Cinnamony Surprise

So much to write about . . . so little time . . .

Well, actually, I have all night. As long as I get up occasionally to stir the chili.

First, Matthew Good is tomorrow. 26 to 28 hours away. And I invited a boy and am now having second thoughts . . . Spider Monkey may not understand my crush, he might distract from the crushing, or he might keep me from meeting other MG fans . . . he is amused by the whole thing. So I am celebrating the almost Matthew Good-ness by listening to all the songs I own. And musing if I can make the Cleveland show on Thursday night. Oh, and Mr. Good is sick with food poisoning so the whole thing might be cancelled anyhow.

Okay, now to the stories. On Friday I met Princess in Detroit for drinks and dinner. She had a meeting at the Ren-Cen and thought it would be cool to meet before and then drag me to the meeting. Now I haven't been to the Renaissance center since . . . well, I think I was ten. And when I was ten, I had adults to worry about how to get down to that floor . . . yeah, that floor with the Starbucks . . . how do I get to that floor? But I can see it . . . so how do I get to it?

I manage to find Princess with some cell phone help and we are off, escaping the cement. Out into the open air which is Detroit in early spring. We linger at the Dumouchelle's window, looking at the statues of space aliens for sale. And we find our way into Sweet Lorraine's for an early dinner. 20 minutes later and a stern talk to the manager later, I drag a hungry Princess to the people mover to try Greektown. "Oooooooh, Andiamo's . . ."

And so we ride the glorious people mover across the street, back to the Ren-Cen, for Andiamo's. Two bottles of wine. A very good dinner. Dessert. And off to our meeting. Well, Princess' meeting . . . I'm just an art teacher. A slightly tipsy art teacher . . . a slightly tipsy art teacher who is told to keep her mouth shut, which becomes increasingly hard as I realize that the people in the meeting might be out of touch with the very thing they are meeting about. Princess' elbow firmly thrust into my ribs keeps my mouth from opening . . . but not my eyes from rolling. And the meeting goes on for eternity. I go to the bathroom and watch the North American Bridge tournament.

And notice how much the interior of the Ren-Cen looks like the Death Star in the first Star Wars movie. So much so, that it almost needs battalions of stormtroopers marching around.

The meeting ends. We somehow find our way back to the people mover (but I can see the CVS . . . it's just over there three floors down . . . now to just get to it . . . maybe we can repel) and ride to Greektown. Turns out Princess loves the slots. Wheel of Fortune slots, specifically. And truthfully, it is quite a rush to watch the wheel spin when you get one. And I am the fun governor . . . telling her to cash out repeatedly while she is ahead. I win $50. Princess, who is willing to risk more, wins $200. It is a great night.

Saturday, I go shopping and buy $25 dollars worth of expensive buttons, at half off . . . so $50 worth of buttons . . . again. I go out to Stately Wayne Manor and then the mall for cheap sunglasses. And expensive soap. Addicted to Lush's bar shampoo (thank you Princess, for another expensive addiction). Then make a sock monkey well into the evening.

Sunday, I am to go to the St. Patrick's day parade. I am hesitant, as I do not like parades . . . and I really do not like drunken crowds. And it's in downtown Detroit, which could go either way. But it turns out to be very fun. G
o to Mexican town for dinner, mistakenly thinking that NO ONE will go to Mexican town, as it is St. Patrick's day. Wrong. But am taken to the most amazing bakery at the end of the road . . . you walk in and there are cafeteria trays and tongs and cabinets and cabinets of yummy stuff. Ate something shortbready with chocolate AND cinnamon this afternoon. The cinnamon was a very nice surprise. Oh, and they had little mini-birthday cakes . . . so we got one for Spider Monkey. I had forgotten how good the margaritas are and dinner was cheap and yummy. So good day. And so taking Mr. Crabbypants to that bakery. Although, when mentioned to everyone I know . . . it seems that I am the only person who doesn't know about the bakery.

And did I mention that Matthew Good is tomorrow?