I just got back from seeing an amazing performance--Mercan Dede and his ensemble who were performing at Century Ballroom. The Turkish born, Montreal based, world-beat musician/producer subtly fuses the Eastern spiritual traditions of Sufi music with contemporary ambient sounds to create a unique mix of old and new, sacred and secular, East and West. All of the musicians were extremely talented, including a very young 15 year old clarinet player. What really amazed me was the presence of two Whirling Dervishes. Before tonight, I had no idea what a whirling dervish was. Essentially, they twirl around in a circle like mad throughout the entire piece, as much as half an hour--not even spotting and not getting dizzy at all. This is apparently a sacred Sufi dance to elevate the dancer to a trance-like state, bringing him/her closer to Allah. At one point, the lights dimmed and this electric jagged light stitched to the dervish's skirt lit up, creating a beautiful effect. My jaw was dropped for most of the tonight's show...this is a must-see. Everyone in the audience was feeling the groove of the music and jamming away.

Jigna's Bachelorette weekend was absolutely fabulous--everyone was relaxed, happy and there weren't any dramas at all. Friday evening, we arrived for a late dinner at a "casual upscale" French tapas restaurant called Fiction, in the Kits district. The food was just incredible, a pleasant surprise considering I just picked it out last minute. Saturday was our spa day---we all got wonderful spa treatments at the Miraj Hammam Spa, a Middle Eastern inspired spa. We all got the traditional hammam and gommage treatment, involving an invigorating steam treatment followed by an exfoliation. Relaxing in the Soltana Lounge, sipping tea and munching on baklava was a perfect ending to this amazing spa experience. In the evening, after shopping on Robson a bit, we had our obligatory dinner at Jigna's favorite restaurant, Vij's...fabulous as always. If you ever go there, you must try the wine marinated lamb popsickles in fenugreek cream curry with tumeric spinach potatoes: it's to die for and my absolute favorite. After dinner, we headed to the much too-hyped Skybar off of Granville Street for some late night dancing to old school hip hop. Sunday involved a brunch on Granville Island where we bid adieu to some of the women who had to go back early. I ended the weekend sitting on Kitsilano Beach with Asayo and Jigna, followed by an Italian dinner before heading home. All in all, it was a rather tame weekend as far as bachelorette parties go. We had a few dares for Jigna to do but it was all in good fun and nothing raunchy at all. Yay!

Today, I said goodbye to my car of 8 years, my '96 Acura Integra SE---my college car. I have so many wonderful memories with that car...it was so hard to part with it. So odd..never thought it would be hard to part with a car, but it was! In its place, I got my "adult" car...an Audi A4 1.8T Quattro. Love it...it's a really nice car. It handles amazingly--the 6-speed manual is so fun to drive! I'm sure I will enjoy this car and come to love it as much as my Integra.

oh my god--bellydancing kicked my butt tonight. i tried out the "mixed level" class for the first time (beginning II and intermediate) and boy, was it a challenge. i don't think i can naturally move my hips that fast! i did love the class--everyone is so good...something to look up to. we even whipped out some zils, which i suck at---my fingers do not coordinate with my hips. whew.

This land is your land....funny.

Just got back from my first ever bachelorette party---that of Jennifer Gilreath's: she was the first person ever to put me on a snowboard and force me to go down the bunny hill at Snoqualmie. All other girlfriends that have gotten married over the last few years lived so far away so it wasn't practical for me to be a part of the bachelorette evening. It was fun, considering I literally didn't know anyone except Jen. It was a very typical Belltown bachelorette party, starting out at Axis, followed by Ohana, Seasound and then dancing at Tia Lou's. Jen was forced to wear a veil, candy jewelry and a sign that read "Bite For A Buck - No Hands". What a good sport...Congrats Jen--you've scored a wonderful guy. Thanks for letting me be a part of your bachelorette evening!

Sorry I haven't written in awhile...been pretty busy. Last weekend was such a blast. It started with a spontaneous trip up to Vancouver with my friend Jason so that we could catch the Jazz Festival. We started off Friday evening checking out an Afro-beat jazz musician, Tony Allen. He was amazing, great sound. Coincidentally, Joe & Sri went up to see the same show. The rest of the trip was fun, going to places I'd never been: brunch on Granville Island, strolling along Commercial Drive, visiting Kitsilano Beach and eating the most amazing meal at Bin 941.



Sunday, came back and stopped at Home Depot on the way back and picked myself up a Weber Q Portable Gas Grill. (Before y'all bash me for getting a gas grill over charcoal, it's because I'm not allowed to have charcoal grills up on the rooftop of my building so I have no choice but to get a gas grill) I'm very happy with my purchase as I was able to use it quite a bit for my 4th of July party that evening. What started out as a casual conversation with 2 friends about having some friends come over turned into quite a sizable party. It was great! We had fabulous views of both the Puget Sound and Lake Union fireworks and ate a lot of good food. I should have people come to BBQ up on my rooftop more often....



I'm actually staying home sick today. I'm not as horribly sick as I've gotten in the past..but with the weather being so up and down recently (Monday I was speedboating on the lake in my swimsuit, Tuesday I was wearing a sweater and swearing at the bitter cold), my body's panicking and trying to bring on a cold. So I decided to just stay home and rest it out so that I don't get any more sick.