A lovely way to spend an evening

1.  Right swollen throat gland

2.  Right swollen armpit gland

3.  Swollen gums

4.  Blisters, blisters everywhere

5.  Hugely swollen lip/weird concave sore on my lip (it's not herpes!)

It's all very pleasant and very attractive.  I got a hold of my doctor on the phone since student health is closed for the long weekend.  He said I'm not going to die today, so I decided to leave the house.

Mitch and I took the train to his friend Dora's house.  Dora is originally from Ralston, NE and is also Jane Fonda's hairdresser.  She lives in a gorgeous apartment and we all sat around drinking blended fruit drinks for a few hours.  Her neighborhood is very industrial, but there is a great heath food market and a lot of unique artwork.

Next on the agenda was a trip to Hoboken, NJ the birthplace of Frank Sinatra and baseball.  I have never spent any time in NJ except for at the glorious Newark airport.  From the years of complaining I have heard from New Yorkers about their neighboring state, I expected a polluted and industrial eyesore or at least something resembling Council Bluffs.  Instead it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  Mitch and I took a stroll along the Hudson and marveled at the breathtaking view of the city.  From that relatively short distance you can see the entire island.  It looks so close but so perfect and unreal.  You can't see any cars or people and so you get the impression that you are looking at someone's enormous Lego masterpiece.

We walked along Washington Street which had a very European/Canadian feel to it.  A huge boulevard of sorts lined with restaurants of every kind.  There were so many beautiful patios and greenery.  As my dad reminded me, it IS called the Garden State.  

The real reason we decided to go to Hoboken on this particular day was to see Mitch's friend play bass with the Detroit Cobras.  We slowly made our way to the venue, a place called Maxwells, where Lightspeed Champion and Flowers Forever will be playing next week.  Mitch and I ate at Maxwells and I had pierogies in a restaurant for the first time!  After dinner we decided to take a walk back down to the water and look at the skyline in the dark.  To our excitement we found an empty riverwalk and playground. We spent a solid thirty minutes watching the Manhattan skyline while swinging back and forth into the night sky.  It was one of the most amazing things I have ever done.  By this time, it was time for the band to go on, but the inner turtle (at improv camp in high school an animal personality type quiz identified Mitch as a turtle, meaning that he likes to stay in his shell or in layman's terms, watch Charo videos in my bedroom during social events) got to us and we decided that people and $13 were a little too overwhelming for us so we headed back home.  On our walk back to the the train Mitch successfully gave a New Jersey cab driver directions to the Lincoln Tunnel.  We were so proud.  It was a lovely way to spend an evening.