break out the cynar

our friends melissa and andy came for a visit sunday night. that means we finally got to crack open that bottle of cynar (artichoke liquor) we have had since vaentine's day. i liked it, so did andy, but no one else did. cynar needs to be mixed with a splash of soda and a little oj. then it is an intersting (but likable--to me) drink. they had to come down not only for the cynar, but also melissa had a job interview on tuesday at east bay m.u.d. this company is responsible for disposing of the bay area's waste water and sewage. sounds horrible to me, but she just graduated with a degree in environmental engineering so it is her dream job. she was told to purchase a suit, heels and hose for the interview. nothing too flashy, though. i agree with the old adage that you should beware of institutions that require new clothes (unless you want to get those clothes that are required). she was not too pumped about the suit. so we experimented with the shirt. we spent monday afternoon at target and macy's (andy and dustin in tow). we got her a cute purple shirt (our favorite colour) at target and some cute pointy toed patent leather heals. i said she should express at least a little of her personality in her outfit. turns out i was right. as she walked in, the main guy doing the interview commented on her shoes. bonus. it really set her at ease. yet again, stress averted just by having the right shoes. (fellas take it in. avoid confrontation by buying your lady some shoes. potential crisis averted.) they told her as soon as a position for a junior engineer opened, it would be hers. so that is exciting. andy, her husband, dressed in purple for solidarity. here is the before picture:



this is at 9 in the morning. she had been up in time to curl her hair. who has that kind of time in the morning. never in my life have i seen melissa stressed. it was impressive. she kept it together, and they should know how badly she wants this job. she is already planning a career with them. so that is nice to see. as long as i have known melissa, she has never had a real job. maybe waitressing now and then, but a real job--unheard of. so it was nice to see her really want to get things right and work toward something. just so she knows she can do it. she even skipped out on going to see planet b-boy with dust and andy and i. (a fabulous movie by the way. really worth seeing it on the big screen. people can do some amazing things with their bodies. it was amazing. we were all smiling and wiggling uncontrollably to the movie. dust even clapped afterwards--that never happens. ) but she skipped out on the movie to focus on the next day's tasks. talk about devotion.
while she was at the interview, dust and i took the kitties to the vet for their shots so that they can fly on the plane. a super expensive trip that was no fun for anyone, but it is done, and we have diet cat food in hopes of having two little kitties again......
so we get home (i had to take dust to work) and we drink a glass of champagne to celebrate.



then we hit the town, and we got new eyeshadow (blue for me). andy didn't get any make up. but we went to see dustin at work at the farmer's market. it was a nice day. i dropped melissa and andy off at the house and picked dustin up early so we could go see the red sox take on the oakland a's.
there were at least 50% red sox fans at the oakland season opener. we not only won, we got to see some home runs. our area was full--FULL-- of red sox fans. we were all yelling and laughing. it was great! we went back today with melissa and andy. it was a noon game. so we showed dust the southern art of tail gating.


we stood outside the car (we didn't bring chairs), talked to other sox fans around our parking space and ate food and drank pabst genuine draft (the cheap beer). because that is what you do at a tailgate party. usually there is grilling involved, but it was too early for grilling. some may argue that it should have also been too early for drinking, but we knew we would be at the park for a while, and ballpark prices are outrageous. so we drank early. and you know what--we got to see papi hit his first homerun of the season! it was spectacular. the sox shut down the a's. the a's had nothing. no points--few hits, but nothing amazing. and public yelling.

yes! i love public yelling. it really made the games that much more fun for me. we ate a lot of crappy food at the games as well.



note the new red pocketbook. (thaks ebay!)


note that that hat was a little full of popcorn when dust put it on andy's head. and the super fans!!

so that is what we are up to here. baseball games and rock star lifestyles. we do it up over here. soon we will do it up over there. keep searching for us a place to live. we will soon be homeless--or sleeping on your couches. :) xoxo to all.