Pull Shapes

Having the parents and my cousin here this weekend has been grand. I really don't want anyone to leave tomorrow (today, I suppose). Adrienne's in Montreal so I've been busy keeping my cousin and folks entertained. Needless to say it's been a much more exciting weekend than I normally experience.

Thursday night saw the arrival of my cousin and the first time I've seen Dad since early September. Mom, Adrienne, Elizabeth, and I gorged ourselves on delicious Sicilian-style seafood at The Daily Catch down by the waterfront (after an adventurous trek around South Station in an attempt to find the bus terminal). It was a little bizarre seeing Liz because, as close as we can figure, I haven't seen her in almost 10 years. She's on leave from her PhD program in Seattle right now and was presenting independent research at a conference in Woods Hole, MA (near Cape Cod) earlier this week. She's, of course, been staying at my apartment and it's been really fabulous getting to hang out with her. Lucky girl even won the Wicked lottery and got to sit fourth row for the show today! I think I'm officially the only member of my family who hasn't seen it and, even though I know it's a bubblegum pop musical and nothing like the book, I still want to see it for myself. Someday!

Friday after work was dedicated to bonding time with Mom. I picked her up at her hotel and we walked over to the Huntington Theatre's Caulderwood Pavilion to pick up our tickets for Brendan by Ronan Noone (a very popular local playwright who's gaining all kinds of international recognition). We then proceeded across the street to the restaurant I had found thanks to the "search nearby" function on Google Maps. It was an Ethiopian restaurant called Addis Red Sea. OH. MY. GOD. I think I've found a new favorite ethnic food! The atmosphere and decoration of the restaurant was genuinely Ethiopian: we sat on low chairs and the table was essentially a woven column at knee height in an hourglass shape with a pad on top. The food is served on a delicious and spongy bread and you eat with your hands. It was a little spicy for my super-weeny spice tolerance, but delicious nonetheless. And not at all expensive for the amount of food. Needless to say I'm definitely going back there and taking everyone I know!

Today was supposed to be a shopping day but, thanks to Hurricane Noel, Boston was hit with constant rain and horrendous winds. Hence the shopping didn't last very long, but thankfully Mom and Liz went shopping together most of yesterday--when Mom "discovered" H&M--and picked out some very cute things for me. It was like having personal shoppers go out and get things for me and saved me all the work. Now I finally have enough variety in my work clothes to not feel like a boring idiot every week for wearing the same pieces. Huzzah!

And tonight we all finally got to spend time with Dad as his annual Senior Staff retreat for Cincy Children's Hospital ended this afternoon. We met up with Liz at 5:30 (after she got out of Wicked) and went to Mom's favorite Boston restaurant, Legal Sea Foods. I consumed a pear-tini, delicious wild samon, rice pilaf, and broccoli with enough leftover to make a meal for lunch Monday. We're meeting my parents tomorrow morning at 9:30 for breakfast, after which I'll say goodbye until Thanksgiving.

I know I'll see them again soon enough (not even a month), but I feel a little emptier inside when I think about the fact that they're leaving tomorrow after seeing them the past few days.

Who else is thankful that tonight we roll our clocks back one hour in honor of Daylight Wasting Time? I sure am.

Read
The Tin Princess by Philip Pullman (reading now)

Seen
The Curse of the Golden Flower