July 2005 Archives
I admit it. I spent the entire weekend reading J.K. Rowling's latest installment: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I like to believe that I'm not totally zealous so I restrained myself from going to one of the midnight book sales happening all over town. When I got to the local Barnes and Noble at the entirely decent hour of 2pm on the first day of the sale, the cashier told me that 2,400 copies had already been sold. 2,400 copies, people - how is that possible?? And that's at one bookstore in one city. A co-worker told me that Costco started with a pile that practically reached the ceiling and it was shrinking by the second.
Once I had the book in my sweaty little hands, I was a goner. No housework, no illustrations, no socializing, even going to the bathroom was valuable time wasted. I will not reveal the ending out of consideration for the gazillion people yet to read the 652-page book, but if you've been a dedicated follower of the previous 5 books, your heart will be wrenched. WRENCHED.
By 3pm on Sunday, I was bleary-eyed, tear-stained and completely done. I can't imagine how she is going to top this one, but I am waiting with bated breath for the next book.
Pictures will be posted shortly. Since I was in Los Angeles, we missed Daddy Dinner Night last week.
Spam is getting out of control and affecting the layout somehow..I will have to disable my comments. Sorry if you've checked out the blog and found just an empty page...
After a fun few days in Los Angeles, I'm now back in Seattle, trying to catch up with work and everything else. It was quite a shock to my system to go from 90 degree weather to rainy, sludgy Seattle-ness on Thursday. Kind of like diving into the murk, wading through a deep sea feel.
The weather today has been gorgeous thankfully and The Honey and I enjoyed our usual Saturday morning crumpets. Everything, and I mean everything, is delicious at the Crumpet Shop. My new favorite is Almond Honey Ricotta Crumpet, second only to the Egg on Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Crumpet. Yum. The cozy restaurant brings homey-ness to a new level and the family-run business boasts the friendliest service around. Because we are such regulars, we've gotten to know the family over the years. The father who started the shop 30 years ago is an avid cyclist and his lovely wife is an artist with a playful spirit - you'll see her in full costume every Halloween and she'll wax philosophical and tell jokes in the same breath. The son is mostly running the shop nowadays, efficiently managing the small army of crumpet makers. He's an aspiring rapper/musician on his days off, and I love the incongruity of this. The daughter has an artistic streak as well and was the make-up artist for Seattle's Teatro Zinzanni for awhile. It's a testament to their warmth and excellent food that the shop is always bursting with people. If you're ever in the Seattle area, you don't want to miss this place.
Happy Fourth of July! This drawing has nothing to do with the holiday, but since I just finished it, I figured I might as well post it. I'm here in L.A. visiting my family and some of my dearest old friends. It's been lovely and very, very hot. Oh, I hear the fireworks going, must go see.
