Monday Night

Phew! What a day. I went after work to Shin Kong Place (www.shinkong-place.com) to find an outfit for Christmas Even dinner in NYC. The website doesn't do the mall justice, but it really is one of the best places to shop in Beijing. No real luck but I found a great top for New Year's Eve. I am really excited about my trip back to the States. I haven't done any of my Christmas shopping for others though. I always fall behind and it's especially difficult to find anything here when most of the stores have foreign brands and I'm not sure of their quality. But I have this upcoming weekend at least.

I stopped over to get some groceries and then made my way home. Chase and Fernando were just heading out the door to our Monday Night Supper Club. Yes, you read that right, we have a group of friends that we try out different restaurants with. It's fun, and there's a good rotation of new people that we get to have conversation with and see regularly. I think by living in a big city you have to make extra efforts to see friends otherwise you just get wrapped up in your own bubble. I wanted to stay in my bubble though. I have been feeling like being alone. And if you know me, you know that I can survive without talking to anyone for a long time before I get lonely. And another reason I wanted to stay home tonight was because they were going to an all-you-can-eat Teppanyaki restaurant where the choice of veggie options are limited. And then I have to be the "party-pooper" by asking the chef to cook my veggies with different cooking utensils, away from the meat and seafood, and so that the grease doesn't drip on to the veggies. And since there were around ten people going, I knew that would be a problem.

And so I cooked. It's been the first time in literally two weeks! I chopped veggies. My chopping skills have declined since I don't cook anymore. And I made myself a yummy bowl of pasta with sauce, peas, sundried tomatoes, onions, garlic, and green pepper. I even had some parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. It was definite comfort food.

I've now been catching up on emails and I got an email from my friend Kevin that he has a yoga friend in Beijing who's also a Montessori teacher. What a small world! And then I got in touch my other yoga friend, Katie, from DC who got married I just found out! And Ashley and Benedict bought a house this weekend! Everyone I know is so exciting!

So now I'm going to go be exciting and get some sleep.