Joyous June
June 1: Musical
We've been wanting to see "Wicked" for several years and just never managed to find time when the show was playing in either San Francisco or Chicago during our visits. So I was thrilled to learn that "Wicked" was coming to the Community Center Theater this year, and we bought our tickets as soon as they went on sale almost a year in advance! The entire performance was AMAZING!!! Both female leads were incredible, and not knowing the whole story ahead of time allowed us to just sick back, enjoy, and discover the plot along with the characters themselves.
June 2: Coffee & Pride
The warm weather was creeping in, which kept us from some potential evening activities, but we did manage to pick up some coffee at the new Insight Coffee Roasters on 8th and S (Mr. E's first time there -finally!) before heading up to L Street to catch the tail end of the Pride Parade, including my favorite - the Cheer Squads. So cool!
June 3: Brunch
We hit The Red Rabbit for brunch and were severely disappointed by the service, so that venue will not remain on the list of go-to places for our weekend outings. The food was decent, but we both still prefer the coffee at Orphan, although I do appreciate that The Red Rabbit serves coffee in a French Press at table-side. Now if only our server had actually returned within the requisite four minutes to plunge the press for us, as he had promised... Good thing Mr. E was checking his watch so we could opt for the self-service route.
June 6: PP Advocates Annual Fundraiser
Despite the warm weather, we biked to the midtown venue for the annual PP Voices for Change event, for which we've been a sponsor for the past couple of years. We enjoyed some tasty wine and food, along with my friend M, whom we invited to join as (as we had last year, too). The challenge with this year's venue was that the Victorian house layout was rather "choppy," so getting folks gathered into a single space to present the awards was next to impossible. We actually positioned ourselves in the foyer and on the front porch to avoid the crowd (and the warmth). Regardless, it's always a great and inspiring event, and it was fun to see some of my former PP colleagues (especially those whom I actually enjoyed working with...).
June 8-17: Mr. E in Fort Worth > Houston > Orlando
Visiting friends G, G, and L over the first weekend, working during the week, and heading farther east to celebrate his aunt's 90th birthday with the rest of the clan over the final weekend.
June 9: Monthly Brunch & Ballet
Our brunch group returned to Cafe Bernardo on 15th Street, sans S, who was in Oklahoma visiting her family. In the evening, I went to "At the Ballet III," a musical revue at the Sac Ballet studios to benefit the Ballet. Although the performance was relatively amusing and focused on mostly current pop and rock tunes, the studio was uncomfortably warm, so I headed home at intermission.
June 10: Massage & Masks
I treated myself to an "extra" 60-minute massage session in the morning and then went to the closing reception at CSUS of an exhibition of Mexican masks from the collection of our neighbor, LH. I got there just in time to join his "guided tour" of the items on display, which was fascinating. Unfortunately, the room wasn't sufficiently air conditioned, so I didn't linger after the tour. (Yes, there's a theme here - I do not enjoy being too warm and will often opt to do or not do certain activities based on the temperature. Being miserable just isn't worth it...).
June 14: Museum
In honor of Pride Month, the Crocker's "Thursday's 'til Nine" Art Mix event was entitled Pride Mix and included a performance by the Sacramento Gay Men's Chorus, which was the primary item of interest for me. Since I arrived a bit early, I browsed in the gift shop and found an awesome birthday present for my sister, which will be heading her way at the end of August. Shh.... Don't tell her! :)
June 16: Book Club Video Fest & Sac French Film Fest (SFFF)
My monthly brunch friend, M, invited me to join her Book Club, and this month's gathering was a day-long video fest to watch several episodes of "Jeeves & Wooster," a BBC series based on P.D. Wodehouse's series of novels. The particular novel we'd read was "The Code of the Woosters," and the final episode we watched was the one that referenced that novel, so it was very fun to see the TV interpretation of the narrative. We finished up in time for me to attend "Un balcon sur la mer" at the SFFF, which featured Jean Dujardin (from this year's "The Artist") in a dramatic role. The film was only OK - I get tired of storylines that include infidelity, as I find them rather trite and just too easy. I long for popular entertainment to feature couples that don't take that easy path when things get tough or challenging, but so few authors, screenwriters, or playwrights ever tackle that challenge.
June 17: More SFFF
The two films I saw today were much more enjoyable: "Les Emotifs anonymes" and "Hollwoo." The first was a lovely and quirky movie, somewhat reminiscent of "Amelie" for me in terms of the unique characters, and the second was a somewhat rare (for us to see in the US anyway) mainstream French comedy, whose lead actress reminded me greatly of Tina Fey, both in terms of appearance and in personality. Watching these movies in the air-conditioned Crest Theatre on K Street was a great way to spend a hot Sunday afternoon!
June 20: CPCA at River Cats
The hottest day of the week in the midst of a cool-down was of course the occasion for our CPCA summer outing... At least we had seats in the "Party Deck" along 1st base side, so we were completely shaded throughout the game, but it still got a bit warm. Luckily, the Cats came from behind to win, and V and I both won two free ticket vouchers each as part of the Group Raffle, so more River Cats baseball will definitely be on the agenda this summer.
June 21: Sac Ballet Season Preview
Mr. E and I headed to the Ballet studios for a preview of next season's offerings. The presentation included video snippets of upcoming shows, and we're excited to renew our subscription in anticipation of Ron Cunningham's 25th anniversary season with the company (he and his partner, Carinne Binda, are the Co-Artistic Directors of the Ballet and were formerly with The Boston Ballet - my sister remembers Ron from her time there back in the 80s).
June 22: Monthly Happy Hour
With S back from Oklahoma, we met up at Three Fires Lounge for drinks and snacks. The menu isn't extensive, but the service is friendly and the stuffed chairs make for comfy lounging.
June 23: Final SFFF
Mr. E got to join me for one final French film, "38 Temoins," a dramatic thriller that offered a rather stark and troubling view of the human psyche in the face of a violent crime. I wish Mr. E had been able to see the two lighthearted films that I attended the previous Saturday!
June 24: Monthly Massages
I tried a new therapist this month and was VERY pleased, so I think I've found a keeper. Let's just hope she stays for awhile! Mr. E continues to be happy with J, and I since I now prefer K, we won't have to fight over our favorite therapists. :)
June 27: Veggies, Veggies, Veggies
My colleague, M, whose sister, S, runs the CSA to which we subscribe, was apparently feeling a bit overwhelmed by her abundance of produce, so she invited us to a cookout with some of her family and friends to make use of all the yummy veggies. We had a really nice time meeting new folks and chatting with M and her partner, K, who arrived a bit late after his basketball league. M was also super-considerate as a hostess, making sure to prepare some non-onion and non-garlic offerings with me in mind. So sweet! I'm hoping we can socialize with them more often, as I really enjoy their company. As M said, sometimes it's hard to know when/if to cross those work/personal life boundaries, but we both agreed this was a successful instance of breaking through those lines.
June 30: Off to the East Coast
S picked us up at noon for our 1:20pm flight to Boston for our annual visit to Mom over the 4th of July week. More on that next month...
We've been wanting to see "Wicked" for several years and just never managed to find time when the show was playing in either San Francisco or Chicago during our visits. So I was thrilled to learn that "Wicked" was coming to the Community Center Theater this year, and we bought our tickets as soon as they went on sale almost a year in advance! The entire performance was AMAZING!!! Both female leads were incredible, and not knowing the whole story ahead of time allowed us to just sick back, enjoy, and discover the plot along with the characters themselves.
June 2: Coffee & Pride
The warm weather was creeping in, which kept us from some potential evening activities, but we did manage to pick up some coffee at the new Insight Coffee Roasters on 8th and S (Mr. E's first time there -finally!) before heading up to L Street to catch the tail end of the Pride Parade, including my favorite - the Cheer Squads. So cool!
June 3: Brunch
We hit The Red Rabbit for brunch and were severely disappointed by the service, so that venue will not remain on the list of go-to places for our weekend outings. The food was decent, but we both still prefer the coffee at Orphan, although I do appreciate that The Red Rabbit serves coffee in a French Press at table-side. Now if only our server had actually returned within the requisite four minutes to plunge the press for us, as he had promised... Good thing Mr. E was checking his watch so we could opt for the self-service route.
June 6: PP Advocates Annual Fundraiser
Despite the warm weather, we biked to the midtown venue for the annual PP Voices for Change event, for which we've been a sponsor for the past couple of years. We enjoyed some tasty wine and food, along with my friend M, whom we invited to join as (as we had last year, too). The challenge with this year's venue was that the Victorian house layout was rather "choppy," so getting folks gathered into a single space to present the awards was next to impossible. We actually positioned ourselves in the foyer and on the front porch to avoid the crowd (and the warmth). Regardless, it's always a great and inspiring event, and it was fun to see some of my former PP colleagues (especially those whom I actually enjoyed working with...).
June 8-17: Mr. E in Fort Worth > Houston > Orlando
Visiting friends G, G, and L over the first weekend, working during the week, and heading farther east to celebrate his aunt's 90th birthday with the rest of the clan over the final weekend.
June 9: Monthly Brunch & Ballet
Our brunch group returned to Cafe Bernardo on 15th Street, sans S, who was in Oklahoma visiting her family. In the evening, I went to "At the Ballet III," a musical revue at the Sac Ballet studios to benefit the Ballet. Although the performance was relatively amusing and focused on mostly current pop and rock tunes, the studio was uncomfortably warm, so I headed home at intermission.
June 10: Massage & Masks
I treated myself to an "extra" 60-minute massage session in the morning and then went to the closing reception at CSUS of an exhibition of Mexican masks from the collection of our neighbor, LH. I got there just in time to join his "guided tour" of the items on display, which was fascinating. Unfortunately, the room wasn't sufficiently air conditioned, so I didn't linger after the tour. (Yes, there's a theme here - I do not enjoy being too warm and will often opt to do or not do certain activities based on the temperature. Being miserable just isn't worth it...).
June 14: Museum
In honor of Pride Month, the Crocker's "Thursday's 'til Nine" Art Mix event was entitled Pride Mix and included a performance by the Sacramento Gay Men's Chorus, which was the primary item of interest for me. Since I arrived a bit early, I browsed in the gift shop and found an awesome birthday present for my sister, which will be heading her way at the end of August. Shh.... Don't tell her! :)
June 16: Book Club Video Fest & Sac French Film Fest (SFFF)
My monthly brunch friend, M, invited me to join her Book Club, and this month's gathering was a day-long video fest to watch several episodes of "Jeeves & Wooster," a BBC series based on P.D. Wodehouse's series of novels. The particular novel we'd read was "The Code of the Woosters," and the final episode we watched was the one that referenced that novel, so it was very fun to see the TV interpretation of the narrative. We finished up in time for me to attend "Un balcon sur la mer" at the SFFF, which featured Jean Dujardin (from this year's "The Artist") in a dramatic role. The film was only OK - I get tired of storylines that include infidelity, as I find them rather trite and just too easy. I long for popular entertainment to feature couples that don't take that easy path when things get tough or challenging, but so few authors, screenwriters, or playwrights ever tackle that challenge.
June 17: More SFFF
The two films I saw today were much more enjoyable: "Les Emotifs anonymes" and "Hollwoo." The first was a lovely and quirky movie, somewhat reminiscent of "Amelie" for me in terms of the unique characters, and the second was a somewhat rare (for us to see in the US anyway) mainstream French comedy, whose lead actress reminded me greatly of Tina Fey, both in terms of appearance and in personality. Watching these movies in the air-conditioned Crest Theatre on K Street was a great way to spend a hot Sunday afternoon!
June 20: CPCA at River Cats
The hottest day of the week in the midst of a cool-down was of course the occasion for our CPCA summer outing... At least we had seats in the "Party Deck" along 1st base side, so we were completely shaded throughout the game, but it still got a bit warm. Luckily, the Cats came from behind to win, and V and I both won two free ticket vouchers each as part of the Group Raffle, so more River Cats baseball will definitely be on the agenda this summer.
June 21: Sac Ballet Season Preview
Mr. E and I headed to the Ballet studios for a preview of next season's offerings. The presentation included video snippets of upcoming shows, and we're excited to renew our subscription in anticipation of Ron Cunningham's 25th anniversary season with the company (he and his partner, Carinne Binda, are the Co-Artistic Directors of the Ballet and were formerly with The Boston Ballet - my sister remembers Ron from her time there back in the 80s).
June 22: Monthly Happy Hour
With S back from Oklahoma, we met up at Three Fires Lounge for drinks and snacks. The menu isn't extensive, but the service is friendly and the stuffed chairs make for comfy lounging.
June 23: Final SFFF
Mr. E got to join me for one final French film, "38 Temoins," a dramatic thriller that offered a rather stark and troubling view of the human psyche in the face of a violent crime. I wish Mr. E had been able to see the two lighthearted films that I attended the previous Saturday!
June 24: Monthly Massages
I tried a new therapist this month and was VERY pleased, so I think I've found a keeper. Let's just hope she stays for awhile! Mr. E continues to be happy with J, and I since I now prefer K, we won't have to fight over our favorite therapists. :)
June 27: Veggies, Veggies, Veggies
My colleague, M, whose sister, S, runs the CSA to which we subscribe, was apparently feeling a bit overwhelmed by her abundance of produce, so she invited us to a cookout with some of her family and friends to make use of all the yummy veggies. We had a really nice time meeting new folks and chatting with M and her partner, K, who arrived a bit late after his basketball league. M was also super-considerate as a hostess, making sure to prepare some non-onion and non-garlic offerings with me in mind. So sweet! I'm hoping we can socialize with them more often, as I really enjoy their company. As M said, sometimes it's hard to know when/if to cross those work/personal life boundaries, but we both agreed this was a successful instance of breaking through those lines.
June 30: Off to the East Coast
S picked us up at noon for our 1:20pm flight to Boston for our annual visit to Mom over the 4th of July week. More on that next month...
posted by jms | 7:29 PM
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