dinner out

I love having dinner out with a friend (or 4). Reminds me of my "youth" lol. I laugh out loud because I still sorta feel like a "youth". Am I a grown up now? Or maybe I'm somewhere in the middle...at least mentally. I took the bus downtown to meet my friend Karen, who I haven't seen in over a year. We used to work together and keep in touch mostly by email. And, about once a year, it seems, we manage to get it together (read: I (me) get it together!!) enough to meet up in person.

Even the bus ride down was entertaining. I sat and people-watched and tried (not very hard) to not eavesdrop (sp? oh whatever) on a conversation two teenage girls were having right beside me. As the bus sped up going over the Granville St. Bridge and the wind blew and I had a view of the water, the mountains, and downtown all at once, I took a deep breath and smiled. It just made me feel good. We got into the core of downtown and all of the familiar (but in a new way) sites and sounds became apparent.

So many thoughts went through my head. ::hmm...lots of new shops it looks like...i'd like to come back and check them out::wow am i ever glad that i don't come and hang out here every single friday and saturday night anymore::man people are interesting...and weird...and hot...and not...and loud...and sad...happy...mad...crazy...(it goes on and on that part)::I had to walk a few blocks to the restaurant and it was fun and it made me happy. Interestingly enough, I didn't feel uncomfortable or anxious once...I'm just realizing that as I type. I didn't even THINK about that. Cool. Very cool

So...I'm walking along the street with crazy amounts of people and noise everywhere, cars honking and all jammed up, not being anxious (woo hoo). I saw a million things I wanted to buy, or at least several windows that needed to be seriously scoped. I walked to Robson and Thurlow, turned right on Thurlow, and felt good because I was only about 10 minutes late. I couldn't find the bloody restaurant anywhere! It had disappeared! Thank god for 7-11 and semi-geographically-knowledgeable clerks, because she was able to point me in the right direction ("it's not here anymore"::"no, i realize that, but where did it go? my friend told me this intersection"::"oh ya...over there...that way") and let's just say I'm glad she pointed. Found the restaurant, found Karen, and had a great chat, lots of laughs, and some nummy food.

I had sushi for lunch too. :P

Peace out yall.