Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Winter is definitely back, as evidenced by the several inches of snow we got last night. But it's a little warmer now than it was the last few days, and the roads are reasonably clear, so I don't mind too much, even if it is a bit soggy.

This weekend, The Gryphon surprised me by taking me to a very romantic restaurant. I don't know if he felt compelled to make up for the somewhat humorous experience we had at a Chinese restaurant for Valentine's Day last weekend, or if he just wanted to show me this restaurant. Either way, it was a great surprise.

The place is called Astral Plane, and it's rated one of the most romantic and one of the best restaurants in Philadelphia. It's on 1708 Lombard Street in what used to be a house.

We were seated upstairs in a room painted rose. There were paintings all over the walls, and tapestries and antique chandeliers. We were two of the first people there that evening, and they seated us at a corner booth on what seemed to be an antique loveseat. This was nice, because we could sit close together. All the little tables were covered with antique linens that reminded me of some my Nana, my mother's mother, had owned.

I had the nut-encrusted sea bass, which was absolutely delicious. It was served without a lot of fussiness, but the food was definitely haute cuisine. I also had an Amstel Light, and for dessert, I had some dark chocolate and chestnut gelato. Fabulous.

The atmosphere was great. They played music on a sound system. When we first arrived, they played contemporary stuff: '80s through today. By the time we left, I realized the clientele was mostly people in their 50s and 60s, and the sound system had started playing Frank Sinatra instead.

We then went to the Ritz 5 in Old City and saw Sideways. I had heard good things about this movie and was not disappointed. It starred Paul Giamatti, who also starred in American Splendor. He was just as good in this one.

It was a great road movie. What I think I liked best was that you couldn't see every single plot twist coming. The theater was packed and most people seemed to really enjoy it.

Then, even though it was a bit early, we headed home to take care of my dog, Una. There was a lot of wine tasting in Sideways, and there was no way to get good wine this late in Pennsylvania, so I suggested we stop at the bottle shop and buy some premium beers. We got four different bottles of imported beer to split and enjoy.

Back at my place, we watched some Angel and split two beers. They were tasty, especially the double chocolate stout.

Sunday, another relaxing day. I had picked up a couple evening assignments, so we didn't want to get too crazy the rest of the day. In the morning, we ate at the nearby diner. We ran some errands together, stopping first at the K-Mart. While we were there, I checked out the clearance rack for winter things. I bought a light blue and green striped sweater, size small, and a button down black velvet shirt, also size small, which I can layer over other shirts while it's still cold outside.

Next we went to Office Max to get him a binder. While we were there, I picked up more ink cartridges for my printer and looked for a tape measure. Now that I've lost about 74 pounds, I was curious how many inches I've lost, but unfortunately, I haven't been able to find my tape measure lately. But either Office Max doesn't sell tape measures or they had them tucked away in a mysterious place, because I couldn't find one.

We stopped then at the video store. We were going to rent Shaun of the Dead but both copies were out. Instead, we got Garden State, an indie movie we'd heard a lot about, written by, directed and starred in by Zach Braff from Scrubs.

Then we came back and I worked on a submission for a literary magazine. I had done another the day before. I want to get in the habit of sending more things out.

We watched Garden State then. It reminded me a lot of The Graduate, funny while also thoughtful and moving. There were also some nice visual moments. It was shot in New Jersey but not anyplace The Gryphon recognized.

After we watched that, I did my evening assignments while The Gryphon watched the Saturday Night Live special and taped it for me. I was a little bummed to be working while he was watching a documentary on one of my favorite shows, but at least I have it on tape.

Then it started to snow. Before I went to bed, The Gryphon told me to look outside and see how bright it was. Everything was light, with the moonlight and streetlights giving it a snowy glow.

I dreamt that the rain came and melted it all overnight. That didn't turn out to be quite the case, but it's a slushy sort of snow right now and Una doesn't like it at all. I just had to carry her for half a block, after she sat down and refused to budge. I think we'll have to go home.

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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