hearing the heavy rain outside this morning, i figured there wouldn't be any sanding today, so i slept in. my mother called at 9:30 to tell me what i already decided. it was strange to have a free day, i didn't know what to do with myself. laura had already left, this being her last conference day, with the added bonus of a free lunch. i made some better breakfast: chicken sausage oatmeal versus the simple cup of greek yogurt i normally eat.

i got in touch with laura's friend ana, to exchange information regarding her desire to stay at my place. turns out she was living in arlington when her place burned down, then moved in her with brother in somerville. he's currently on vacation with his wife and 2 kids, but when they come back next wednesday, she won't have a place to stay. she said it's nearly impossible to find a rental for only a few months. she's attending kaplan english school in harvard square, so my place would be the perfect location. she's been here since last october, so she has some furniture which she will try to sell. she's only here for 3 more months, going back to spain come december. she had no problem with the price. she'll try to make a visit within the next few days, to see the place for herself, but it's more of a formality since she's definitely taking the place. she will be the 5th spanish person to have lived at my place (others: pau, david, david's wife, laura), fast approaching the number of chinese housemates i've had over the years.

laura came back home around 3:00, attempting to skype with her boyfriend before taking a nap. i went to star market to stock up on hagen-dazs ice cream ($1.99/each) and buy a large watermelon ($4.44). i also swept up the mess of acorns covering the backyard path.

8:45pm getting drinks at bella luna in jamaica plain with eliza, carl, hillary, and eliza's brother (eliza returning to paris tomorrow night):

i left my house around 7:15p, with laura just a few minutes behind me. destination: bella luna in jamaica plain, where i was meeting eliza and carl and hillary for drinks at 8:30p before eliza returns to paris tomorrow. google map said it'd just take 40 minutes to get there by subway, so i was ahead of schedule. then i saw i had a text message from eliza, saying we'd be meeting at 8:45p now. so i was looking to get there very early. scanning google map of the jamaica plain area while i was making my way on the red line, i came to 2 realizations: 1) 8:45p was kind of late for dinner, and 2) i should try to get something to eat beforehand. nearby in egleston square (roxbury) i spotted a mcdonald's: maybe i could finally try that elusive/new-england-exclusive $7.99 lobster roll i've been hearing about. there was also a new york fried chicken, so i had all sorts of eating options. if anything, i didn't have enough time, and now regretted not leaving even earlier.

i got to the stony brook t station by 8p, and proceded to make my way to egleston square. it wasn't my first time in JP, but i'm still not very familiar with the streets there, as i moseyed my way eastward. when i got to the main drag on washington street, i walked through a gauntlet of dominican and puerto rican businesses: restaurants, barbershops, grocery stores, nail salons, cell phone stores, etc. my first stop was new york fried chicken. i've had them before, sort of terrible, but pretty cheap. i had a feeling they didn't have any sit-down space and sure enough, it was take-out only. running out of time, i went to the mcdonald's. unfortunately they didn't have the lobster roll. for a second i thought about leaving and trying one of those latino cafes instead, but figured i'd just get something quick, so i got a cheeseburger ($1) and a sweet tea ($1). after quickly eating (eliza and her brother were already at bella luna), i made my back to our appointed rendezvous spot.

accustomed to the urban environment, i pride myself on my street smarts. so of course i felt a little nervous wandering the dark streets of jamaica plain, guided only by google map directions on my iphone, which i only peeked at briefly for fear of giving myself away as somebody who was lost. i went down germania street which eventually lead to bella luna.

eliza texted me that she was at the bar, but i couldn't find her. i did however see carl, who just came in with hillary, and they managed to locate eliza. space was at a premium, with a private wedding function happening at the same time, and there were no open tables for us to sit (the wait was one hour), so we sort of just mingled in the aisles.

the last time i saw carl and hillary was back in june 2011, when we had dinner at canary's in canary square (jamaica plain). as for eliza's brother, i don't think i've ever met this brother before (but i vaguely remember meeting her other bother in the north end). eventually the really helpful hostess found a spot for us.

mojitos were ordered all around. eliza was surprised i was partaking in alcohol, but if she knew the sort of hard booze baijiu i've been accustomed to during my year in china, she wouldn't be so surprised. even though i ate, the calamari appetizer ($12) seemed too delicious not to try out so i got that. i offered to square, but there were no takers on the fried squids.

we finally left after 11p. eliza was leaving tomorrow night, but she still had another day with her family on saturday before then. they offered me a ride, but i was within walking distance to the stony brook T station. i didn't get back until after midnight. my roommate laura still wasn't home yet.