redemption for my spending

i love meeting new people. if i could figure out a way to make it into my paid occupation, i'd do it. i suppose that is kind of my job now, but it would be nice if the people i was meeting weren't sick... i guess i did that when i worked for starbucks, too, but i made $7 an hour. i want my pie and eat it too.

i hung out last evening with liz, shay, and my newest pal maggie (actually named 'ashley' but her resemblance to maggie gyllenhaal was so uncanny when we met that i instantly ascribed her the alias.) we were jiving it up at sangria's tapas bar in hyde park.

[side note: my mom just interrupted this very important message with a phone call. i told her about my night and she sounded shocked. "shane, i can't believe you went to a topless bar!" - "not topless, mom. TAPAS. it's spanish food..." - "well, i guess that's okay, then" she said. glad i have her approval.]

we found that we shared a love for food and an undue apprehension toward carbohydrates.

[another side note: the starbucks barista must work for the dark side because, just as i was typing the above sentence, she offered me a sourcream doughnut sample. it's bad enough that she had to shove the tray in my face {spilling crumbs on my MacBook} but the smell is still in the air and she walked away over three minutes ago...)

anyway, i need to get to my point before i start writing about something completely different (i'll never be able to write a book - i've got the ideas in my head, but it would be 1,000 pages before i came to an absolution...) our bill came and, long before we began our night, i decided to pay. i love paying the bill sometimes and with certain people. it's the people that don't expect it that appreciate it the most. what i was shocked about was that a pitcher of sangria was $34. who doesn't ask how much something is before they order it? i'll tell you who does. me, liz, shay, and maggie - that's who. between the sangria and endless orders of tapas, our bill was over two hundred dollars.

"who cares" i said. "i'm loaded. selling that lexus was the best thing i ever did. it cost more to drive that thing for a week!"

and, honestly, it did. i miss the car, but i don't miss what it brought every month. i was feeling pretty bad about the extravagant meal, though, and so paid off a credit card this morning (only one more left[!])

if that ain't redemption, i don't know what is.