Great Books Girl Gets Giddy Over Gimlets

Clock is ticking on the ol' Great Books seminar business. I've got 350 pages left to read by Sunday. I got up at 6 this a.m. and went to Dunn Bros. by the river to read some Thucydides and Machiavelli. Mmmmmm....yes. Greg stopped in for a little while before he had to go to court and we debriefed his date from last night, which situation is a source of incredible amusement for me. I read until late morning, then ran some errands during which I stopped at River of Goods in St. Paul, and the STORE IS CLOSING AND ALL OF THEIR STUFF IS WAY ON SALE! Tiffany lamps, which I didn't even know I really liked and I'm not sure would look so great in my home, are super on sale and cute. The store is closing at the end of August, but they're opening a new store at Hwy 280 and Como. I didn't get anything, I don't even know why I stopped by, but now I'm dreaming of the tiffany lamps. Why? Forget about them, Ugly Juice. You don't need them. They won't fit anywhere in your home and the cats will break them.

I met Tonya for a 3-hour lunch at Psycho Suzi's. We drank gimlets all afternoon and had a nice time. Sadly, her father passed away last week, very unexpectedly at the age of 62, of a heart attack. She has taken some time off of the intense advanced nursing program she's enrolled in to spend time with her mom and try to pick up the pieces. I feel so incredibly sad for her, she was so close to her dad and is like him in a lot of ways. I went to the memorial service on Sunday, which was sweet and sad. Her dad was an unlikely marathon runner--he was a smoker, and slightly overweight. He was our inspiration when we ran Twin Cities two years ago. Tonya has decided to run Twin Cities this year in honor of him, and I'm going to train to run part of it with her. Five miles or so, I think.

I came home to find gifts from Julie on the kitchen table! A stack of fabric for my red-and-white fabric collection (plan to make a red and white quilt sometime in the future...), and two adorable skirts that fit perfectly. (Thanks, Julie!!!)

Oh, one more thing. Check out this super cute chair. (Link via super cool Treehugger site.)