september 02, 2010 835pm

I went to visit the DFW area this past weekend to wrap up my 10 days off work. I arrived at my parent's place Friday afternoon and was greeted by an adorable little Chinese girl, who is my cousin Annie. I have not seen her since she was born because my aunt sent her to China for a couple of years to be with family (long story that I am not sure I even understand). She offered me watermelon and I sat at the table with 3 other Chinese women, one was Grace my stepmom. Grace let me know that she is not a fan of my blonde hair, twice. After sitting there for 5 minutes listening to them converse in Chinese while I looked on, I took a nap. Dad finally came home and immediately changed into his sweats and got on the treadmill. I am thankful that my dad takes care of himself. He will be 61 soon, and he is still working full time as a civil engineer. I was sitting on the couch when I realized that I was witnessing a great moment in my life that I should cherish. Dad was on the treadmill; in his 20+ year old sweats and a sweatband watching the Saints play football. He was also singing "When the Saints Go Marching In." I think I must have had the biggest smile on my face. The moment was priceless. Then I realized that I got my weird from dad. And I am pretty OK with that.

The rest of the weekend was spent driving all around the DFW area. I hung out with my grandma in Fort Worth and taught her how to use her camera phone. She was really cute about it exclaiming "Now I have a picture of you on my phone!" when we figured it all out. She also told me that I get prettier with age. I think I like that compliment. Of course it was followed with "I just wish I could bleach your arm." But it was not hurtful. She loves me. I agree with her comment though, I think I am getting better over all with age. I am certainly fitter than I was at age 21. I am also more confident about my desires. Now if I could just get better at articulating how I feel verbally.

Lately I have been having terrible thoughts about loosing my dad. I know this is because I have watched a dear friend of mine loose his mom to cancer. She passed away yesterday. Here I am, bringing myself to tears at the HEB thinking such awful thoughts while I am trying to pick out a good sandwich mustard. I have problems pushing feelings out of my mind. I also have a hard time hiding my emotions. These are things I want to work on in the coming 27th year of my life. I am hoping by this time next year I can hide a bad day from my face. I hear that actually helps make sadness go away.

august 25, 2010 313pm

This past weekend, Kelly and I took a little road trip to South Padre Island. It is no Florida Beach (though I have never been, maybe next summer?) but it was quite relaxing. We had no objectives, except to lie on the beach and listen to the waves while soaking up some sun. The island was a bit deserted, I suppose because of school starting this week. Kelly is now comfortable enough around me to fart. Often. As weird as it sounds, I like when I reach that point with people. It is not always farting, maybe someone gets comfortable enough around you to expose their bare feet or sing loud to songs in the car. My favorite part of the trip was Saturday evening. After dinner we went to the beach and just hung out till it was dark. Then we laid there, side by side, and pointed out stars and talked about whatever came to mind, while little creepy crabs scurried around our feet.

I am getting better at waking up to feed the homeless on Tuesdays. It is easier when Bailey collects me, but when I ride my bike there, I feel a bit more awake upon arrival. After feeding this past Tuesday, we went for a good ol' fashioned breakfast at Dan's Hamburgers. I was craving some biscuits and gravy, but it is hard to find vegetarian gravy when you are out to eat. I settled for biscuits with eggs and grits. yummm. Then we went to check out Mayfield Park. I adore the peacocks in my neighborhood, and I heard that Mayfield park is also home to them. There were a couple baby peacocks there, which was a first for me. And the Park has a cute area with several ponds, lily pads and coy fish. It would be a great picnic spot. I was able to test out a new app I purchased for my iphone too, called ShakeItPhoto. It makes you pictures look old and Polaroid like.

A dear friend of mine, Alexa Woodward, played on KOOP Radio this past week. Andrew and Linky accompanied her on bass and vocals/washboard, respectively. I was able to tag along. It was exciting for me, since I have never been in a radio station studio before. I got to wear headphones. And of course, they all sounded great. Alexa is in town for a bit recording her new record.

Andrew is back from his long summer tour. I am happy to hear that he will be moving back into his room in September. While Tyler has been a great subleaser, Andrew is my best friend. I think him and Raina are actually going to be moving in there, which is great. We will now have a dog and two cats in the house. No worries though, Hopey gets along great with my littles. I timed my vacation perfectly. Several friends are in town, and I actually get to hang out with them.

august 16, 2010 840pm

There is something about the way I look, act smell or speak that encourages people to let me have it. They just feel an urge to let me know what they think of me. It is weird. Most of it happens at work with random donors. It started with something as simple and harmless as "You do not look like a Mary. You just do not seem that innocent and conservative." Then someone thought they would let a coworker know this little jewel, "That girl is so pretty and she just ruined everything by getting tattooed. She will never find someone to marry her." And then today, I was minding my own business, helping a donor and the one next to me looks up and says to me "You look like someone that would be on 6th Street often." I think I even had a lab coat on my body, hiding my tattoo. He just thought I look like one of those cool girls that get wasted at bars on 6th and try as hard as they can to wear as little clothing without being naked? I asked him exactly what made him think that of me, and that I actually rarely frequent 6th Street. The best thing down there is the Alamo Ritz, in my opinion. If I had the ability to breathe fire like a dragon, I would have used it on him. I am tired of old people judging me. Fuuuuuuuuuck all ya'll. Stop doing that. It hurts my feelings, even when I try real hard to not let it get to me.

Operation homeless feeding tomorrow so I can stop pitying myself. Things are really not that bad. I think this headache I have is responsible for my sour mood this evening. To cheer myself up a bit, I google image kitten photos. Does everyone not do that as well? Anyway, this one is the desktop background for my work login.

august 15, 2010 1118pm

4 days till I have 9 days off of work. Kelly and I are taking a girly trip to South Padre Island this weekend. I plan to lie on the beach all day and drink. Then nap. Maybe eat a little too.

Saturday, Kristen and I went to the Austin Ice Cram Festival at Waterloo Park downtown. The high in Austin was 102 F Saturday. It was bloody hot outside. We stay about 1.5 hours. My favorite was the ice cream sandwich with homemade snickerdoodle cookies. I also revisited memories of middle school mall trips for a couple minutes while eating Dip and Dots. Ice cream of the future...

After sweating a couple pounds, I met up with the work girls to have lunch at Madras Pavilion. I love Indian food, but for some reason, I do not eat it often. Now that I think of it, it is probably a good thing I do not eat it often. Much like many things in my life, I have little self-control. I usually eat myself sick when I go out for Indian food. Naan is manna.

Then Kristen and I went to a jort party at Shangri-La for Misprint Magazine. Just in case you were wondering, jorts are jean shorts, usually hand cut. We mostly people watched. I ran into a couple friends. I definitely felt a bit out of place, but it was nice to hang and have a couple beers. We later went to La Zona Rosa to see Corinne Bailey Rae. That girl is not only super cute, she has an amazing voice.

august 14, 2010 953am

I am so thankful to have a great resource like Ladybird Lake a mile away from my house. I love running on that trail. This morning, at a water stop, a young good-looking man said to me out of the blue "You have a great body, by the way." I was wearing running shorts and a sports bra (which made my boobs look much smaller than their usual small), but I was also soaked to the bone with sweat, since I had just finished a 5+ mile run at 8am. He said it in a non-creepy way. In fact, I think he might have been gay, because there was no hint of "I want your body on my body" in his voice. I have never been told that though, well, I have never been told that by a guy that I was not sleeping with.

Thanks to a friend of mine, I was able to catch some of Shark Week. He went out of town for the weekend and not only offered to DVR a couple shows, but he gave me to keys to his bachelor pad downtown (since I do not have a TV.) One of the most interesting things I learned about sharks was that the Great White Shark has never been seen mating. In fact, shark experts have no idea how or where they mate. I would think that with all the crazy people that like to tempt fate and swim with sharks, someone would have witnessed the act?

My brother Stephen blew through town for about 1.5 hours Saturday with a friend from out of the country. We parked downtown, walked down 6th Street and then to the State Capitol. They wanted to check out one of those cheesy tourist stores on 6th Street that sell shirts that say "clever" things such as "I got wasted on 6th Street." My brother was just as much a tourist as his friend from the Philippines. But, it was nice to see some family in Austin, since none of them seem to want to visit.

I helped Kelly move into her new apartment this past weekend. We did it all by ourselves. Who needs boys? I even drove the UHAUL, which I have never done. My dad usually does that job. I tried to fry some okra for her Sunday night in her new place, but I just ended up filling the place with smoke. I have decided that I am unable to fry food. Good thing I brought over some hummus and mint salsa, because we were not eating much of that okra. Okra fail.

august 06, 2010 157pm

Last Wednesday, I went to Uchiko with my friend Chris and his niece Ella. Uchiko is a new sushi restaurant that just opened last month across the street from where I work. The owners of Uchi on South Lamar opened it. They are similar (so I hear, I have yet to go to Uchi) in quality, price and chicness, but I hear Uchiko is a bit ballsier. Ella's dad is the Executive Pastry Chef for Uchi and Uchiko, so we got some special treatment. The valet guys, who knew who we were immediately, greeted us by name. We had a nice spot at the sushi bar, so we could see the kitchen, where Philip, Ella's dad would be. Yoshi was our sushi chef for the evening. He was funny and very informative. Ella is the coolest 11 year old I have ever met. You can tell that she is around interesting adults often, because her vocabulary, topics of discussion and attention to detail were very mature. At one point during dinner, she got real close to my face and said "You have the prettiest eyes!" Ha. I felt like she was my date for a second, and blushed a bit. My favorite, which is not pictured, was the cobia crudo (Caribbean Kingfish, cucumber and jalapeno.) That is such a bland description for what it was though. The cucumber was thinly sliced, width wise and marinated in something great. The most interesting item was the akami tewhich (tuna, watermelon, cilantro and coriander.) The desserts were pretty fancy as well. They are Philip's creations. One of them had a couple nuggets of deep fried sweetened condensed milk. After eating, per Ella, we went to Toy Joy. All in all, it was an ideal evening, and I will definitely be going back... after a couple more paychecks. Rightfully so, Uchi and Uchiko are on the high end when it comes to price.

august 03, 2010 944pm

Tomorrow is my roommate Robert's birthday. He is more than a roommate though; he is a dear friend of mine. I met Robert Steel at the Cactus Cafe Open Mic Night. I have met many of my dear friends through that wonderful establishment. Robert started to come to the Open Mic in maybe the fall of 2008? Maybe it was earlier that year? I lose track of years in my old age. He became good friends with my then boyfriend, Dan Edwards. You know, that British guy who had to move back to the motherland. Anyway, that is how I met Robert. When I talk about him to people, they are surprised that I would have a friend/roommate who is 40. Well, if you really know me that would not be a surprise. I have been known to make friends with my landlord and many other people that are twice my age. I do not discriminate. Basically, I like people. I like interesting people that are nice, have something to teach me and have similar interest as me. Age is really not a factor. Though, it is rare for me to hang with people younger than myself. Maybe that comes from a life of tagging along with my brother Stephen, who is 3. 5 years older than myself. Back to Robert. He always has my best interest in mind. He texts me when he is going to the HEB, asking if I need anything. He was there to help me up the stairs after my surgery. He will eat anything I make and love it. He loves my cats just as much as I do. When he refills their water, he takes the time to put ice cubes in there, because they like it that way. When I plan to bake after work and forget to put the margarine on the counter so it can come to room temperature, he does not mind doing it for me. He also loves Cholula hot sauce as much as I do.

I made these vegan cupcakes for his birthday. The peanut butter icing is probably the BEST icing I have ever tasted. No lie. BEST.

Last week, when Robert noticed Tyler had eaten the food I had set out for dinner, he went to Lulu B's to get me a sandwich, so it would be waiting for me when I returned from work. Lulu B's was closed, so he went to Taqueria Aranda's and got me a avocado burrito. There are so many good things about that. Somehow he knew I was saving the food Tyler ate for my dinner, though I never told him. Everyday, he sees me slouch in from work, tired, and knew that I would be sad/mad to see that the dinner I was looking forward to ALL DAY was gone. Also, he knows two of my happy foods.

I suppose our relationship sounds like a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, eh? But it is not. There is no incentive for him to be nice to me, and vice versa. There is no vagina in it for him. People doing nice things just because are what makes this world great. So, cheers to Robert Steel!

july 31, 2010 605pm

Friday, I finally took advantage of a promised rowing lesson from a friend. We met down at the Texas Rowing Center off Lady Bird Lake at 9am. My friend Randy spent the first 45 minutes or so explaining everything to me and teaching me proper rowing technique. Then, we each got in a single rowing boat and he set me free. I have to say, it was pretty fun. You have more control rowing than with kayaking or canoeing. And, you can go much faster since most of the power comes from your legs. I expected to feel some muscle soreness the day after, since all I do is run, and rowing works different muscles. Well, my ass is VERY sore this day. I hope that is normal...

Today, I ate at Joe's Bakery & Mexican Food on east 7th. A platelet donor has been urging me to try it for weeks now. I had the migas plate, which came with beans and tortillas. I definitely had a food baby after I cleaned my plate and ate all the tortillas. I think my friend Brandon was impressed and maybe a bit scared at the amount of food I ate. He did make the comment that most girls do not eat, and he was charmed by my clean plate club award. It was good. Their flour tortillas were perfect, warm and fluffy. Their green salsa had a nice kick to it. However, I think I will continue to go to Juan and a Million when I venture east for breakfast foods. You cannot really beat the Don Juan, in price and unhealthiness.

Last night I went to the Foot Patrol show at Beauty Bar. I am not a huge fan of that place anymore. A few years ago, that was my favorite place to dance. But, in my old age, dancing does not happen much, unless I am at a wedding with an open bar. That place is a bit too scenester for my taste now days. But, my dear friend Jeffery drums for Foot Patrol, and it had been a while since I had seen them. They did not play till midnight, so my friend Chris and I hung out at a couple bars on South Congress, had girl talk and went downtown around 1130pm for the show. It was fun, but they were missing the trumpet player, and apparently the sax player quite. So, it was a slimmed down version of Foot Patrol. However, all the band members, minus Jeffery, were wearing Depends diapers. Jeffery is not much for costumes. He use to dress as a judge, long white curly wig and all, and he was called Judge Jeff.

july 28, 2010 652pm

This past Saturday, I went to Hamilton Pool Nature Preserve for the second time in my life. I forget about that place because it is a little bit of a drive, and I am sans car. I went with my friend Brandon. It was our first hang minus our mutual friend, and he had never been. Brandon and I both grew up in Grand Prairie and went to the same high school, but he was a year below me, so I never knew him. In regards to Hamilton Pool, a word of warning, if you plan on going on a Friday-Saturday-Sunday, get there by 1030am, or you will be waiting in line. They have 75 parking spots. Once the lot fills up, they let people in on a one-car-out-one-car-in basis. Believe it or not, Brandon and I waited 2.5 hours! Yeah! Crazy. We were initially told it would be a 1.5 hour wait, and we both did not have anything better to do, so we waited in the car. It got a bit warm, but time went by quickly. We chatted, drank and chilled.

I also tried to give Jabba a summer buzz cut this past weekend. I took him into the bathroom, and he freaked out a bit, assuming it was bath time. His back claws dug into my inner arm! Ouch! Once we started the actual shaving, he was very peaceful, but visibly annoyed. We discovered that Robert's trimmers were too dull to get the job done. We will have to try again once one of us gets some better trimmers.

Some Say Leland has been on tour for over a week now. I miss them all. I have been doing a good deal of sleeping (self diagnosed summerSAD) and solo hanging at the house. I visited the farm animals in the backyard once, but then immediately regretted my decision. I came back upstairs with 100,000,000 mosquito bites! Hilary Clinton is definitely a rooster. I hear her in the mornings from time to time while getting ready for work. The duck's feathers are almost all grown as well. I want to get a little chick and raise it in my room as a pet. I hear chickens can be great pets though.

I have been trying to feed the homeless on Tuesdays this summer. I am supposed to be there at 5am! It is hard enough to roll my ass out of bed at 5am to run, but be somewhere at 5am? Then straight to work? Thankfully, I had a bit of help making it this week. Bailey goes to First United Methodist Church downtown, the church where the breakfast is held. We were accountability partners. He collected me from my house, which made life easier that morning. This week, I served the eggs. Every Tuesday, a woman comes with her hair clippers and gives free haircuts. I think she brings an extra pair of clippers and lets one of the breakfast guests help her out. That is dedication! 5am haircuts. Much like running, I never regret helping out with breakfast.

ALSOALSOALSO I FINALLY won under the Topo Chico bottle cap. It was a very exciting moment. Every bottle I open starts with a short sigh when I read "Thank You for Participating!" under the cap. Now I need to figure out how to collect my T-shirt...

Since I have been getting my CSA every week, I have been trying to make more food. I hate to see good produce go to waste! This week, I made Linguine with Lentils and Roasted Butternut Squash, a recipe from Vegan on the Cheap. It was so good! I used green lentils, which I have never used before. Robert and I had it for dinner Friday night. Then on Sunday, I made Eggplant Bharta, a recipe from La Dolce Vegan. It was very spicy. I used the eggplant and a little hot chili from my CSA. I was unsure how hot it would be, so I took out half the seeds. It came out nicely. I added a bit more salt to it, since I am a salt phene who individually salts her chips.

july 23, 2010 119am

For the past week, I have been stalking this flower. Her name is Lois. She is an amorphophallus titanum, or corpse flower. It is about to bloom in Houston at the Museum of Natural Science. We all went to see it last weekend, but it had yet to begin the blooming process. It had though, grouwn 2 feet in 10 days! Here is a photo of it as of 730pm Thursday night. When it fully opens, it smells like docomposing mammal flesh, which is supposed to attract certain bugs in order to pollinate.

This past weekend, I went on a mini tour with the Mcmercy Family Band. They played a show in Nacogdoches, Texas Friday night and another in Houston, Texas Saturday night. I went a day early with my friend Kathryn, so I could hang out with her family. They are so lovely, and treat me so well. Her sister-in-law made us homemade biscuits and gravy Friday morning! It was nice to see Payton and James, Kathryn's niece and nephew. The first thing Payton said when she saw me was "Look, Mary has stamps on her arms" pointing to my tattooed arm. CUTE. It is nice to be out in the country. The town Kathryn grew up in has a population of 415. I went on a nice run Friday morning and saw a buffalo! As much as I love the trail at Ladybird Lake, seeing large farm animals during a run is pretty neat.

Friday night, Kathryn, myself and her mom drove to Nacogdoches from their home in Chireno to meet up with Country Willie and the Mcmercy Band for their show at the Yoga Studio downtown. I stayed with the band and Kathryn returned home. We were lucky enough to score two rooms at a pretty nice hotel in Nacogdoches called the Fredonia. Saturday, we all got up and went swimming at some springs before heading to Houston. Mcmercyand Willie had a gig at Shoeshine Charley's Big Top that night. After the show, we went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to check out the corpse flower at 2am. The museum has been staying open all hours because the bloom could happen at any moment, and the stench only lasts for a limited time.

We got back to Austin Sunday around 530am. Grizz was kind enough to drive us during the wee hours of the morning, so we could all sleep in our beds. Also, we wanted to be back in Austin so we could head out to Alia and Charles' wedding celebration at the lake that afternoon. They rented out several lake houses for the party. The main one was three stories! This was probably my second time to go to the lake here in Austin. Being biking distance from Barton Springs and Deep Eddy, why would I go anywhere else? Also, lake water feels like piss water. It is a bit warm for my taste. I like to see good friends happy in love. Best of luck to Alia and Charles, though I am confident that they do not need it.

Lastly, a bit of food has been made in my kitchen. I did not take photos of everything made due to bad lighting in the kitchen and it being night already. I got some great okra and tomatoes in this past CSA, so I made a stew and spiced it up with a pepper that was also in the CSA. I also made another recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. These are Magical Coconut Cookie Bars. If you are wondering, YES they were quite magical. So magical that I might them again next week. I took them to work so I would not eat the whole batch and had several request for more.

july 15, 2010 657am

Just a quick update before I head out of town for the weekend. Tonight, after work, I am heading to Nacogdoches, Texas with Kathryn. Mcmercy will be playing there tomorrow night, but I thought I would go early with her to spend some time with her lovely family. Then it is off to Houseton Saturday for the next show. Then, Sunday I will be back in Austin for Alia and Charles' wedding! BUSY weekend.

Last Friday, Some Say Leland had their CD release at Central Presbyterian Church downtown. It was a weird show, but it sounded neat. I sold merchandise for them. They released two EPs, one that is also on clear vinyl. CLEAR! Yeah, it looks pretty neat.

I made a recipe from Vegan on the Cheap. Wheat balls! Yes, I know it sounds silly, but they were yummy. I put them over whole wheat pasta and topped it all off with some marinara sauce I made using tomatoes from Krys' garden. I also finally tried out the homemade Clif Bar recipe I have had for ages. I eat peanut butter Clif Bars like they are going out of style. I used almond butter and chopped almonds. I have yet to try them, but I will give you the link to the recipe anyway. Have a good weekend!

july 07, 2010 1012pm

I called my dad on Monday to say hello and see how things were going in Grand Prairie. For those of you who do not know my dad, he is not much of a talker, especially on the phone. The first 5 minutes of our conversation was spent talking about what he made for breakfast. Every morning he makes oatmeal. Not just any oatmeal though. He uses plain oats and adds wheat germ, flax meal, goji berries, some other Chinese thing that is supposed to be good for you, brown sugar (not too much) and skim milk. He then "nukes it" in the microwave for 5 minutes, takes it out and adds frozen blueberries and "nukes it" for another minute. "And then you have 3 servings! (one for himself, one for my stepmom Grace and the other for Grace's mother, my Chinese grandma)" The next 5 minutes of the conversation were of him describing to me, in way too much detail, the plot of a movie he watched on Sunday. Then he told me that I am always in his prayers, said I love you, and that was it. Weird, huh? That conversation has had me thinking all week about my dear old dad. I have realized that I AM my father's child, practical and weird. How much of my personality and decisions are due to nature or nurture? I like to think of myself as liberal in many ways, unlike my dad. But, the apple does not fall far from the tree. At age 25, I am just as obsessed with nutrition and healthful foods as he is. I am also just as practical and future oriented as he is. As much as I try to live in the now, I cannot help but think to the future and wonder how the decisions I make now will effect on my future life. My dad raised me to be self sufficient and independent, almost to a fault. I have a hard time accepting help from people or gifts/favors, especially if it is from someone I am dating. I am accustomed to doing everything myself, or helping others, but not asking for help.

In recent Annie Street news, we have chickens! And, we also have a duck. Pete and Lindsey built a nice little coop in the back yard. The duck, Loretta, and the first chicken, Hilary Clinton, are best friends. Lindsey bought them together because she felt bad for the little duck. I am not quite sure if chicken number 2 has been named. They are still a bit too young to be paying eggs, but I am excited. I am picky about my eggs these days. I refuse to buy factory-farmed eggs. I enjoy going to the famer's market and getting eggs from local farmers.

I actually had the 4th of July off work this year, so I took advantage of the day. Austin was just getting over a week of rain. The sun was threatening to come out, so I was off the Barton Springs. I have been hanging out there alone as of late, which is nice. I just lay out a blanket, swim, dry out, read and repeat. I am reading a book my sister gave me, The Aquariums of Pyongyang. It is a first hand account of 10 years of concentration camp life in North Korea, in the late 1970's. Can you belive that in the late 20th century, concentration camps existed?!?!

I had dinner with the Kagan's this past Tuesday. I had not been there since I housesat, so it was good to be around the family. Adam's hair is getting so shaggy. He is a silly little one. The first thing he did when I walked in was put on my shoes, on the wrong feet of course. Josh did not have to work that night, so he also ate with us. Krys made vegan lasagna and a cucumber mint salad. I have never had mint in my cucumber salad, but it was delicious! I love cucumber salad. Krys has been cooking from a cookbook called Vegan on the Cheap. I have enjoyed many of the book's recipes at family dinners, so I decided to order it. I am excited to cook from it. I might just go vegan for a month or further encourage myself to do so.

Lastly, I actually cooked something besides cookies. Guess what it was? Vegan Mac. I have been making it at least once a week. I added some white beans and broccoli to the mix. A friend at work gave me some fresh tomatoes and cucumbers from her garden today, so I made my own little cucumber salad. I did not make the dressing, since there was some in the fridge. Let me tell you, there is NOTHING like homegrown tomatoes. Guy Clark really knows what he is talking about. "There's only two things money can't buy, that's true love and home grown tomatoes."

july 02, 2010 141pm

I am back from the great Emerald City. I have never been there during the month of June. I should have brought a light jacket, along with my cardigan, maybe a little scarf? I somehow fooled myself into thinking that I would wear a dress out at night. It was chilly, but it was a nice change of pace. It did rain a bit Friday morning, just after my run. But we just chilled in the house a bit, drank some English breakfast and it was gone before we knew it. The sun came out a bit as well. I was happy to be in town celebrate Matthew's 27th birthday. I had not been to Seattle since 2008.

I arrived Thursday night. I was beat, so not much happened besides food at Broadway Grill and home. I got up Friday and went for a nice run down to Pike's Street Market and back. It was a tough run coming back though. If any of you have been to Seattle, the only way back up to Capitol Hill from Downtown is STEEP. My ass definitely got a workout. I also had the chance to meet Bram, one of Matthew's roommates, in his boxers Friday morning. It was a bit awkward. Well, awkward for me. Not him, because he continued to walk around as such, and even put on socks and shoes and loaded up his car in that fashion. I was warned that he is a bit odd, but he left for the weekend anyway. We then headed downtown to check out the market, get some breakfast and hang. We ended up buying the veggies for the birthday BBQ at the market. I love buying produce at open-air markets. The birthday BBQ was held on the roof of a friend's building. It overlooked the sculpture garden and the water. Thomas and Nicole came out. A birthday cake shot and several beers later, we were shaking our groove thangs at Frontier, which was like a sauna. I was soaked to the bone once the night was over.

OF COURSE, the first World Cup match I see at a bar, we loose. It was a rough day in general. Matthew and I were a bit hung-over from prior night events, but the game started at 1130am our time. Thank goodness Thomas and Nicole, who did not go dancing with us the night before, were up early and snagged us a table at the Tap House downtown. We all had our Bloody Mary and fried food fix while watching the USA loose. It was sad. We were all pretty grumpy after, so we parted ways to nap it off. After my typical Mary nap (>3) I was ready to face the world again. Lately, I have been adding a bit of fish to my diet. I suppose I have not really been a vegetarian for most of this year. However, I am quite picky about where I actually eat fish. So, unless I am eating sushi (which is about 2-3 times a year) or near a coast, I stick to a mostly vegan diet. Matthew took me out to a great seafood place near the market. On our walk down to eat, we happened to see the dyke march on Broadway, which was interesting. At dinner, I had some excellent Halibut and some beet greens on the side. I think I enjoyed the beet greens the most though. I have a slight obsession with greens in general. After dinner, I was somehow still sleepy, so I fell asleep shortly after dinner and a walk.

Sunday was the Gay Pride Parade. I did not expect to see any penises, but I saw several. More than several, actually. Some were painted, some were not. It was a fun though. My favorite thing about the parade was the community support. Seattle Public Schools had a float, several churches and even the public library! The librarians were cute, with their carts. They even choriagraphed a dance with the carts. I also wanted to mention that Matthew and I dined at Highline, a new vegan bar/restaurant on Broadway. THE BEST VEGAN PHILLY SANDWICH EVER. Really. It was bad ass.