. It was really beautiful, and awesome to see the bay with someone who knew what they were talking about (read: Becky The Science Teacher). It was like our own personal guided tour.

I'm hoping to post a bunch of pictures to Facebook soon, but for now these few will have to do. Not being home really has put a kink in my Facebook (and blogging, and grading, and sleeping) time, but I wanted to update now because I'm heading out of town to New York/New Jersey for a week with school. I'm really excited to go--we leave tomorrow--because I really could use some perspective on my life, and some time away to really just... be. So, I'll be off the radar for a bit, but that's okay. I need it.

Much love.

Beaches and Castles

Since last we met I've been enjoying my last few days of freedom. Trouble is, I can't really recall with clarity what it is I've been up to! I should have done this blog thing earlier, so I could actually remember what I've been up to. I can barely remember what I ate for breakfast this morning (nectarine and toast?), let alone what I've been doing for the past two weeks. Give or take.

I can say that I've been to South Beach more times this summer than I have probably in the whole of my time down here. I went with the Aussies and Liz (*sigh*) and then I went last Friday AND Saturday as well.

Friday night, Tiffany had a family reunion of sorts with a relative (distant, I believe) who just moved down here. She lives on South Beach for the time being, and I had nothing else to do, so I accompanied Tiffany down there to meet up with this cousin. We got dinner at Sushi Samba, where I'd been once before and had THE most amazing sea bass ON THE PLANET. Like, seriously? Just typing about it right now is making my mouth water. I was in the mood for sushi but once we got to the restaurant, I couldn't NOT have the sea bass entree. Which I did. And I thought I'd died and gone to heaven it was so perfect. That damn fish was expensive, but worth it. The only complaint I had was that it didn't come with, like, a roll or something. Homegirl needs some carbs to wash down that protein! It was so good, though, and it's only made my hankering for the sea bass worse, not better! Boo!

After we ate, we drove down Ocean just to, I dunno, people watch and stuff. You can see some crazy stuff driving down Ocean Boulevard on a Friday night! So we did our "loser lap" (what high school kids call driving down the strip because they can't, legally, go in anywhere) and headed home to hang out with the neighbors for a bit.

Saturday I headed back out to SoBe for lunch with my friend Drew and his brother, who was visiting him, and his brother's fratty friends. We ate at Mango's, this completely touristy restaurant where the waiters and waitresses (scantily clad ones, of course) dance salsa on the bar. It's such a weird caricature of Miami tourism... it was a trip. I had a Cuban sandwhich, which was basically what everyone else had, and it was delicious. After that, we went to the Weam, the World Erotic Art Museum, which was a trip and a half. It was full of this gaudy, hilarious stuff, some of it quite old, relatively speaking. It was hilarious to see, and the fratties seemed to have a good time.

When I got home, Tiffany and I had our "rib date" and she made the last rack of ribs we had in the freezer. They were a bit spicier than the last batch, but very good anyway.

On Monday, I went up to school for a seminar on Salesian education given by Sr. Mary Greenan, a.k.a Sister Mary Guinness, an Irish nun raised in England and living in California. The seminar was basically on what Salesian education is, means, and looks like. She was a great speaker, and the seminar was pretty helpful. Turns out, even though I'm not Catholic, I'm a Salesian teacher. :) And Sister Mary was super cool, a totally chill nun who didn't even wear a habit, and after the second session on Tuesday we went out John Martins, the Irish pub we went to on St. Patrick's Day, and Sr. Mary got a pint of the Guinness she likes so much. Yeah, I drank beer with a nun. Awesome.

Today I wanted to see something touristy, so I went to the Coral Castle down in the Redlands. It's this crazy mix of the Taj Mahal and, like, Stonehenge--a mysterious tribute to love. See, this guy Ed Leedskalnin from Latvia fell in love with this girl, Agnes, 10 years his junior, who called off the wedding the day before it was to take place. So Ed moved to the states, eventually settling in Florida due to TB, and built a castle made of coral for himself, Agnes, and the family he envisioned having with her. She never saw his tribute, which he built at night. The amazing thing about the castle is that Ed, who was only five feet tall and 100 pounds, moved the coral, which weights 125 pounds per square foot, all by himself, never revealing his methods.

The castle, which has been moved from its original site in Florida City, has other mysteries as well. For example, these numbers are found on both of the door frames of the little room where Ed lived as he was constructing the castle.

No one knows what they're for, or what they mean.

This is the view from Ed's lair, the whole castle grounds.

This is the throne room, complete with thrones for Ed, Agnes, and a child. There's also an uncomfortable throne, less well made, for the mother-in-law.

This is the obelisk. It is the tallest structure on the property standing at 28 feet. It also contains a carved stone in the middle that is completely hollow, carved with the made and moved dates of the castle, and Ed's birth year and city. No one knows what, if anything, is inside this hollow stone. It remains another mystery of the Coral Castle.

This is one of Ed's inventions--the first crock pot! It's two car parts fit together, and the food goes inside and cooks over the fire.

This is the Feast of Love table--presumably where Ed dreamed he and his Agnes would enjoy meals. It is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the World's Largest Valentine, weighing in at 2, 500 pounds.

The Coral Castle was cool to see, and I'm glad I went.

Finally, I have a new obsession. It's a singer named Diane Birch, who is like a Carly Simon cupcake with Carol King filling, Janis Joplin frosting, and Joni Mitchell sprinkles on top. Her album, Bible Belt, has been the soundtrack of my life for the past couple of weeks. You can watch her video for "Nothing But A Miracle" here. This song is SO AMAZING!

My last week of freedom... *sigh* Monday it's back to the grind. Kids' first day is Friday!

Much love.

Ribs and Tacos

Last Saturday we had a Tex-Mex potluck at our house where ribs and tacos were on the menu. We're still eating tacos (I've had them in some form every day but one since then...) and Tiffany and I have a "rib date" on Saturday. 'Cause they were GOOOOD.

In other news, nothing too exciting is going on. I've been working out every morning (yay me!) but unable to properly sun myself due to the fact that the pool is closed for repairs. It's been sunny and beautiful ALL WEEK (rare during the summer) and I can't even enjoy it by sitting by the pool. Um... Why don't they do repairs in February when it's "cold"? Why didn't they fix the pool in the year and a half it was just sitting there, finished, with water in it, but residents weren't able to swim? Why didn't they just BUILD IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME? I'm so sick of construction I could just barf--school's under construction, our condo complex is constantly under construction... Good thing I'm spending my days in Florida rather than Michigan, because that would just be worse--at least there's very little road construction.

Okay... rant over. Um, what else have I been up to? Last Friday there was a women's event at church that I went to. We were supposed to do dinner and a movie (just the women from church were invited) but it actually turned out to be only dinner because the movie, The Proposal, was sold out. What?! It's been out for a while! Anyway, dinner was at Dan Marino's and I had the French onion soup (gross) and a salad (decent), but the best part of the night was the company. I met some very cool ladies and had lovely dinner conversation about Ryan Reynolds. :)

Sunday I went to church, as per usual, but it was special for two reasons: one, Yesi, who was in Tallahasee for the past six weeks, was back! It was SO GREAT to see her! I missed her a ton. The second reason it was special was because Karla, who I'd met on Friday, and I had discussed Sunday kareoke and my homegirl came through! We went to Titanic after church and sang kareoke for a couple of hours. Yesi and I did a moving--dare I say mindblowing?--rendition of "Summer Nights" from Grease complete with blocking. I was Danny, and Yesi was Sandy. It must've been hilarious.

The problem was, one of the guys with us was a worship leader at another church, so he sang and actually SANG. I kind of feel like that's cheating. And THEN, one of the worship leaders from OUR church wouldn't even sing. Still, it was fun and I discovered another diabetic girl (woot!) and hung out with cool peeps. Yay.

I took myself to the movies Tuesday. I went to see 500 Days of Summer with Joseph Gordon Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. It was pretty cute--Summer, the girl in the movie, is from Michigan so that's pretty cool. The movie was pretty dark for a "love story", which I totally dig, and Joseph Gordon Levitt was all broken and sad and skinny and *love*! Oh, and side note: matinee prices=KEY to life!

I also spent the rest of my day cooking and baking. I made these avocado muffins, because yeah, they sounded just weird enough to be good. And they are. Except they have too many almonds in them, and next time I'll use almond extract as well. But I'm quite happy with the way they turned out. I also made a bunch of food to freeze, which, in retrospect, was a bad decision because it's hurricane season and two weeks without power mean a lot of food goes to waste. So... fingers crossed I get to eat all the delicious lasagna, green bean, and broccoli casserole I made before a hurricane blows Florida off the map. In fact, just cross your fingers that there's no hurricane at all. I'd be cool with that, too.

Yesterday evening turned into a surprise epic adventure when Yesi called me. See, she's moving to Ft. Lauderdale (sad) because she got a job teaching theater there (yay!). She and I took a road trip to scope out places for her to live. We headed up there two check out two places she'd spoken to people about, but we ended up stumbling into this cute little "historic neighborhood" with a studio for rent. She called on the place but had to leave a message.

We ate dinner at this amazing hot dog place called Dogma, that had all these crazy toppings for the dogs. Fresh toppings. Mmm. I had a "California Dog" (a chili cheese dog) but added jalapenos. And they were HOT and glorious. I can't wait to visit Yesi and eat there again!

Yesi and I left after driving around for a bit, but we decided we needed, yes NEEDED, Krispy Kreme donuts. There aren't any in Miami really, so we went on a quest for on and found one on the way home. SCORE! While we were getting them, Carol from the studio apartment called, and we headed back to Ft. Lauderdale to look at the place. It turned out to be tiny but nice and Carol's house was immaculate. So immaculate in fact that it was on the cover of Home magazine a while back. How cool is that?

Yesi and I had a fruitful and fun evening, and Tiffany was happy because I brought her donuts, too. And let me just say that Krispy Kreme donuts are A. MAZING when they're fresh and hot. Oh Lord in Heaven hallelujah!

Tomorrow's Friday and I'm hoping some fun activities take place... perhaps some sushi consumption or some happy hour beverages? And then Saturday I'm heading to SoBe to play for a bit before my "rib date." Woot!

Too bad summer's almost over... I'm just hitting my stride!

Much love.