my mom got me drunk!

Well... that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

"These Shining Lives" at Center Stage was excellent. I highly recommend any Baltimoreans to stop by and see it if they get the chance. It's in the Head Theater at Center Stage, which they are allowed to configure differently for each show. The floor of the stage opened on two parts to create different scenes, and the back wall split and opened crazily to hide and reveal the characters. Also, its an amazing story based in the early 1930s before companies were required to disclose if any of their employees were dealing with dangerous chemicals in the work environment. "Shining" refers to their use of radium to make watch faces, and the women started to glow after a few years of exposure.

The annual Flower Mart was this weekend, which is always a festive affair. We didn't purchase any overpriced flowers, but it was nice to wander around Mt. Vernon after the show and day dream about the old mansion style rowhomes that still line the streets.

My other recommendation is to try Mama's on the Half Shell in Canton. YUM! I had never been there before, but it quickly became my favorite place. They are the co-owners of Nacho Mamas two establishments down, but this is a seafood restaurant and slightly more upscale. I love richly decorated - meaning dark colors and really cool lighting fixtures - bars/restaurants. And they have the huge open windows that open onto the street corner.

It was warm out, and warm in there, when I got my appetizer of Beer Mussels - which had shrimp, chorizo, onions, tomatoes, and a spicy wine sauce over it. I think it had to be over two dozen mussels in there, served with crusty bread. It must have been the heat, the spice, and me downing my mojioto that get me very tipsy very quickly. My mom knew it was down hill when I started smiling and giggling. Then I ordered their famous drink, the Orange Crush - which is served with real orange juice over crushed ice. YUMMY! I had ordered the lobster roll for dinner, but couldn't finish it - so there's a doggie bag waiting in the fridge for me. This is my new favorite place to go - and like most Baltimore City bars, unpretentious and a great place to meet friends and relax. They are known (ie 'half shell') for their oysters, which you can get fixed any which way - as well as clams. They have a whole menu for land-lubbers too.

I couldn't help but think that my ex would have loved this place, and for a moment in my tipsy-ness I made a mental note to myself to bring him there. Then I remembered that we aren't together anymore. It's almost a month to the day since the breakup, and I still find the weekends hard.

He and I didn't talk much during the week, just a few emails, nor did we see each other. He was usually traveling during the week, so it was just normal to me. But, I always knew that I'd be going over there on Saturday, or he over here, and we'd spend the weekend together. I miss having someone to go places with me. I like going out and doing things, so I updated my profile on okcupid to find some activity partners. Hopefully I'll meet some people who like to do that too.

I do know, that down the road, in my next relationship, I want someone who will pay more attention to me. I don't want someone attached to my hip, as that is just annoying to everyone involved, but I do want to feel cherished and enjoyed when we are together. I don't know, I just like attention - I like to be talked to, and I like to share my ideas, and I like to find out what other people are thinking, and why they think that way. And I like cuddles... lots and lots of cuddles... and my forehead kissed. My ex enjoyed silence, and quiet time, so I found myself often not talking and sitting by myself in his living room while he was in his office working on various projects. I wanna be a project. But I did get a lot of my knitting down during that time...

I don't know, sometimes it still feels like I'm living a dream, and that he's just away in Hawaii for a month again, and he'll be home soon and it's like none of this ever happened. I still feel like we could have been great together, if he was just willing to open his heart to me... but as my new mantra has been this past month - you can't make someone want to love you.

I'm taking a page out of my friend's book, and am going to try to link my blog to my facebook page. Hopefully it will work! I promised him I'd pay royalities for stealing his idea... because I'm nice like that.