The Zoo over Ambuscade Street

I had a completely enjoyable weekend. After dying on Friday (I don't remember what happened at all, although I'm pretty sure I didn't go to work), I was ready to have some fun.

Saturday was the Herbs Galore festival in Richmond with my mother. It usually takes me about an hour to get to Richmond, so to be safe, I gave myself two hours to get there. Which turned out to be a good thing...It was pouring at my house, so I figured that an outdoor festival wouldn't be too well attended. I was dead wrong.

My directions to the place were not exactly a shining example of accuracy (do not say "turn left" when you really mean "turn right"), but I eventually got that part figured out, after looping through the same two mile stretch of road a few times looking for the street I was supposed to turn on to. As I got closer and closer to my destination, the sinking feeling started - it was in the heart of a narrow-streeted residential district, and the streets were lined with cars, even as far as three miles away. The distance wasn't so much of an issue, but I can't parallel park worth a damn. In desperation I continued driving closer and closer to Maymont, and the streets got busier and busier. Amazingly enough, just as I got to the entrance of the house itself, a parking space magically appeared that I could pull directly in to. Yay! Then, I ended up having to move my car anyway, since there was a much shorter open spot near a fire hydrant that most cars wouldn't fit in. Yay for Mini!

Amazingly enough, I both got there before my mother did, and I had no problem finding her. Wonders never cease. The classes were a lot of fun, and I have some really fun new recipes to try. Almonds encrusted in oregano are near to godliness. The tearoom they had was amazing as well, and I weep that I could not buy dozens of scones to take home with me. Yum!

I...bought more tea. Because five thousand varieties just aren't enough! Amber Spice Tea is a blend of South African rooibus and a chai blend, and is simply amazing. They recommend it with chocolate milk, which strikes me as odd, though. I also bought Vanilla Amber tea (the same, with vanilla), and Peach Amber tea (can you guess?). I was really very impressed by it.

They had two more blends that are Maymont exclusives that had sold out long before we made our way to that booth that I'm going to have to go back for - they had bowls of the dry tea blends (Japanese Garden Potporri Tea and Victorian Garden Potporri Tea) that smelled wonderful. I love tea.

Getting out of Richmond proved to be problematic. A mess of one-way streets made backtracking to get back to I-95 problematic, so we decided to believe the map, which said Meadow St connects to 95. It doesn't. After turning a few times we found an on-ramp to 95-S, but not 95-N. I figured that logically, if I got on 95-S and took the next exit, I should be able to find an onramp to 95-N, right?

Wrong. Completely. I managed to find no fewer than three 95-S onramps before I managed a single 95-N one. Gah! Richmond is an evil, evil city. Richmond Below.

Once I got home there was yet another evil, evil taunt waiting for me. Tuddor Shoppe shipped out my dress last week by UPS, but they didn't give me the tracking number. UPS doesn't deliver on Saturdays, so I knew it wouldn't be there. However, when I walked in the house, Erik greets me with "You have a package from Tudor Shoppe." GAH!

It was only my extra petticoat, which led to further amusement when I pulled it out, unfolded it, and Erik got to see exactly how large it was. "Um...I think it's too big. And it looks like a curtain." What, five yards of fabric is too much? Sure, you could fit at least three of me in there without difficulty, but that's what the drawstring is for! ^_^

Then I proceded to devour all of Paladin of Souls that evening, which is every bit as good as The Curse of Chalion, and perhaps even better. Lois McMaster Bujold remains at the top of her game, and proves once again that she's a record Hugo winner for a reason. Plus, any book with a middle-aged madwoman as the main character is OK by me. I really don't think I'm going to be able to wait for the paperback for The Hallowed Hunt. MUST READ NOW!

My current book is The Buried Pyramid by Jane Lindskold, who hasn't let me down yet. About a third of the way through, it's exactly what I wanted it to be - an Edwardian novel of Egypian exploration, with a cast of delightfully quirky characters, mystery, danger, ciphers, and more. I think I may have to take a long lunch break to read more of it - I didn't want to put it down to go to bed last night, which is always a good sign.

My birthday is May 24. Yay! In case you feel the urge... ^_^;;

In the past few days I've run across multiple reviews of two books I've read recently, that accuse the author of indulging in a Mary Sue. In both cases, the author happens to be a middle-aged woman, and either the protagonist or a primary character in the book also happens to be a middle-aged woman, who may or may not bear some similarities to the authors in question.

In my mind, the term "Mary Sue" is fanfiction-only. In other words, there's no way that an author who has created her own world and written multiple published stories in it can write a true "Mary Sue." In fact, the mere suggestion has me outraged.

So, before I Go Forth and Burn the idiotic offenders, I would like to know: What do you think?

If there's ever any kind of nationwide fabric shortage, I've got it covered. Yes, I got my dress, and between the dress, the two petticoats, and the chemise, I think I'm wearing more fabric than your average Deb contains.

However, I may have a difficulty. ( Just in case you don't want to read this ) Plus, this is with the dress laced up as tight as it goes, and with the way I've been losing weight (everywhere but my hips, that is), that could prove problematic. I don't know if I should keep it as-is (completely wearable), or send it back for the next smaller size.

Also, I have no idea how to wear a petticoat. The $(@)$* think keeps slipping down.

But yay, dress!