i'm typing this one-handed, because the cat is insisting that i hold her while she naps. poor thing, i know she's lonely - her basement exile continues.

 last weekend, E and i hit the Michigan Renaissance Festival! i hadn't been since...ummmm...college, but found it to be just as hilarious and bawdy and fun as ever - though, perhaps, with way fewer tempting things to buy. that could just be me, though, because i'm pretty sure i was all OVER that sh*t when i was 19. ahh, tastes. how they do change.

we spent some extra money and attended the Pig & Swig - four beers paired with four different kinds of bacon! it was totally worth it, there was a minstrel band in period dress playing Irish drinking songs (one of which i remembered from elementary school music class), and we were all banging our flight paddles on the tables and bellowing along. and we did each buy one of these:

 no, it's not a crystal ball. it's an acrylic sphere for contact juggling!so far, i can roll it around in my palm, and i can move it from my palm to the back of my hand, but the arm and body rolls are going to take a looong time to master.

after a long and fruitless search, i borrowed this book through an inter-library loan. god knows where my copy's got to, and i needed this hat pattern to make a Christmas present. having gotten both earflaps made and connected, i expect my book to reappear shortly!

mid-term election season is upon us, and already i'm sick of the ads and campaigning. but i couldn't resist making my political affiliation known:

love is a piece of heart-shaped chicken in your bowl of homemade chicken alfredo:

and speaking of love, yesterday E and i celebrated two years together! our friend S and her partner C were in town, so we all piled into E's car and gave C an insiders' tour of Detroit. we started with lunch here:

(not to self: you don't have to eat the entire plate of brisket in one sitting)

took a ride on the People Mover:

 

visited the Heidelberg Project:

and finished off the day with pumpkin ale and pizza at Motor City Brewing Works. it was really a wonderful day!

today, we've taken it easy. lots of snuggling, pancakes for breakfast, and a sausage-and-tortellini stew for dinner. i need to put laundry in the dryer, wash dishes, and walk the dog...assuming Houdini lets me get up.