Half-Sour House of Leaves

Reflecting on another weekend of Week 5 of our used bookstore, I have to admit...I am getting awfully tired of people walking into the store - not responding to my greetings but looking over my head at the back wall - and immediately asking:

"Wow, is there another room or level to this place?"

No, asshole. Hello to you to.
Does it look like there is?

Perhaps I have activated the cloaking device to hide from the real bookstore from you, JUST so that YOU can't get to the other sections?
It is such a rude question, honestly, and it immediately makes me want to smack you for your awful manners.

The other rude question "Is this the only coffee you offer?"

Its free, mofo. Fucking shut it.

Sure. Our store IS small, but instead of starting off our encounter with such negativity, I wish people would take a look at the BOOKS, the REASON this store is OPEN, and realize our selection, not the size of the space, is key.

I am amazed when people actually spend time in the store WITHOUT buying a book...it may sound cocky, but our current inventory has so much of a unique selection that I honestly believe that no one who spends more than five minutes in the shelves should leave without a book!

And if you can't afford it, I will make you a deal, dude. Just be NICE. I want to share my books with you. Be HAPPY that a bookstore exists in a neighborhood.

On the flip side, though, there has been a ton of positive compliments from the locals, who seem to be genuinely happy that we have landed in the neighborhood. Most folks have been sure to tell us that the space is "cute" - which is a hell of a lot nicer than pointing out that it is a shoebox.

Since this area is sort of one that Handsome and I have only recently come to know, we really have the opportunity to meet new and interesting Baltimorean, which isn't easy to do outside of a bar in our fair city.

Size, in this case, might matter. It usually does when it comes to bookstores, and that is one of the reasons that there are only three independent bookstores in the city limits, and a smattering of used bookstores. I am holding out for the nice people to hopefully continue buying their books from us, enough so that I can continue smiling at the jerkies who care more about the size than the content.

That whole judging a book by its cover thing.

Sympathy Cravings

Either I married the most amazingly sympathetic (and empathetic) man or Handsome is under the mythological spell of the Sympathy Craving Beast. Whatever the means of getting him to the point of fun food adventures, it is only to my preggo benefit that the man understands the power of needing pumpkin seeds at 8PM. And beyond.

In a flurry of emails traded back and forth with each other yesterday afternoon, the seed of a Carvel Ice Cream Cake was somehow planted. Both having lived in NY, where Carvel stores are a frequent sight, we panicked a bit when we realized that we might have to drive to one of the five Burroughs to satisfy the need for the delicious ice-cream, Oreo-crumb drenched, cake-like wonder. And we may have done just that if I didn’t will a frozen stand in the grocery store to distribute a small selection of very particular and expensive Carvel cakes. I almost wept when I realized that we actually were going to successfully purchase the real deal.

I think it was entitled “Sinfully Chocolate” something. It felt like a sin. The best kind of sin that requires giggling and a total focus on the bad deed. And worth all the effort. (Do other pregnant couples eat like this? I don’t even know why we bother to visit Whole Foods once a week to encourage healthier eating habits…why, when you can eat an ice cream cake for dinner??)

And I am proud to say that Handsome devoured the majority of the cake.

But today we are back to the gyro craving…why this particular food I can’t really even try to explain. Why can’t I crave oranges or non-fat yogurt or raisins? I went nuts for watermelon for weeks upon weeks, and now the sight of the pink flesh sends me running off to the next carb item to devour on my list. But I gotta have the lamb-ish sandwich, it must occur.

So Handsome once again is indulging in my demands and we will be popping ‘round to SAMO’s (http://baltimore.citysearch.com/profile/4990041/?specialty_id=10&) the gem of Greek food, tucked away blocks from the main strip of Baltimore’s Greek town. Gyros are heavenly here, and both the atmosphere and the price reflect more of my kind of B’more than anything else in our corner of the City.

Of course, after blissfully stuffing our faces, we will have to suck it up and run all over town on errands…including finding his mother a birthday card, picking up the coffee air pots and delivering them to the coffeehouse that brews our weekend coffee for the bookstore, shopping for avocados and balloons for our friend’s going away party tomorrow, and then we really must clean our abode. And commode(s). We cannot put these things off any longer, so this will be the exciting activity start to our weekend.

Aside from chores, being married and pregnant with Handsome is truly still the tops.

Grocery Lists

Today, I craved a gyro.

At first it was French fries…oh, how I wanted to run right over to the evil fast food chain located practically right next to my office. But I held out, stuffed my mouth with trail mix, and eventually the craving switched gears to a gyro. Since I found out during my 23 week checkup last night that I have officially gained 15 lbs with this pregnancy, I was hoping to avoid such big ticket calorie items. Like the Taco Bell that has been my staple. Something about that 7-layer burrito speaks volumes to me. The occasional ice cream smorgasbord activities with Handsome while kicking back to reruns of Law & Order. The Tostitos and salsa routine. The four granola bars a day.

So, instead, I walked. I walked right past the gyro place that I adore feeling completely in control of my eating habits. I told myself that I was enjoying the sunshine. Some old man called me pretty lady despite the protruding belly. Who needs a gyro? I marched right on through a good fifteen minutes, made a full circle back towards my building, and stopped into the buffet place with the intention of piling a small salad together. Wouldn’t you know it – the gyro platter was a special there today. I didn’t even know that they had gyros.

As eating is one of the few things that keeps me happy in this pregnancy, I really have to give into my cravings every now and then. Munching down on whatever item my heart desired can result in almost orgasmic euphoria…and hey, didn’t I just walk 15 minutes? I kind of almost earned a gyro!

And damn, was it good.
Damn, I could eat another.

IT’S A GIRL BEAN – by the way. Not that I was surprised…I sort of had decided the bean would be a girl, and now Handsome and I spend a lot of conversational time hashing out the finer points of names we are attracted to for the bean. Harper, Emily, Maille, Maia, and his latest addition, Nora. (NORA??) I actually like Millicent as well, but haven’t brought that one up with Handsome just yet.

Nora? Yeah. Sounds like a nun or something.