Saturday Fun

Yesterday I called my friend Jean on a whim since I had some free time and realized I hadn't seen her in weeks. She happened to be free, so I asked if she wanted to go see Nights in Rodanthe with me. I invited Shana along too, so Jean picked the two of us up in her car and we headed for the movies. When we got there we found that the 3pm movie was no longer playing, so we bought tickets for a later one and then wandered off to kill time.

This weekend the ETAs have been invited to a fancy party in Taipei hosted by the Bureau of Education to celebrate 10/10, Taiwan's Independence Day. The invitation asks women to wear cocktail dresses, so I was in dire need of a dress! Amanda, our wonderful life coach, as Shana and I call her, mentioned a store she found where you can rent a dress, with jewelry and bag for the evening included. I had told Jean about the store, which we found out was located near her house, so she asked if I wanted to go take a look at the dresses before the movie. The shop was beautiful. The women took my measurements and then brought a number of dresses of different styles and colors for me to try. Most of the ones I really really liked weren't in my size, and although the first few dresses I tried were nice, they didn't seem to be right for me. And then they brought me an iridescent light blue dress that reminded me a little bit of the Little Mermaid. I wasn't sure if the color would work for me, but I put it on and fell in love with it. Shana and Jean approved, and then I got to select the jewelry to go with it. The saleswomen originally chose very sparkly pieces that were nice, but seemed a bit too much for me. I saw a pair of dangly starfish earrings with green, pink, and blue stones on them and wanted them right away. They took my measurements one last time to alter the dress, I paid my deposit, and left on cloud nine.

Shana and I were pretty hungry since we hadn't eaten lunch and it was almost 4:30, but most restaurants don't open until 5 for dinner (they close around 2pm after lunch and then rest and prepare for dinner). We decided on eating home style Cantonese Chinese food for dinner, and even though the restaurant was still preparing for dinner, they agree to serve us. Jean asked us what kind of dishes we liked, and I began rattling off all of my favorite dishes that I ate in Beijing on a daily basis. I was more excited than you can imagine and almost cried from excessive happiness when I saw the green pepper and beef (青椒牛肉), sweet and sour pork (糖醋排骨)，iron-plate tofu（铁板豆腐), and stir-fried cabbage (白菜). After the delicious meal, Jean took Shana and I for our first trip to Costco. It immediately smelled like home, and I squealed with delight when I saw the fake Christmas trees and Christmas decorations. We only had about an hour there before we had to get back for the movie, so I agreed to save my Christmas decoration shopping for another day, and Shana and I rushed around looking for the things we decided we needed. I found the most comfy fuzzy fleece throw that's dark grey with a white pattern on it. I love it so much because it reminds me of snowflakes. Even though it's still about 90 degrees here, the air conditioning in my room blows directly on my bed, and I was getting tired of using my robe to cover up when I napped. I broke it in today during my afternoon nap and absolutely loved it! We also bought those ginormous chocolate muffins with chocolate chips--a chocolate lover's heaven!

We rushed back to the movie theater, and even got there with ten minutes to spare. The movie was wonderful, but incredibly sad. As Shana said, we should have known since it's based on a Nicholas Sparks novel. I haven't cried that hard in a movie since I saw the Notebook and it took the whole ride home for my face to look normal again. I had a headache from the crying, but it was a great movie and totally worth it! I'll have to add it to my growing list of movies to buy...

Tonight I went to one of my favorite restaurants for dinner since I had been craving their spicy Thai hot pot. I took my book and got there early so I was one of the only customers. They have decorated for autumn and Halloween since the last time I went, and it was even more cozy inside. They had a cd playing the scores of popular 90s love songs, and I felt incredibly relaxed as I read my book and waited for my meal. When I left I asked about one of the most stunning paintings I've ever seen, one that caught my attention on my first visit there. It's the most beautiful autumn scenery, with vibrant oranges, reds, and yellows creating the foliage. I was delighted to hear that it is a piece done by an art student who is looking to sell it. The owner of the restaurant gave me the contact card and told me it shouldn't be very expensive, which I was even more delighted to hear. It's definitely one more piece to add my four favorite paintings that I bought in Xi'an at a farmer's market for way more than I should have paid. Even so, I ended up paying only $12 for them, and would have gladly paid more for something I thought so beautiful.

I'm now ready to curl up on my bed in my new blanket with my new book and one of those delectable chocolate muffins...