Yesterday was a dreamy day off. I got up early with rebby and had her drop me off in the strip district for some early morning grocery shopping. I went straight for Deluca's, and read my book while I drank awesome diner coffee, and ate my biscuits and gravy. I didn't realize Deluca's had them as an option, and man were they better than the last time I went to Barb's. I sat with my back to the TV, but I could still see out of the corner of my eye the elongated heads of the anchor people, telling me with barely repressed glee that Karl Rove is resigning. I almost threw a party. Though I of course would prefer that my country not be run by some kind of evil empire, it is somewhat gratifying to watch the dynasty crumble before the world's eyes. I almost feel bad for Bush senior, who had a chance to be remembered at least neutrally by history. Now his legacy will be swallowed up by the rampant incompetance of his son. Poor old dude. It's kind of weird to be reading this book, which was written during the reign of Bush I, and finding myself assuming she is talking about the current Bush. How innocent we liberals were in our frustration and disgust with Bush I---we really had no idea how bad it could actually get.
So anyway, after my breakfast I went over to Penn Mac which was the emptiest I have ever seen it. (of course, it was before 8am on a Monday) I waltzed through the bulk nut and fruit section, and waltzed over to the cheese room, where I became totally stimied. I ended up getting some ricotta for lasagne, and a giant chunk of parm for pesto. But I couldn't really think about cheese that early in the morning with only a couple cups of diner coffee under my belt. So I headed into the pasta room and got lasagne and some spinach linguine, and then remembered that I would need tomato sauce for lasagne as well. Unfortuately I never remembered that I would need mozzarella, so I will need to visit TJs before I make the lasagne. (or talk rebby into doing it, I'm not sure which yet) I walked down to La Prima to get coffee, but then I felt unsure if they sold to the public out of the warehouse, so I didn't go in. I went down to Lotus and found that they didn't open until 9am, so I headed to Fortune's and had a giant capuccino and read my book at the sidewalk table. I also got a pound of organic guatamalan antigua, which I love SO much. I had forgotten. It is totally different from the dark black murky stuff I have been drinking lately, all light and fruity and dancy on the tongue. SO I whiled away some time until the window washer came and needed to wash the window behind me, just when I finished my last sip of cap and came to the end of a chapter. I headed down to Wholey's and got some salmon and scallops and lemons and mangoes, and then to Lotus for dipping sauce and dumplings, hot pepper sesame oil, new chopsticks, buckwheat noodles, spring roll wrappers, and a couple cans of It's On My Mind, some kind of japanese milk tea beverage that rebby loves. I surprisingly can't find a link for it. Actually, the cans no longer say It's On My Mind so I wasn't sure it was the right stuff, but rebby showed me that the farmer who is pausing in the field in the picture on the can is clearly thinking about a refreshing beverage, so I needn't worry. She's great.
I finished shopping and went for the bus stop, where I didn't have to wait long at all for a Frankstown. I got a little thrill when I realized I would be riding the Frankstown ALL THE WAY TO FRANKSTOWN! so I settled in with my book and just let the city fly by.
Got home and unloaded the groceries, and set about to putting some things away and doing some dishes and a little cleaning. It felt good. Suddenly there was a thud at the front door and I went down to discover that the mailman had placed a PACKAGE there! It was from J*. It smelled incredible from this incredible lemongrass candle, and had a locust shaped soap, and a skull potholder(!) and a dishcloth that says PARTY(!), and vaguely dirty suggestive needlepoint with a kitty on it. Use your imagination. :) I am starting to feel guilty about getting all these awesome packages from her, but I am putting the finishing touches on a box to send to Santa Fe, hopefully today. So be on the lookout, J*! I am starting to get a little settled into my office...I consolidated all the boxes against the wall so I don't have to trip over them every time I come in here, and then I unloaded a bunch of stuff onto the shelves in the pirate bathroom. So things are looking a lot more presentable and coming together for our houseguests tonight! We are playing a show at brillobox with the Degenerettes from Baltimore and the Bleeders from Edinboro--it's gonna be a queer night for sure! I'm trying to get the GLBT guest suite together, but everyone may just want to sleep on the couches and futons downstairs. We'll see. I do have to go to the ghetto laundromat today to wash some sheets for the houseguests, who could number up to five. Whee! I'm pretty excited about it.
Anyway, after unpacking for a few hours I set out for the farmer's market. First I did a little detour to Family Dollar for some cheap plastic bins to hold pens and such. Three for a dollar, can't be beat! I also picked up some milk because I got it in my head to make a cherry plum cobbler, and some mayonaise because I am about to run out. Then over to the farmer's market, where Pete the strapping farmhand is now so incredibly bronzed from working in the fields that I could barely look at him. I walked around the lot a few times, and caught myself staring uncontrollably to the point of almost plowing into an old lady in front of me. Sheesh! And in the end, I didn't even get my vegetables from him! The old black woman in front of me in line looked over at him and took a sharp breath and said "Oh my, he's HEALTHY!" Ha. I got my eggplant and onions and potatoes from the young lady who was working with him, and then got some organic tomatoes and peppers and green beans, and a loaf of incredible french bread, and some country pork ribs, and raw milk colby and swiss cheese, and then as I was leaving I gave in to the lure of peaches. Last night I made rebby and me a snack of sliced french bread with butter and sugar and cinnamon and peach slices, toasted in the toaster oven. We were beside ourselves with yummy noises. Oh my.
I got home and unloaded the produce and got ready to make dinner for me and Jilly, who was coming over to talk about the menu revision. I made basmati rice with a chicken, carrot, green bean and cabbage sesame stir fry. It was simple, crunchy, healthy, delicious. She brought some Francis Coppola Sauvignon Blanc, and we ate and drank and worked. We both got wicked excited about the new menu! It's gonna be great. When rebby got home we opened our housewarming gift from Jilly---an IKEA gift card! Whoooooooooboy. Lord knows I can't wait to visit IKEA...I've been putting off suggesting it because it's like a drug. I want the time to be exactly right. Lamps, endtables, and containers, here we come!
That's about it for my fantastic day one off. Today I have been super lazy so far, sleeping in till 7:30(!), drinking a lot of coffee and finishing my book. I also took a bunch of pictures of the first floor which you can see in my flickr. Life is good, and smells like lemongrass. :)