A midweek weekend

I have had a mini-break, as they say across the pond, over the last couple of days. Even though I am fairly drowning in work. It has been divine.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon and evening with Faux-GF, who is visiting from last year’s Uni City, and she stayed at my place me last night. We had the most delightful evening. I swear I was high on…just…goodness. Our relationship was hatched over food and wine. It’s the foundation of our friendship, I’d say.

After having lunch at a delightful place I don’t go to enough – where I had vegetarian souvlaki, all dripping with tzatziki and homemade barbecue sauce!? – we came up to my current, new-old neck of the woods. I took her to the bakery to get loukoumades (Greek honey balls), that absolutely divine invention. She’d never had them before. Needless to say, we scarfed down our dozen practically on the spot. Then we went to the cheese shop at the bottom of my street, and selected five cheeses. Organic roastables and strawberries from the market.

Back at home, I opened up a bottle of very fine wine I’ve been saving for a long time – probably the finest wine I’ve ever actually owned. Oh my. The smoothest, earthiest pinot noir. Our cheeses were gorgeous. There was one – Vento L’Estate, it’s called – that is aged in wildflowers. People!!! It tasted like flowers!! I nearly expired, frankly. All that followed with roasted asparagus and eggplant, maple-balsamic-dressed greens, and strawberries.

Food is like drugs.

Faux-GF and I talk and talk…we relax into each other. We gush and effervesce about about our friendship. I miss her so much. Because we were there for one another all year, last year, teaching in the same department – and it was the first year of full-time teaching for both of us. Nobody else gets it, what it means to teach and relate to my students the way I do. Talking with her is deep, deep relief.

She left this morning, and I went off to meet my student, Alice, who’d wanted to have a celebratory, “I’m-finished-all-my-work-and-I’m-graduating” day in Home City. (Marks are calculated for the class she was in, and this feels fine now, whereas I’d never, I don’t think, have done it before.) She helped me pick out a pair of prescription sunglasses at the optical shop. (They are pretty fab. But I’m somewhat mortified that they are Gucci – I feel like Gucci sunglasses are such a cliché!) I took her to lunch at perhaps my favourite place in the city, the place that makes me want to weep, it’s so lovely. Know what I had for dessert? A passionfruit caramel tart. Yeah. I pretty much died.

We went next door to a little local clothing collective I always salivate over, and I bought this skirt that I just loved: (This is the front. The back has a couple of lovely little gathers, with black ribbons):

I am spending way too much money lately. This was on sale, at least.

I said goodbye to Alice and came home, ever so satisfied. What a whirlwind of wonderful food and company.

Then I spent a few hours revising and polishing my article, and just sent it off to the editors of the special journal issue. I am happy with it. I like writing about pedagogical issues, theorizing them. It brings everything full circle.

Sigh of contentment.