Weekend Update

Even though we still have one day left of this Labor Day weekend, it already feels like it's coming to an end. The same way it feels when it's very late Saturday night, and you know that when you wake up on Sunday, it will zip by so quickly that you'll blink and already be a new pair of underwear (hopefully), saying goodnight, and waking up to Monday morning.

Live in the present, Ariel! We're still in the middle of the weekend!

We spent a lovely, albeit too short, Saturday in Pacific Grove to celebrate Boo's birthday. We gorged ourselves on fresh sashimi, sushi, homemade tofu, broiled eggplant with hachi-miso, and grilled yellowtail. It felt so strange to be eating at Akaoni without our mother who has always accompanied our visits there, and uses her clout (translation: speaks Japanese) to order "off-menu" and basically take the reins of our meal. Zach, my sister, and I all looked at each like lost children, unsure of what and how much to order, but we managed alright and enjoyed the most delicious meal. I wanted to take photos but Addie was asleep, then awake, then hungry, than attention-hungry. So all I got was this:

oh, and this:

Eating miso eggplant for the first time. She loved it.

We took a stroll down to Carmel Beach after dinner, and it was pleasantly bustling in the usually subdued town. It was nice to see large groups of friends and families mixed in with the usual rich, elderly couples window-shopping at Thomas Kinkade (barf) and various kitsch stores. Zach bought a latte at a local coffee shop, deemed it disgusting, and launched into a grand diatribe about the gross neglect of the poor coffee beans perpetrated by the teenage girl.

"The way she tamped it! Psh! She barely tapped it! You're supposed to put at LEAST 40 pounds of pressure in there! And she let an entire shot go to waste while she was pouring mine!!" (I gasp) "Where is the CARE, these days? Do we no longer take PRIDE in what we do?"

Here is where I come in. I have a sick compulsion to tell store owners/employees when a service or product is unsatisfactory. Now, before you label me a self-righteous bitch-customer from hell, let me preface by saying that I am very nice when I let them know that the coffee was terrible or the teething necklace I bought Addie fell apart the minute I put it on her. I don't act like a raving lunatic, and I will let most things go if it's not worth the trouble (e.g. I don't demand to speak to the manager if a server is rude/apathetic/acts like it's such a huge inconvenience that I exist in this world). And 99.9999 percent of the time I do give feedback, the response is kind and understanding. Which is funny because sometimes, I create these epic hypothetical scenarios in my head about how they're going to flip out and kick me out of the store or just glare and give me the finger...and surprise! It never happens. Remind me to write another post about how crazy I am.

In this particular case, after much resistance from Zach (who hates confrontation/being an inconvenience--translation: one of those "difficult" customers), I brought the latte back into the coffee shop and very pleasantly asked the girl if I could simply exchange the latte for a regular coffee. She was more than happy to oblige, and after I finished stirring my cream and sugar into the cup, tapped me on the shoulder and handed me some cash. Totally unnecessary and totally cool. See? It pays to be honest AND nice!

Too bad their plain coffee was even worse then their latte. At least their hearts' were in the the right place. :)

So what else happened? We ate fancy miniature cakes from Parker-Lusseau Patisserie in Monterey, and Boo opened her presents from us. Year twenty-two was more pragmatic then previous birthdays. Binders, notebooks, documents organizer, Trader Joe's candied pecans, Hanes mens t-shirts, and some trail-mix. Everything a poor, starving grad-student needs.

Wish we could have stayed the rest of the weekend, but I had to go sell baby paraphernalia to the weekend crowd.

Happy 22, Boo. We love you...