Cosi-cosi

Well, today was a bit of a mix! On the plus side, Linda and I spent most of the day exploring north-eastern CT, and it was a beautiful day for it. We arranged for table flowers and a mini-Venetian table to complement the cupcakes, procured a guestbook and double sided tape for the back of my dress, and ate lunch at this little Lebanese place in some town called Yantic. I got a feta wrap, but the beef shwarma wrap that Linda got was so delicious and better than mine that I brought one home for me and Sean to share. This place was like a mini version of Homsy's, the store in MA near my grandfather's house where we used to buy Syrian pepper (aka allspice), pignoli nuts, and Syrian bread--which, amazingly, they had, even though it was called Syrian-Lebanese bread. Syrian bread is a pita, but it's rolled very thin and is larger than most pitas, maybe a foot in diameter. The owner told me that they have it made for them at a bakery in Worcester. If you have to have it made to order, that explains why I haven't seen any anywhere since Homsy's closed except in a random foreign-food store in Florence, which of course was gone when I returned last year. Anyway, a supply has been found! Sean decreed that now we have to make hushwei so we can eat it Arab-style out of the Syrian bread. Yummy.

Later this afternoon I got a facial, which is always fun--except not really, because some of that stuff they use stings and itches (which, according to the woman doing it, lets you know it's working. Ooook.) Also, you always leave with no makeup on and giant red blotches if they extracted a blackhead, and yet the lady at the front desk assured me that I looked radiant. Please don't lie to me, just let me pay and go hide in peace.

Then I came home and discovered that Hubbard passed out in the entire hour I'd been gone and had been taken to the hospital by ambulance! She had really bad diarrhea the past few days and was severely dehydrated, so now they're keeping her overnight to give her fluids. Sean's aunt went with Linda, leaving us to guard Lulu, who is Michelle's brown, fluffy standard poodle. She looks like a Snuffleupagus, I'm not kidding! She is also very energetic, high-spirited, and strong, as I discovered when we took her over to the sea wall. She terrified some tiny little morsel of a dog that looked like it thought she was going to eat it, and I saw my first chow dog, which is kind of freaky looking. Sean took off to go see his friends, leaving me with the beast, but I think we wore her out. Meanwhile, my computer has a virus of some kind--I'm writing on Sean's computer, as I attempt to run Norton on mine. Ugh. No problems for years, I bring it to New Haven and bam, virus! I tell ya.

But let's finish with a positive--my friend Alice booked us a room at a B&B in Florence that's on Via Faenza, the same road as our school was on, and she insisted that it is her wedding present to me. No Hotel Tina with the bathroom door that doesn't exactly close, what!