I drove to J and Mer's house on Thursday. The trip north took about 2 hours, which wasn't bad. The last leg of the trip took me through a breathtaking stretch of snowdusted mountains. The ride was very easy; I arrived at their house just after 1 p.m.
Mer was still at work, so J and I went to a little pizzeria nearby for lunch. After gobbling some yummy Margherita slices, we stopped at a candle/gift store and walked around for a bit. Mer was out of work by the time we got back to their house; we didn't do much for the rest of the day, just watched television, drank tea and chatted.
Friday morning J made French toast for breakfast (yum!) and then we headed to the Goodwill Superstore to treasure hunt. I found two dresses (one fits now, one will fit after the baby gets here) and some cool Morton Salt trivets - the set originally had four, but I could only find two. Still, very cool. And only $1 for both!
J and Mer also convinced me to try on a Batman costume; when I get the photo J took, maybe I'll post it for your amusement. :)
Back at their house, we got dolled up (Mer curled my hair and it looked stunning; she also let me borrow a pair of leopard-print wedges, which I paired with a borrowed set of J's tights and my new black dress) and headed to an Asian restaurant for dinner.
The restaurant was still decorated for Christmas, but with traditional Santas and wreaths. The indoor ceiling-to-floor palms were circled with cheery red lights, and from the branches (and also the ceiling) hung red and gold paper cranes. The lights cast a red glow over everything, and I loved dining beneath a flock of paper birds.
After eating some super-good moo shu vegetables with Hoison sauce, we drove back to their house for tea and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. We ended up staying up until 2 a.m. It was really nice to just sit and chat; have I told you all how much I miss them??
Saturday we slept in, then had leftovers for breakfast. In the afternoon, we filled out a ticket-request for The Martha Stewart Show, which included a personal essay on why they should give you tickets. Mer and I made the essay pretty entertaining; maybe Martha will even have us up on the stage!
In the evening we went to the movie theater to see Black Swan. Today, two days later, I'm still not sure if I liked it or not. It's about a ballet company preparing for a production of Swan Lake, and how the head ballerina spirals into craziness. Black Swan is directed by Darren S. Aronofsky, whose previous work includes Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler, two films I absolutely LOVED. Black Swan has the same kind of jarring, trippy style of camerawork, but the plot was kind of lacking, I think. I kind of feel like I know what it was trying to do, but fell short. I don't know. I think I need to brood over it for a few more days.
Sunday we slept in again (Mer and I stayed up until 2 a.m. watching the Lockup Raw marathon) and had toast and fake sausage for breakfast. Throughout my stay there, J took care to feed me delicious, homemade things. She let me sleep in her room, which has the best bed. Mer made sure I was feeling pretty (which is increasingly fleeting these day), by finding the gorgeous dresses for me, choosing funky shoes for me to wear and curling my hair into movie star locks. I've only known them for a little over two years, but they are two of the best friends I've ever had.
I left just before noon... I miss them already. :(