another day in paradise

ok... Bryn Athyn may not exactly be PARADISE, but today sure felt like a taste of it. . . And all I did was roam around used car dealerships and (multiple) starbucks with Cara Bump. . . Man. . . nothin' like a good friend/relative to make you forget about all of your cares in the world. We started off the day right with a stop at starbucks (Normally saved for dates with my Amanda, but I GUESS I can learn to share with others), a visit to the camera shop that ended in my drooling over the used Leica section while waiting (HOURS?) for my print order to upload to the lab. . . And then off to the wonder used-car-world in search of a (very specific.. yes carla... all of these specific requirements "puts you in a box") used mobile. What ever happened to car salesmen over-stepping lines and comfort zones with how obnoxiously nutso they try to sell you on their "special deals"?! I swear.. I've never been to so many dealerships and had SO little help in my life! We kept walking in and just having eyes fall onto us and people freezing like we had big "PLEASE DO NOT TALK TO US" signs on our breasts... or maybe that's the thing... two younger chicks (who probably look like twins) walking into a car dealership alone may not be the most believable thing? Needless to say, we did NOT find the car of Carla's used dreams. . .

Before heading back home empty handed, we made a stop at whole foods in search of something to cook up for supper. All of that starbucks went straight to our bladders, which in turn lead us both to the discovery that Whole Foods would DEFINITELY win the contest of 'who has the MOST outrageously disgusting bathrooms in the world' (don't ask. . . It was NOT pretty in any way). We did our best to forget the traumatizing dirty bathroom experience, and moved on to deciding on making crab stuffed salmon and mushrooms with some asparagus, and LOTS of wine. . .

Thank GOD for family! Although, mine completely forgot that we were planning on cooking dinner for everyone (7 people) and went ahead and started cooking their own meal by the time we arrived home (Dad, that roast smelled amazing and I'll be sure to have leftovers tomorrow! No hard feelings!). Feeling forgotten, used-car-less, lonely and hungry (but to stubborn to eat the meal that was already cooked, due to our grocery bags full of fresh crab and salmon), we headed out in search of a hungry home and empty kitchen. AND BOY did we find one. . . Just around the corner, Carla's momma (Love you Aunt Jans!) had just that. . . Of course it was completely empty to start with, but by the time the fist wine bottle was on it's way down, and the salmon pinwheels and mushrooms were in the oven, we had about 12 (mostly unexpected, but VERY appreciated) guests/family to fill the bellies of. Again, thank God for this family (this HUGE family).

So. . . I started off this week feeling a bit unsettled and uneasy. . .
But between today and Monday's fog (it was the most foggy I may have ever seen it here in B-Town, and I have some images to prove it). Also, to end an amazing weather day off right, at night the temp rose from about 34F to 65F in a matter of an hour, and the winds and rain picked up (although brother-Ben thinks I am exaggerating) so much that it knocked the power out (such a bad surge that my entire room turned blue in the loud POP before silence and darkness). Good times, GREAT days.