🍴:

Mon – leftover pork tenderloin and Hampton-made baked Rancho Gordos, salad

Tues – Twisted Pine with a Seagull castmate. Kady came to Flat 493 to review things with Hampton and took him downtown before I got off work since he (finally) had a production meeting before our rehearsal. She and I then got a drink at Silver Moon; I don’t usually drink before rehearsals but, man, I love that place.

Wed: piccata pasta (sans chicken) with bresaola salad.

Thurs: an early gig in Greensboro meant I got to catch up with one of my fave people to share a stage — and life — with, Ali Fox. She recommended Lewis & Elm, where a coworker is a wine club member, and they’re both right, it’s fantastic. I had a grilled cheese with drunken goat cheese, rosemary ham, and mushrooms, plus their harvest salad. The Ghia ginger mocktail was a fine follow up to a glass of Lambrusco since I had to drive and all.

Fri – Chicken Thighs with Wild Mushroom and Sage Cream Sauce, roasted Brussels. Fun fact, I took the time to make wild rice… and then forgot to plate it 🤦‍♀️

Sat: Shrimp Scampi Risotto with TJ’s newish frozen black tiger shrimp, arugula salad — making extra risotto for arancini next week.

Sun: Asian-Inspired Creamy Braised Short Ribs over a black bean purée, Gingery beetroot with peanut dressing, black sesame and no chives but with edamame.

🥃: I did all of our Christmas shopping downtown on Saturday afternoon and finally stopped into Chill Nitro for one of their fancy coffees to walk back to my car when done. Obviously, She Who Shall Not Be Named can eff off into the sun with her TERFy trash nonsense — but the Gryffindor gingerbread dirty chai made my dirty chai-loving Gryffindor (yes, I know, I’m also surprised I’m not a Ravenclaw) heart very happy.

For the solstice on Sunday, I enjoyed part of my Cauldron Creations monthly mystery box, Winter Solstice of the Cailleach Bath and Sipping Tea, which came with a bag of tea to drink, a bag to toss in the in the bath, and a spell. Again, best money I spend every month; delicious and good for the soul, helping me to stay present and mindful while drinking less wine.

🐶:

📚: Dangerously close to my minimum annual reading goal. And yes, yes I did delete most of the games off my phone again because once again I have proven I cannot be trusted with my free time.

The highlight of this week was Sundown Girls by L.S. Stratton, a YA thriller where the ghosts are less scary than the racism and homophobia. A well-paced read in the vein of Jordan Peele, Tanarive Due, and E. Denise Billups, who I’ve spoken of here multiple times. Out next month!

🎭: Two more Mystery Men shows and one more choir concert and my 2025 performance season is over. While part of me misses the days (and money) of big holiday dinner theater runs, I also appreciate being done (and still paid) and having upcoming forced (also paid) time off at the day job.

Of course, said time off will largely be spent memorizing Chekhov…