Weekend

Ah, it was a fine birthday weekend. After seeing Stan Ridgeway on Wednesday, Thursday was a quiet evening. Friday, Shawn took the day off from work. After having a relaxing morning and discussing what we wanted to do, we opted for skipping going out to see "The Incredibles" and instead went to Scarecrow Video. It turns out that Shawn had never seen a Marx Bros. film before. We looked at their rental section and the new Marx Bros. box set was out. They did have copies of the original releases on DVD of the films, but they wanted a $200.00 deposit on those discs. Deciding that I love the Marx Brothers, we threw down the cash for the aforementioned box set. While there, we also picked up the new Looney Tunes 4 disc set (I have the first volume already). Shawn grabbed another disc for me for my birthday, but I was unaware of that at the time since she was extra sneaky and got it out of the store without me knowing. For those of you who have not yet seen Bubba Ho-Tep: Shame on you! Get your ass to the store and prepare to laugh hysterically at this (often) dark comedy starring Bruce Campbell as Elvis and Ossie Davis as John F. Kennedy.

After some shopping at Whole Foods and a stop at the liquor store, we headed home to settle in for the evening. Shawn made Phad Thai for dinner while I mixed Manhattans. Neither of us had made phad thai before. I had brought home some pre-cut veggies from Trader Joe's, we had the rice noodles on hand, and some bottled sauce. It turned out really good! We curled up in front of the fireplace and watched "Duck Soup" on DVD and then disc 1 from the Looney Tunes set, which is all Bugs all the time.

Saturday was another lazy day. Shawn made me breakfast - eggs over easy, potatoes, soy sausages. We meandered through the entire day - not rushing for anything. That afternoon was sunny, so we took a walk outside. It was fairly warm - probably in the upper 50s, many of our neighbors were wearing shorts. Speaking of neighbors, we met Gale and her husband (Shawn will remember his name). They live 4 houses down from us. We've admired the work that they've done on their yard this year. Saturday, I was explaining to Shawn how I liked the construction job done on their fence when Gale came walking out of her backyard and we said "Hi". We've actually met Gale before, but not her husband - he's away a lot for business. Nice people.

Saturday evening was a night out for dinner. We left at 4:05 and I knew it would take an hour to get to Seattle. It took almost exactly an hour to get to Uptown China at the bottom of Queen Anne hill. Shawn and I have been going to Uptown China since we started dating 10 years ago. Over the years, we've loved the food, the drinks, and the kind people that work there. We've taken many people to dinner at Uptown China and have never been disappointed. This was no exception. Scott, Davo and his pregnant (!) wife Nancy, and Kris were already there when we arrived. Scott, sadly, had to leave early to make a casting call. Jennifer showed up as did Shonda and her partner. It was a good group. The conversation and the drinks flowed freely. The hostess of Uptown China, I'm not going to try and write her name properly here, but phonetically it is "U Mae", is opening a clothing store in the International District under her own name. She's always dressed stylishly, so I hope it's a great success. This will be her day job as she keeps her night job at the restaurant. She told us a funny story about her teenaged son and then surprised Shawn and I by remembering what we always used to order when we started going to the restaurant 10 year's ago: Crispy eggplant and Hot Saunas (a drink that I've found nowhere else). We still marvel at the fact that we left a big enough impression that they remember such details 10 years later.

The food was remarkable, as usual. The restaurant bought one of my Manhattans for me (don't worry folks, Shawn drove the rest of the night). The conversations were terrific, even if I hogged them a bit - hey, it's my birthday and, therefore, my perogative. We had a great night out. A few friends were missed due to prior obligations, but it was a great group. It was also a nice way for Shawn and I to share our 10 year anniversary with folks. I am humbled that friends would come out to share both with us. We are lucky to have such good people in our lives. Talented, intelligent, loving - a salute to them all!

Davo, Nancy, Shawn and I went to Cascadia for dessert. They are a top end restaurant, but we went and sat in the bar and enjoyed some wonderfully tasty treats and more conversation. After saying our goodbyes, it was home to bed for Shawn and I.

Sunday was a quiet, lazy day again. I was a tad hungover - no headache, but I was tired. I made a frittata for breakfast. We watched some BookTV, which was featuring live footage from the Miami book festival. Eventually, we got around to watching more Looney Tunes and eating left over Chinese food for dinner. Shawn did some homework, talked with her grandmother, did some organizing in the office. Like, I said, a quiet, lazy day - just perfect.