Weekend Update

Despite my feeling very crappy for the last, oh, seven or so days, I did have a few highs this weekend.

Friday night: eating spectacular tom yum soup from our favorite Thai place and not getting sick. Watching movies—yes, you can rent them for $1 a night at McDonald's and some grocery stores, for those of you who asked the last time—with my honey, on the couch. (Saw: Sex and the City, Leatherheads, Forgetting Sarah Marshall).

Saturday: learning the art of bellydancing for an hour and a half with my sister. It's hard! We giggle a lot. Still, I feel I get a good workout, hear fun middle eastern club music, and I think I do feel better afterward. Hips are so sore.

A beautiful wedding of some friends. So sophisticated with champagne and cream colors everywhere. A fun couple with great taste. Outside on the Mississippi just a few blocks from our home. I was so happy for them. And it was a little reminder of where I was four months ago.

Then, a be-still-my-heart moment: A night with Liz Phair...where she performed the entirety of Exile in Guyville in order, plus an encore of a new song, Chopsticks, May Queen, Polyester Bride. I know I've written about how I've met Liz before, and how much I love her, but this was like the concert of my life. Exile in Guyville is my favorite album of all time. I can listen to it in any mood. It understands me. When I'm feeling lonely, sad, happy, frustrated, elated, angry, moody, thoughtful, or content, it speaks to me. Fatty and I had great sightlines, very close. It makes my heart so big that she decided to do this tour, 15 years after the album was being released. I'm still having trouble putting it into words. I had a big dumb smile on my face all night, I rocked out. After a long, shitty week, it was a welcome, needed, and loved couple of hours.

Today: running errands with a friend, having a gift card to the bookstore (bought: The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz), Simply Orange and waffles with my honey, making a "real" dinner, as William called it: meatloaf, roasted potatoes, and squash. And it tasted like the best thing ever. And it agreed with me.

Bonus: fall clothes, getting rolled out! I was hoping that there would be some things packed away I'd forgotten about, but was a little bummed to find that's not the case. Sad day! But hooray for scarves and skinny jeans with tall boots.

the funky four corners

sharon jones last night: fantastic. if she comes to your town, make sure that you see her and the dap kings.
this is what you will get:
a heaping spoonful of shimmying, shaking, jazz theatrics, motown backup dancing, and aretha-like vocals. you'll get some humor, some carnival barking, a red velvet curtain and, maybe, a cover of janet jackson's "what have you done for me lately?"
you will get, i hope, a song in which she recreates all the dances they did while she was growing up in augusta, georgia: the jerk, the mashed potato, the funky four corners, and a few others i wasn't aware of. she will perform them, to a T, for you. you might get a stellar cover of james brown's "it's a man's, man's, man's world."
you will get the fabulous new song, also the newest album title, "100 days, 100 nights." we got delights off her last record, "my man is a mean man," "how long do i have to wait," and "how do i let a good man down," one of my favorites. she didn't play stranded, which is my absolute favorite.
we got a show. and it was $11. criminal.
if you love motown, sharon is for you. if you love jazzy beats, sharon jones is for you. if you smile at that baptist style come-to-jesus singing, sharon jones is for you. all the dap kings wore suits; one wore sunglasses a la the blues brothers. the horn section danced (the trumpet player was phenomenal).
but what i love most about sharon jones. . . is her confidence. this woman is amazing. she has this beautiful soul sista voice, so powerful. her arms and legs are so, so muscular and beautiful. she has not one iota of inhibition on stage, shaking her curves every which way. she knows she's hot. she rocked it. and she's over 50. yeah. you'd never know it. she kicks amy winehouse squarely in the butt.
tonight: shopping with one of the bestiest friends in the whole wide world. yay!!!

it's friday night (oh what a night)

ahhhh, friday. and i have monday and tuesday off!!!! fantastic. i'm sooo looking forward to this. i just finishedup a bunch of work and can make some dinner and get ready to see sharon jones at first ave.

if you don't know who sharon jones is, educate, baby! she is a soul singer that sounds straight outta motown heyday times. her backing band is the dap kings, who also backs amy winehouse. she has an amazing voice and is criminally underrated. this woman should be everywhere. i'm extremely excited to see her tonight. also, the $10 ticket price doesn't hurt.

it's been a peaceful day at home, working. i like working from home. mo has been snuggled up on the couch with me all day while i have been typing away.

uhoh. internet acting strange again. i better post so i make sure to get this one in. i'm so disappointed i missed last night. :(

more posting tomorrow. i'm gonna keep going anyway.

tonight! tonight! tonight!

our theme song amongst our friends last year: since u been gone. the kilipino is now in paraguay and we miss her dearly. it will feel like a little hole tonight when we go to see KELLY CLARKSON.

since u been gone. . . here we are rocking out on a road trip pit stop.



(that's me in the pink hat) so excited. . . we'll miss you spoons.

sunny saturday

the clouds have lifted! i worked until 10:30 last night, but i believe the long nights are over for a while. and the day dawned bright, then rained, and now is the perfectest day of bright blue skies and bright yellow and red leaves. and it's, like, 80 degrees outside. weird. but beautiful! i'll take it. it's like god's way of saying "you worked your whole summer away, here's a good day for you." nonetheless, i have made my clothing transition to fall and i just can't wear summery stuff anymore. i've changed the mindset for clothing! can't go back.
otherwise, a quick errandy trip to ikea (none of the candles that i wanted, boo)--but we did get some mats for our bathroom (three little circle ones, funky!). quick trip to target yielded some new towels and a ladybug halloween costume for mo (pictures to come!), and a shower curtain (black and white graphic dots to match the new mats). hooray! we have needed those little updates for the bathroom for a long time.
tonight; regina spektor. i'm excited! william, fatty, and i are going.
hooray!