i hate how it smells when it rains

Just got back from a really nice weekend visiting Kristen down in Jersey, yay. Dan and I left after I got out of work on Friday evening (after running a few errands), and didn't hit much traffic driving down, so we got there around 10:30pm, I believe. We hung out with Kristen, saw her new place, and drank some good wine until Jeremy arrived home from work, and then all 4 of us went out to the diner for some late-night food. I had never met Jeremy before, but he is a really nice guy. He's also really intelligent, and was fun to chat with - the four of us had several really interesting conversations, especially since Danny's always eager to discuss his (well, often, "our") politics with others. In any case, I also loved seeing how well Jeremy treats Kristen, and how great they were together - it always makes me happy to see my friends happy, and being well taken care of. :)

Anyway, thanks Kristen, for a lot of fun! We spent a lot of the weekend eating some fantastic food, between cinnamon-raisin French toast stuffed with cream cheese filling (at IHOP) and awesome blackened fish and grilled corn and blueberry preserves back at the apartment, mmm. I could go for some more of all of that right now! Hehe.

I always love spending time with Dan, especially when we get to just do low-key things and spend a lot of time alone together, like when we were driving to & from NJ. Of course while we were there I also enjoyed my time, but I especially just loved having his company for the trip. He makes me smile nonstop like a complete dork sometimes. And I couldn't stop cracking up on the drive back home - we ended up having to pay a second, unexpected toll (we had of course paid the NJ Turnpike one, but I think we also ended up hitting the Tappan Zee on the way back) of $4, which rather sucked seeing as I had planned only to pay the first toll, and had absolutely NO CASH WHATSOEVER left. But between the two of us, we managed to scrounge up enough quarters to make up $3.75, and then added 2 dimes and a nickel to make up the rest...and while Dan was preparing it (counting it out), he managed to drop most of the change on his lap & the seat! So I'm getting close to the tollbooth and am trying not to go too fast so we have some time, and Dan is unbuckled and turned around, perched on his seat, trying to gather up all the coins. HILARIOUS. I was dying. And yes, we managed to make the toll just fine! Wahoo! We rock together. :)

Well, it's wicked hot right now and I still have to finish One-Night Stands with American History, which was actually due today, so I'm gonna go get to reading that. Haha I've a bit more left than I thought I had, because I think Kristen dropped my bookmark out of my book this weekend and then put it back in the wrong place, and since the book is entirely solely unassociated "snippet" paragraphs, I didn't really notice until a short while ago, haha! Thanks, Kristen! ;) But it's all good - it's not like I needed to read them in order, and I'm sure I'll catch up to where I THOUGHT I was pretty soon - it's a fast read! :)

Have a good night...more tomorrow. xoxo

Currently Reading:

TITLE: The Wisdom of Crowds
AUTHOR: James Surowiecki


TITLE: One-Night Stands with American History
AUTHOR: Richard Shenkman & Kurt Reiger