good morning, sunshine

the last 12 hours have been a blessing. i feel like the sun is out again (i am speaking metaphorically, but actually the sun is out again) and i've had a near-constant smile on my face.

the transformation began last night with... the wusses. dear lord, what a 70s soft-rock cover band will do for one's spirit. it's surprising, really.

the wusses once again performed covers of little river band songs ("walkin' through the park and reminiscing..." seems to be a crowd favorite) but they also added a one-hit wonder by player ("baby come back! any kind of fool could see... i was wrong, and i just can't live without you...") and a couple of other songs that i'm too giddy to remember right now. halfway through the set i thought my face was going to crack from smiling so hard.

i got to bed waaay past my bedtime, but i wasn't worried because i had a late breakfast date and didn't have to get out of bed the next morning until 9am. (which, of course, lightened my mood even further.) there were two things about that breakfast that made my life sparkle:

first of all, the location: the mountain valley cafe. i had never been to this restaurant before, and i'm KICKING MYSELF now... because they're closing their doors on march 31. (that part tarnishes my shiny mood a bit, i'll admit.) the coffee is best in town, hands down, and the food... oh my gosh, the food. i had the mandarin crepes and thought i was in heaven. i think i need to go back every day in order to try everything on the menu.

(as a side note, the cafe is owned by steve martin, who used to be executive director at the carolina theatre. so go already.)

finally, i was dining with two comic legends: nick meglin (former editor of mad magazine) and john boni (who, among other things, was a writer at national lampoon). i kept saying to myself, "i can't believe i'm sitting here with these men..." and all the while they kept introducing me to the restaurant staff as the celebrity. it was very surreal.

they were both extremely warm people, as curious about my life as i was about theirs. this was a sort of business meeting (i had to keep reminding myself) but it didn't feel like it. as we parted ways, i got hugs and kisses and promises to do it again soon.

i'm feeling good.

i don't want to over-analyze this happiness too much, but i need to remember that the way to get myself out of a funk is to do the opposite of my instinct, which is to retreat into myself and clam up. going out, socalizing, meeting new people... these are the things that make me thankful to be alive.

Posted by xta at March 18, 2005 01:06 PM | TrackBack