Final list of African animals ingested.

• prawn
• crayfish
• linefish
• cobb fish
• rabbit
• west coast (of africa) oysters
• chicken
• karoo lamb
• crawfish
• beef
• beef biltong
• quail
• scallop
• ostrich jerky
• ostrich carpaccio
• salmon
• sweetbreads
• chicken egg
• kudu tartar
• trout
• springbok
• roe
• ostrich filet
• fois gras
• calamari
• pork terrine
• small squid
• clam
• mussel
• pork belly
• warthog
• kudu biltong
• kudu sausage biltong
• snails

Like a reverse Noah’s Ark*

*stolen joke

week recap attack. week of 10/5 B.A. (before africa!)

THURSDAY

Matt The Work Partner’s birthday! We hosted a 10 minute hobo booze tasting in our office during the workday. We even had a small Merry Boozistmas Tree where people put tiny bottles of the good bad stuff for the party.

After work, we went to The Ear Inn where I met up with Cyrus for co-worker Mike’s going away party. He’s going to be missed around here.

FRIDAY

Stayed in with Walter the Dog and finished reading the latest selection for my book club. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron. Here’s a quick write-up to wet your literary whistle. But regardless you need to read this book.

“While it’s difficult to categorize this mystery/romance/thriller/period epic, there is no question that Wind is wondrous. Set in post-WWII Barcelona, the novel opens with a man initiating his young son, Daniel, into the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, where lost tomes wait to be rediscovered. Daniel chooses a novel called The Shadow of the Wind and becomes obsessed with the author, whose tragic and drama-filled story unfolds, interlaced with Daniel’s own tragic and drama-filled life. There are places in which the book might seem a little over-the-top (doomed love, gruesome murders) but for Zafon’s masterful, meticulous plotting and extraordinary control over language (originally written in Spanish, it has been translated by Lucia Graves, daughter of the poet Robert). While managing to hit just about every genre, The Shadow of the Wind is ultimately a love letter to literature, intended for readers as passionate about storytelling as its young hero.” (-review via WIKI)

I finished both of our first two book club selections while on a plane and cried my little eyes out on both occasions. If you know me in real life, you know that I hate to cry in public places and live by the rule that if I’ve cried there, I can never go back. I even switched banks once in college for this reason. And now I can never fly Delta again. Thankfully for Shadow of the Wind, I finished it curled up on bed with the pup. Because the tears fell hard when this one was over. A stunning read!

SATURDAY

Woke up and had a little breakfast with the boys. Then met Court and Jess for brunch (yes, I ate breakfast twice) at Extra Virgin around the corner from my place. They are a one-stop-shop for highly inspiring girl talk. Then we got a few baked goods and coffees, popped in to American Apparel and then ended the morning sitting next to the fountain off Bleeker and coming up with more fun plans.

After brunch, I walked with Courtney to Soho to meet up with Cyrus who was shopping. We ventured off for some couple time. Ate a little lunch at Rice (yes, still eating my way through Manhattan), shopped around and then came home to snuggle and watch a movie. Ate a rice crispy treat and some pasta. Can’t stop ingesting!

Around 8pm we got our acts together and met The Sorrells and a giant group of friends and work peeps out in Greenpoint to celebrate Matt’s birthday. He designed a pub crawl that he deemed “The Green Mile” which is basically a loop of seven bars within a 1 mile radius of his apartment. We made it to five of the seven including a bar called Alligator Lounge where they give you a free individual pizza with every drink you order. Yeah, I ate one and a half pizzas. Glad to be going to Africa soon where I can take a forced pizza break.

self:

SUNDAY

Woke up a little on the sleepy side, but Cyrus suggested we slam some coconut waters and it really did the trick. The day was spent running errands for both of our upcoming trips. Including…wait for it…get ready!…I BOUGHT A FANCY CAMERA!

Remember this post? No? Well, I’ve been wanting a fancy pants camera forever and because I’m going on a once-in-a-lifetime African safari tomorrow and posing with penguins, zebras, giraffes and baboons for two weeks, now’s my chance. It was so fun to finally pull the trigger. And my brother, who does real photography, mailed me a zoom lens and some extra memory cards so I will be all set should a meerkat jump on my shoulder and say hello.

Cyrus left for his shoot in LA at around 6pm. It’s actually great timing that we both have productions at the same time, but I still hate being at home when he’s not. It’s so quiet and the bed is so big and Walter just paces around confused. We miss him already!

The night ended with our book club dinner. Because Shadow of the Wind was set in Barcelona, we met up in Williamsburg for Spanish Tapas and sangria at a little bar called Nita Nita. The food was really good and the conversation was even better! Then most of us went back to Brooklyn Amanda’s to watch Mad Men.