ur, ok, so its been quite a while since my last entry. to be honest, i just couldnt be arsed. also, nothing much was happening.

more celebrity spotting (oh, how i live for it): kim cattral (of sex in the city, of course) came into the bookshop and asked, without introducing herself, if we had any copies of her book. i so wished that i could have said with a straight face, 'i don't know. tell me who you are and i'll check the computer'. she wanted to sign the books that we had. i don't know if any of you have seen her book but it's a sex manual. i've seen it. i can't look at it for too long, though, because the pictures totally gross me out. the drawings are reminiscent of children's picture books except that they're extremely graphic. no details spared. eugh.

more celebrity spotting 2: jeanene garofolo (truth about cats and dogs) came into the bookshop too. she's very short. i knew she was short but she was even shorted than i'd expected.

ok, so here's the story of my birthday celebrations. first thing, i went to the presidential suite at the st regis (***** hotel) for a free champagne breakfast. i was attending in my capacity as a lana marks employee - some promotional shmoozy thing for local retailers. amanda came too. i told her she had to pretend her name was lea since the other lana marks person who was supposed to be there was liam. anyway, so we had nice champagne and orange juice and i had a nice bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese and capers and pink onion etc. very tasty. then we came back home and there was some napping before we went out lunching and shopping about town. amanda got a bag. i got a pair of mid-length boots with rabbit fur trim. mmm. i might have bought some other things too but i don't remember.

then there was more eating - this time at explore bistro. we had early dinner and excellent dessert there. i had the vegan chocolate pit. very very nice and not at all too sweet. tasty. that was the high point. the low point was amanda, who had been grouchy and obnoxious all day (hormones, i think), threw some pieces of shredded carrot at me. they had been decorating her carrot cake so they had whipped cream on them. nice. not something i had expected on my 25th birthday.

rah rah, so then we went home and digested a little before going to pre dinner drinks and our second dinner. we posed as hotel guests and called the st regis valet to come pick us up from our house and take us to the hotel for our pre ds. the lobby bar was having a $7 martini monday so we flaked out on the wide couches and enjoyed our cut price cocktails. after drinks, another valet ride to matsuhisa where we had the most fabulous dinner ever. excellent excellent sushi and other tasty japanese morsels. the dragon roles are literally to die for. so so so good. there was also much sake. because amanda used to work there and because the staff are all so friendly and delightful we were very well looked after and the bill came out to be about half what it should have been. bless them!

so then there was out and abouting to bars and some drinking here and there before coming home to sit up and drink more and talk all night. it snowed all through the night and it was nice to stand outside while other people smoked and watch the heavy flakes come down. so pretty. and then, before i knew it, it was 8am or so and so i had a shower and ate a meagre breakfast and went to work. work was a real struggle that day. eugh. so hideous. have promised myself that there will be no repeat performance. will not stay up all night unless i don't have to go to work the next morning. shudder. presumably, though, now i'm stronger for the experience. hhehehe.

more recently, high drama at lana marks. they hired a new woman the week before last who turned out to be some kind of weirdo. surprise surprise. but really, she was supposed to be in the store from 12-8 on sunday (by herself) but instead the security log shows that she came in at 12:33 and left at 1:59 so the shop was closed the rest of the day. hmm, impressive. also, she stole a couple of the security tapes and an armani sweater belonging to the manager. interesting. i was there from 8:20pm to 11pm last night doing inventory just to make sure that she hadn't stolen any stock. sigh. poor isobel (she's the new manager). besides her, i'm their only employee in aspen now. no fun at all.

so, that pretty much brings everything up to date, i think. we do have neighbours above us now, though. that's new. i don't like them - they tread very heavily. i'm half expecting one of them to come crashing through our ceiling at any moment. makes me nervous.

got an email from someone who seemed to think that i might be coming home to visit for a bit in april or so. yeah, because, you know, home is just around the corner and air travel is so cheap. sorry, kids, that aint gonna happen. i'm planning on staying in aspen until august or september at least. i won't be home until the end of october, though i'd like to see if i can extend my ticket a little and come home after thanksgiving. i really enjoyed thanksgiving last years and i'd like to do it again before i come home. pumpkin pie! mashed potatoes! football on tv! no presents! so much fun. i love it.

also, am currently very much enjoying a subscription to 'the new yorker'. fabulous. i'm getting a year's subscription (that's about one issue a week) for only $40. the articles! the stories! the cartoons! the savings! wah!!

ah, in other exciting news: yesterday i bought a cushion with a very handsome cat on it. he's on my bed and i love him to bits. am now starting to feel like my corner of the bedroom really is my little part of the world. i've stuck up some nice pictures around the top of the bed, i have my itty bitty booklight so i can read at night, i have a pile of books sitting next to my bed and my nice silky bathrobe hanging next to me bed. it's all quite cosy and aesthetically pleasing now. a-ah. yeasterday, i lay on my bed listening to music and reading and felt, for the first time, that i was relaxing at home. very nice. am starting to feel more like i actually live here and less like i'm just waiting to leave. hmm.

hope everyone one is well and saving water and fit from all those antiwar marches. rah!