An interesting two days!

A little old lady dinner
A really great concert
High tea
Something pretty disgusting


First off, last night I made myself dinner...one of those yummy, comforting, home cooked meals. As I sat down to eat it, I all of a sudden felt like I was at Swiss Chalet or The Pantry. It was such a little old lady dinner that it made me feel almost sad for a second. It was also a delicious dinner so I didn't stay sad for long. I had meatballs and mashed potatoes with steamed carrots and broccoli. Cooper thought it smelled good too which meant I had to keep him at bay while I ate which then made me feel like little-old-crazy-cat-lady.

I went to see Damien Rice in concert last night at the center. (I'm so excited. I just learned how to link names to sites - you can click on his name to see him now). I saw him a couple of years ago at The Commodore and it was one of the best concerts I have been to. There is something about his music that just hits me. Often when I listen to DR, I am very inspired to write or paint.

One of his songs, The Blower's Daughter, is hauntingly beautiful and quiet. Right near the end of that song (when it is it's quietest) I felt a coughing fit coming on. Having been sore throat and coughy for the past week I was ready for this, so I grabbed a cough drop and quickly tried to unwrap it. Of course, the wrapper was stuck to the drop and made a loud ripping noise as I detached it. My friend (two people over from me) leaned forward and gave me a look. He did it kindly with a laugh, well a scoff or chortle more like...but a look nonetheless. After all, this was his wedding song (that he actually played, on his cello, at his own wedding, last fall). His lovely wife was on the other side of him, teary and emotional and here I am making a racket. I couldn't explain until after the show that it was either that tiny little ripping sound that annoyed 10 people around me vs. a giant, show-stopping coughing fit that would have disrupted the entire audience. He just laughed and said "It couldn't have waited 3 seconds?"


Today I went with two friends for high tea at the Secret Garden Tea Company. It was a lovely, fun experience that I can't wait to do again. I want to go back there with my mom. You pick from a huge selection of teas and get your own little teapot of chosen tea. Then they bring you an elegant three-tiered tray of miniature pastries, sweets, sweet scones, Devon cream, raspberry jam, and sandwiches. It is beautiful and delicious. Plus we just had a fun time, as usual. I have such great friends.

After tea, I went to stock up on drugs to nurse my sore throat and cough. I have been avoiding taking anything since it started last week but I'm feeling pretty crummy today so decided to bite the bullet and medicate myself. I bought neo citron, cough drops, apple juice, advil, dayquil and Buckley's. I have never had Buckley's before and my friend TT, who has the same ailments as me, bought some this week and said it helped. She also said that it really was as disgusting as they say it is.

I shook the bottle, cracked the seal, poured it on to a tablespoon, plugged my nose and went for it. I held it in my mouth for a moment and with my nose plugged, it was hard to tell what it was going to taste like. I could sense that it was almost salty. So I swallowed and kept my nose plugged for another minute. It is hard to explain what happened but I could feel it in my ears. You know when you get a good whiff of hot sauce and it explodes in your sinuses. It was like that in my ears. When I finally unplugged my nose, I just had an aftertaste of how disgusting it was. It tasted like Watkins Medicated ointment which might smell minty fresh but I wouldn't want to eat it.

I am actually trying to not speak at all for the rest of the day. I catch myself talking to Cooper though and have to remind myself to be quiet. I am going to go steep some rooibos and make some soup. Hope you all feel better than me!