My cousin Josh came to visit me late last week! Josh is an amazing guy. My whole family is very spread out over the globe, but when I was a freshman in college Josh and his part of the family moved to NoVA from Africa so suddenly I had some cousins in the area. I often say that he is more like a brother to me than a cousin. We can talk about anything and everything. It's nice to have some part of the family that I feel really close to. Anyways, Josh came down to visit on Thursday. We went to a dinner party at Maggie and Elijah's where we played Loaded Questions. My friend Stephen brought appetizers in the form of Cheese Shop breadends, house dressing, and three types of cheeses plus crackers, we had several bottles of wine passing around, and Elijah made fettuccine Alfredo and we had caramelized pineapple with rose petal honey for dessert. It was a very pleasant evening. Josh and I ended up at home early-ish though (we were both tired), watched an episode of NCIS (a show we both love), then turned in around 11:00.
The next day, we went exploring! We had breakfast at Aroma's (chocolate/strawberry crepes for me, and quiche for Josh), then borrowed Zan's WM ID so that Josh could get in free to places, and we drove to Jamestown. I had no idea they had colonial glassblowing, but they do! Josh remembered it from long ago when he was here with his dad, so we went to see it. It was really cool to watch the 'settler' form a candle holder out of glass right in front of us. I told Josh if he liked this, he needed to get to Murano, the island off of Venice famous for glass. We then tried to go to Jamestown Island, but WM IDs don't work there, so we went to Jamestown settlement instead, where I showed Josh the Shakespeare First Folio, then we looked around at the 'Fort', the ships, and the 'Powhatten Camp' before deciding to head over to Yorktown. In Yorktown we parked by the waterfront, got some Ben and Jerry's ice cream, then sat eating it on the beach for awhile. We looked into some of the shops after that, then drove to the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor's Center. We arrived just in time to catch a showing of "Story of a Patriot." It's a really cheesy video made around 1956, extremely historically inaccurate in most cases, but still a lot of fun. Despite myself, it makes me feel patriotic. And the theatre they have put it in is beautiful! It's got stadium seating with high walls so you feel as if you are the only one there, and they have digitally restored the video so the sound and color are superb.
After the film, we drove back to my flat, then headed to Swem Library because I needed a few books to read at my jobs. I picked up The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and Gone with the Wind. I started Gone with the Wind at the Wren Building on Saturday, and continued it yesterday. So far, I love it. I told my dad that I was reading it and he said, "Careful, it may turn you into a Civil War buff." So it might; right now I find that I am drawn up into the story much more easily and willingly than I thought I would be.
Anyways, that night we ate dinner at Retro's, hung out at Mike, Zan, Allison, Thomas, and Annie's apartment, and Kacey came to stay with me because she had a wedding to attend the next morning. Saturday, all of my company departed and I was left to go to the Wren building for work. I really dislike working at the Wren. I don't know why-- I thought I would like it, and the other day when I could just read was ok, but for some reason Saturday was terrible. Alternately, I love working at Bella. I feel like I have actual things to do at Bella, and I'm learning retail skills, and the atmosphere is so warm and cozy with bright, happy lights and silky things, and jazzy music, but the Wren is cold and dark and silent. Literally, I was sitting in the Center Hall shivering from cold, but when I opened a door to let in some warm air I was asked to close it again by the permanent staff. And every tourist comments on how poorly lit a place is the Wren. Well, I've only worked there two days, maybe it will get better. Sigh. Oh, but Bella is wonderful! And I think I will get more hours, because the other shopgirl found a different job and is quitting! Hooray for a wonderful job!
No comments:
Post a Comment