Ohhhhhhhhh. Happy Valentine’s Day from Andre 3000, y’all!!!
http://youtu.be/7gq0sRCrcPg
What a day it has been!
I had the most beautiful Valentine on the planet!
Brad had off of school, and it was my pleasure to wine(illegal!) and dine her!
In the morning, I presented her with her special Valentine’s gift..
A book, a game, a rice-crispies-heart-treat kit, and some candy.
She was most thrilled by the candy.
(i was most thrilled by my wrap-job)
(i hope she knows i’m stealing that bag back)
We spent the day doing luxurious things, reader.
We went to this tea room.
Anaba.
It won best tea room in Milwaukee a few times.
I can see why.
You walk in to the ground floor, and it’s a gift-buyer’s paradise.
Handmade plant pots, cheese boards, kids gifts, and gardening gear..
Beautiful thingses that I want in my handses.
There is a skylight in the middle of the ceiling that looks like the top of a greenhouse, and a 9’x 9′ hole in the floor with a view of the downstairs tea room.
The railings are covered with vines! VINES.
I must say that the woman behind the counter was not as excited as I was to be there.
I might have squealed a bit, and squeaked, “THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL!”
She stared at me, and sort of shrugged. I swear I saw a shrug.
To quote a REALLY good book I just read..
“People always get used to beauty.” -The Fault In Our Stars
She wasn’t thrilled when I asked how to get down to the tea room either.
She said.. “Down the stairs.”
No gesture, or facial tick indicating where the stairs might be hiding..
Not cool, b.
We went down, but were told that there was a rooftop greenhouse section, too.
Brad was all about it.
She tried tea for the first time..
Peach blossom.
Not her favorite.
She did, however, get a peanut butter and Devonshire cream sandwich, which was… !!!!!!
Peanut butter cheesecake on white bread?
It’s like my childhood phoned the restaurant and told them what I had dreamed, but didn’t have the wherewithal to make a reality.
“This is so fancy,” she whispered to me over the table.
*score*
We ate, and chatted, and ate some more.
Then off to our neighborhood chocolatier.
As we were driving, we were listening to the radio.
Brad heard a song she liked, and after it was through, instructed me not to change the station.
No sooner did the phrase leave her lips, but a clip from some morning show came on the air.
Woman: And then I looked at these ‘modeling’ pictures my daughter took… GIRL ON GIRL PORN!!
I tried not to flinch.
Later, she read a billboard aloud, “THE ISSUE IS BLACK AND WHITE: A heartbeat begins 16 days after conception.”
The billboard hosted a picture of two babies. One black, and one white.
How early is too early to have a discussion with a child about abortion?
Five minutes later, she asked me.. “Have you ever had a baby, Cass?”
Odd way to phrase that, weird beard.
“No. I have never had a baby.”
Brad: Is it because you’re too young?
Me: Yes? No. No, I’m old enough.
Brad: You can’t have one?
Me: I don’t even have a boyfriend, sweetie. I think I’d like to be in love first.
Brad: Maybe Adam Lambert can retire from the singing stuff, and then take you out on a date?
Me: Two things, babe. One.. Adam Lambert is a famous person that I will very likely never meet ever.
Me: Second, Adam doesn’t date girls, he dates boys.
Brad: WHAT?
This began a pretty awesome conversation about people, and about future laws, and old laws that are different now, and who that we know is affected by these laws, and how love is the same, and civil rights, and what makes a good person (which we had talked about earlier)..
We talked about marriage, and her parents, and how she wants to have step-parents, and for each respective parent to live in the same house with the one they love..
I thought, “How phenomenal to be having this discussion on a Hallmark Love Day.”
I didn’t even have the heart to tell her that Adam Lambert and I had separated with irreconcilable differences.
We bought a bunch of truffles to try with Dad later.
BEAUTIFUL, DELIGHTFUL, FANTASTICAL TRUFFLES.
Among the many.. Habanero Peanut, Passion Fruit(the red hearts), Peppermint, Rum Chata, Pistachio, Creme Brulee, Strawberry Balsamic, Coconut, Mayan Spice..
Best truffles I’ve ever had. Hands down.
It frightens me that this shop is LITERALLY 6 blocks away from my house.
We spent the rest of our time making Valentines for Juan and family, then raced a little in Mario Kart.
I might have thought about the truffles the whole time I was at work..
And Juan may have promised that he would be up when I got home from work..
And Juan may have been asleep when I got home from work..
And I may or may not have gone through his entire apartment with the light of my phone, searching high and low just to taste a pistachio, and a habanero, to realize that they were probably in his room.
I’m not going to say I was filled with rage.
No.
That’s not the word.
Maybe a soft humming pain in the solar plexus of a single fat girl on Valentine’s Day.
What’s the word for that?
Even still.. I absolutely feel like this elephant today.
The most happiest elephant in the world.
http://youtu.be/aKCSOAy3Mfg
I wish I could hug him.
