Maybe it's the new job, but I seem to be going out of control on spending my money lately. I've been thinking about this latest purchase for at least two weeks, losing sleep over whether or not it was worth buying or not. I thought about trying to find it on sale or maybe searching the internet for coupons, but just the thought of dedicating that much time made me very self-conscience. I contemplated putting it on my Christmas wish list, but I just wouldn't feel right putting it down and actually expecting (or hoping) someone would come through and spare me the drama of buying it. Today, at around 12:37pm, I decided that it was something I could not live without anymore. And I walked down and made the purchase. I am now the very, very, very proud owner of 80 sheets of Snuggle Botanical Bliss fabric softener sheets. Actually, make that 78 sheets now...
In an effort to make purchases of grand spectacle like these seem more reasonable, I've been taking measures to save money. For the last two weeks, I have more or less consistently been making my lunch at home every morning before heading off to work. Spending $8 a day (at least) on lunch can really break the bank over time. In addition, and more significantly, I have been trying to reduce my booze intake in public places over the last month, which can potentially save me $60-$100 per weekend. Of course, this hasn't been taking place purely for financial reasons, but, more importantly, for both philosophical and health reasons (note the reduction in chalazion occurrences ;o) . I've been happy with the results, and for the first time in months I have made contributions to my savings account (in addition to my automatic withdrawls for investing at the beginning of the month).
In accordance with my new healthy, strict lifestyle, I went to Alan's house Friday night to make some dinner. I had a ton of organic veggies that I needed to use up, so I waltzed over to his place around 8:00. He bought some (organic, on my insistence) chicken breasts use as a side dish for our dinner. We popped a bottle of not-so-good Merlot (we didn't want to waste it, though, so we struggled through it) soon after I arrived while Andrea sipped her French martinis. The boys got to work in the kitchen, me cooking up some delicata and striped squash with maple syrup glaze as well as fresh green beans with honey-lemon vinagrette and roasted pine nuts. Alan put his apron to work on chicken cooked in broth and bourbon. Andrea....read a magazine.
Dinner was great (and cheap), so we went ahead and popped another bottle of better-tasting wine while Andrea continued drinking her Vodka and Pucker paint-thinner drinks. We decided to play some Balderdash, which I hadn't played before. In a nutshell, a topic is read and each participant writes the definition or what have you and you try to guess the one that is actually correct. Well, suffice to say that by the time the second bottle of wine was done, the alcohol-induced definitions weren't really G-rated anymore and so Andrea scalded us and I ended up the winner. :)
Saturday was a crazy day. To begin with, my thoughts go out to the Arnaudo family who lost Grandma Rita this weekend. Many of you knew were fortunate, as I was, to hear her stories about Los Gatos before the Silicon Valley SUV's moved in and have a classic Italian dinner at her house over the years. She will be missed by many people in Los Gatos and by our and her friends and family around the world. Her passing ends a chapter of the original Italian families that helped bring the Bay Area intoworld prominence as an agricultural center.
After waking up around noon, I got on the phone with Stefan to help him with some web page stuff. At about 3:00, I decided to get dressed for the day and go down to watch the Real Madrid vs. Barcelona FC soccer game, which are basically like two of the best teams in the world. Stefan broke the news to me about Grandma Rita right before I arrived and it cast a dark cloud over me the rest of the day. When I arrived at the bar showing the soccer game, I found a line around the block to get in and see the game. Who are these soccer fans, and why haven't I met them before!?!? By that time, the bar was already full, so about 40 of us broke rank and crowded around the window in the door to try to catch Ronaldhino jinking and tricking the defenders with Brazillian passion while Zinidene Zidane roamed the midfield with his talismic French character, looking to punch holes through to his Brazillian and Spanish forwards. As fun as it was to sit outside in 40 degree weather and a crooked head, trying to make out the dots on the TV monitors inside, I gave up after half time and left with game being broken open by the speedy Ivorian Samuel Eto'o and Dutchman Giovanne van Brockhorst's left foot.
After wandering around downtown for a few hours and reading a few chapters of a book on Real Madrid and David Beckham, I met up with a former coworker and friend of mine who is (finally) leaving EY and moving to Africa (Mauritania, mom) to work as a voluteer for a year. Chatting it up with him and his friends helped me break out of my anti-social state-of-mind. After dinner, I met up with my buddy Sean, who rummaged up some girls he knew from the spa to go out with us. Yes, in true New York fashion, Sean does go to a spa and get facials. A true Upper East Side metrosexual, no doubt ;o) .
So the four of us headed down to catch some live music in Greenwhich Village and chill out with a glass of wine or something. The amazing part of the evening was that, of all places in the city, I ran into Baltimore Jenn in the same bar. I guess great minds think alike ;o). She had friends in town from down in Maryland and Virginia and I was just amazed that we would end up in the same place. So we chit-chatted briefly before the four of us headed back up to the Upper East Side and somehow ended up in the Euro-trashy restaurant Baraonda, where the gorgeous and glamorous hang out. Never a dull moment in the packed indoor area that felt more like a club than a restaurant with their Latin, American, and Middle-Eastern music blasting out of the corners....
Today, I contemplated the meaning of life and whether that meaning required the use of fabric softener. The apartment is clean, the clothes are botanic blissfully clean, and I am living static free for another 78 loads of laundry!
Carpe Diem, see some of you next week for Thanksgiving...
J. Riley
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