Sunday, Sunday, Sun Day

I'm that woman sitting in a coffee shop with her MacBook looking important with all the other hipsters. I'm not even sorry about it.  Except that the man sitting in front of me is playing his voicemails out loud on his iPad. Dude, I don't want to listen to your voicemails. As an aside, I typically don't even want to listen to mine. If you call me, and I don't answer, I'm probably not going to listen to your voicemail.

As of yesterday, I'm officially on vacation for a whole 9 days. Ya'll, I haven't had a week straight of vacation since last July, and I was feeling it... hard. So, I'm two days into this whole vacation gig, and it's been a busy two days.  I started yesterday off by running a little under three and a half miles, and experiencing the most breathtaking sunrise I have encountered in my almost 9 weeks of running. These sunrises are the reason that I'm able to get up so early to run.  I am extremely fortunate to live where I do, and to have this view. I only appreciate it this time of the year, really... but I live through the long, cold winters so that I can get to these absolutely glorious summer days. 

After coming home to sleep after my run, I got up and headed to the beach with my sister for a bit before heading home to get ready for dinner. When a handsome man tells you he wants to come visit and eat at your favorite restaurant, you don't say no. (Especially when it's been roughly four months in the making.)  Long Grain in Camden, Maine has long been one of my favorite Asian fusion spots in the area. I have never had a bad meal here, so, I promised K that I wouldn't lead him astray and he would have a fabulous meal (especially since he braved Wiscasset traffic to have it.) When your date says "Well, I didn't hate it.." that's not a super encouraging review. So, it was a rare miss - my Pad Thai with Pork Belly was fabulous. His crispy Pork Belly with rice was cold, and the steamed baby Bok Choy on his plate made his rice watery.  

Don't worry, Long Grain, I still love you, I just don't know that I'll ever be able to take K here again. I also don't know if he will ever trust my word about food ever again. But if I know one thing, it's food.

I woke up this morning and decided to head out on the road for breakfast by myself.  Ridiculously loud music, and a 45 minute drive were just the things that I needed. And air conditioning. I needed air conditioning, it's been brutally humid. Chase's Daily in Belfast Maine has long been a staple in my  destination dining - I've been here dozens of times, and the first time I came here, I did not know that it was a vegetarian restaurant. It wasn't until after I had ordered my meal that I recognized that there wasn't any meat on the menu. Odd side note, I was vegetarian for a time - I actually didn't find it difficult to adapt to, until summer.. when I really really really wanted a hotdog on the grill. Thus ended my foray into vegetarian (really pescatarian) living. But Chase's is a wonderful place, with delicious food, a fabulous bakery, and in the summer, they have a great selection of produce from their farm that they sell at the rear entrance to the restaurant.  

This morning, I opted for the Mushroom and Leek Omelet with Swiss cheese. This thing was gargantuan, and has served it's purpose as a filling brunch item. It's nearly 2pm, and I can't even think about eating anything else. 

I took my time coming home, stopped at a few of my favorite places in Belfast, and then stopped at Lincolnville Beach to put my toes in the water. 

I've got a few small things planned for the rest of my vacation - a couple of days of running, that whole 4th of July Holiday right smack in the middle of the week, and hopefully a lot of time at the beach with some books.

I've had an interesting couple of months - I've spent a lot of time really focusing on ridding my life of anything that doesn't bring me complete joy. People, relationships, things.. if it was just bringing me stress, or uneasy feelings.. I got rid of it. And all of that hard work, finally is paying off. I got to a point this week where I finally just feel content. I come home every day to an apartment that is clean, and peaceful. I do whatever the fuck I want when I want to do it... and there is no price for that kind of freedom.

One last thing - I had a conversation this week about music. Specifically Regina Spektor who I absolutely love. This conversation lead me to listening to a good amount of her music - and I had forgotten about this song. It's one of my favorites.  The lyrics in this song that specifically speak to me are below, but give it a listen, it's a good one.

This is how it works

You're young until you're not

You love until you don't

You try until you can't

You laugh until you cry

You cry until you laugh

And everyone must breathe

Until their dying breath

No, this is how it works

You peer inside yourself

You take the things you like

And try to love the things you took

And then you take that love you made

And stick it into some

Someone else's heart

Pumping someone else's blood

And walking arm in arm

You hope it don't get harmed

But even if it does

You'll just do it all again