weekend: shopping / otis / SERENITY / CT Ren Faire
'Sup, y'all. This was a really busy weekend. I'm really, really wishing for an actual open weekend so that I can finish unpacking and just unwind, you know? I just looked through my planner, and since we 'officially' got everything into the new apartment on September 1, I have had exactly one unoccupied weekend day: I was in Denver for Labor Day, then at the Lefton party the following week, then at Otis House and in Salem the week after that, then hanging with Chelsea the week after that, and I was out all day both days this weekend. And next week I'll be at the beach in NJ, which will be relaxing and wonderful but will not be apartment-settley. But I'm far enough along in my unpacking, and Jorn's catching up enough, that we're hoping we'll be able to get the rest done in bits and pieces during the evenings for the next few weeks. Just have to stop goofing off, that's all. But if much more mess accumulates in the living room, I'll have to clean just to see the TV, so there's that.
Anyway, this weekend. Friday was Magic Retroactive Raise Paycheck Day, so of course we went to the mall. I was an excellent and admirable sugar mama. I got rechargeable camera batteries and a charger, and a new computer game just for the hell of it (it seems like a puzzle/quest kind of thing, and it involves discovering the secrets of ancient Maya temples, so perhaps I could claim that playing it is like studying!!). I also got yoga pants and two cute tops at Old Navy (it still squicks my stomach that I shop there because I hate their commercials SO MUCH, but you can't argue with cute comfy affordable clothes that fit, you know?), and a great new sweater at H&M. It's a black zippy-up sweater, and at first when I tried it on I thought I wouldn't like it because it has a high neck and I don't like stuff choking me. But I showed it to Jorn, and he said it makes me look like a Charlie's Angel. So I looked, and it does, and I bought it. I'm really glad I did because now I have a black zippy sweater I can wear over things that is actually warm and doesn't have an inconvenient hood or stretched out sleeves and it's also machine-washable. Jorn took the clothes shopping like a man, or now that I think about it, like a sweet respectful patient person and not like a man at all. And I only tried on a few things and tried to be very picky. After the clothes we hit the stores we always go to together, like K.B. Toys and Suncoast and E.B. (still no We <3 Katamari). And then we had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, and it was yummy.
Saturday I had to get up early to go work at Otis House. Leah had emailed me earlier in the week to let me know several people had signed up for my Beacon Hill walking tour, so Jorn helped me study my notes before I left, and I got to the House almost late--not actually late, but closer to 10:50 than 10:30 which is bad when your tour is supposed to start at 11. Anyway, after fifteen really hectic minutes of figuring out which visitor was going on which tour, I set out with my walking tour and it was really fun. Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day, perfect for walking around, and two of the women on the tour had lived on Beacon Hill or in the area when they were younger and had a bunch of fun stories to tell, which is always great. Everyone really seemed to enjoy the tour. Later that day, the Harvard Extension School's class on Historic House Museums showed up and I gave them their tour. I really want to take that class at some point. It was a little nerve-wracking, especially since I hadn't done the slide show in a really long time, but it went well. Saturday night I saw Serenity with Jorn and Dann and Heathar, and it was just as awesome as I knew it would be. Jorn really liked it, and more surprisingly, Dann really liked it. Dann doesn't like movies, period, and had never watched the show, but in the scene where a certain someone's axe dripped blood on the floor, he made it apparent that he thought it was fucking metal: \m/. Best compliment he could give. After the movie everyone headed back to Dann & Heathar's place to hang out, but I needed to get up early so I sadly watched them all get off the T at Central while I went on my lonely way home to Porter and my bed.
Sunday I picked up Sara(h) shortly after 9AM and we drove down to the CT Renaissance Faire in Woodstock, CT. Sarah B. met us there. We had a really, really fun day. The best line of the day: "I'm not putting duct tape on my HARLEY!" I bought only a set of pirate playing cards: they have actual historic pirates on the face cards, and they came with a piratey carrying pouch and a lucky dubloon. How could I pass that up? There were two wing-sellers but I didn't buy any wings: my next pair of wings is I think going to be scary black batty wings, and the one dealer had pretty flowery-type fairy wings and the other had nifty wings that looked like leaves. I'm still trying to decide what kind of fairy I will be for Halloween this year. At some point I will stop being a fairy for Halloween. Just not yet. Sarah B. was planning a pirate costume for Halloween and so we had a lot of shopping to do. She purchased a six-foot whip. For the rest of the day all the faire people kept ogling her and commenting on it. She also took part in the axe-throwing contest but did not score any points, though all her axes were thrown with enthusiasm. Sara(h) and I continued our ongoing car trip bonding. It was a good day. I had a nasty headache when I got home, but Jorn brought me pizza, and with that, advil, and Star Trek, I got to feeling better, and I managed to do most of the dishes and felt very accomplished.
Anyway, this weekend. Friday was Magic Retroactive Raise Paycheck Day, so of course we went to the mall. I was an excellent and admirable sugar mama. I got rechargeable camera batteries and a charger, and a new computer game just for the hell of it (it seems like a puzzle/quest kind of thing, and it involves discovering the secrets of ancient Maya temples, so perhaps I could claim that playing it is like studying!!). I also got yoga pants and two cute tops at Old Navy (it still squicks my stomach that I shop there because I hate their commercials SO MUCH, but you can't argue with cute comfy affordable clothes that fit, you know?), and a great new sweater at H&M. It's a black zippy-up sweater, and at first when I tried it on I thought I wouldn't like it because it has a high neck and I don't like stuff choking me. But I showed it to Jorn, and he said it makes me look like a Charlie's Angel. So I looked, and it does, and I bought it. I'm really glad I did because now I have a black zippy sweater I can wear over things that is actually warm and doesn't have an inconvenient hood or stretched out sleeves and it's also machine-washable. Jorn took the clothes shopping like a man, or now that I think about it, like a sweet respectful patient person and not like a man at all. And I only tried on a few things and tried to be very picky. After the clothes we hit the stores we always go to together, like K.B. Toys and Suncoast and E.B. (still no We <3 Katamari). And then we had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, and it was yummy.
Saturday I had to get up early to go work at Otis House. Leah had emailed me earlier in the week to let me know several people had signed up for my Beacon Hill walking tour, so Jorn helped me study my notes before I left, and I got to the House almost late--not actually late, but closer to 10:50 than 10:30 which is bad when your tour is supposed to start at 11. Anyway, after fifteen really hectic minutes of figuring out which visitor was going on which tour, I set out with my walking tour and it was really fun. Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day, perfect for walking around, and two of the women on the tour had lived on Beacon Hill or in the area when they were younger and had a bunch of fun stories to tell, which is always great. Everyone really seemed to enjoy the tour. Later that day, the Harvard Extension School's class on Historic House Museums showed up and I gave them their tour. I really want to take that class at some point. It was a little nerve-wracking, especially since I hadn't done the slide show in a really long time, but it went well. Saturday night I saw Serenity with Jorn and Dann and Heathar, and it was just as awesome as I knew it would be. Jorn really liked it, and more surprisingly, Dann really liked it. Dann doesn't like movies, period, and had never watched the show, but in the scene where a certain someone's axe dripped blood on the floor, he made it apparent that he thought it was fucking metal: \m/. Best compliment he could give. After the movie everyone headed back to Dann & Heathar's place to hang out, but I needed to get up early so I sadly watched them all get off the T at Central while I went on my lonely way home to Porter and my bed.
Sunday I picked up Sara(h) shortly after 9AM and we drove down to the CT Renaissance Faire in Woodstock, CT. Sarah B. met us there. We had a really, really fun day. The best line of the day: "I'm not putting duct tape on my HARLEY!" I bought only a set of pirate playing cards: they have actual historic pirates on the face cards, and they came with a piratey carrying pouch and a lucky dubloon. How could I pass that up? There were two wing-sellers but I didn't buy any wings: my next pair of wings is I think going to be scary black batty wings, and the one dealer had pretty flowery-type fairy wings and the other had nifty wings that looked like leaves. I'm still trying to decide what kind of fairy I will be for Halloween this year. At some point I will stop being a fairy for Halloween. Just not yet. Sarah B. was planning a pirate costume for Halloween and so we had a lot of shopping to do. She purchased a six-foot whip. For the rest of the day all the faire people kept ogling her and commenting on it. She also took part in the axe-throwing contest but did not score any points, though all her axes were thrown with enthusiasm. Sara(h) and I continued our ongoing car trip bonding. It was a good day. I had a nasty headache when I got home, but Jorn brought me pizza, and with that, advil, and Star Trek, I got to feeling better, and I managed to do most of the dishes and felt very accomplished.