Rain, food, more rain, more food and even more rain Part 2

(Read my previous post before reading this. Why? BEACAUSE I SAID SO! And you might be confused while reading this one if you haven't read the one before it. Just sayin'...)

After getting about 2 minutes of sleep, it was time to move in my dorm. We checked out of our hotel and braved the early morning city traffic and the hardcore rain that at that point seemed capable of breaking our windshield in two. We actually found a parking space by my dorm, which was extremely odd because in the city you usually have to park 6 blocks away from where you actually need to be. We parked, ran like hell to get inside and finally got hold of the new R.A. and got myself checked in. I was the first of my roommates(Katherine and Donna) to get there, so I was the first human to set foot in that room for over a month. It was kind of depressing. The room was completely empty except for our boxes piled on our beds, well, mine and Donna's boxes. Katherine had just thrown all of her stuff in a pile on her bed(that was still made)and my mom wondered if somehow Katherine had made herself exempt from the "box-your-stuff-up" rule. I simply explained to her that Katherine just doesn't give a crap about the rules and we then wondered what it feels like to just not care. Must feel nice. After staring blankly at my empty room and contemplating where the hell to start with my unpacking, we finally decided to skip unpacking and have lunch instead. But then we felt kind of bad, so we got some of my stuff somewhat settled in and waited for the rain to stop before venturing out in search of food.

I decided to do my weekly restaurant goal when my mother was here because I knew I would be more comfortable and therefore more likely to actually eat. I wanted to take her to Sushi Hana because San Francisco is the only place I'll eat sushi and the restaurant holds a special place in my heart. My dear friend Zach and I used to go there all the time. The servers know us by name and have been nothing but friendly with us. Unfortunately, it was really cold and looked like it was going to start raining again, so the trek to Van Ness and Eddy was out of the question for my mother. I was incredibly bummed at the fact that we would have to eat on Fillmore Street again because EVERYTIME my mother comes up to the city we eat.on.Fillmore. After some bickering, we set off for Fillmore to find a place I was comfortable with and would satify my sandwich craving and after even more bickering we settled on a place called Chouquet's. Apparently it was French food, but that wasn't our reason for going there, we just wanted to stop arguing and eat. I'm really glad we ended up there though, because for my first experience with French cuisine, it was insanely delicious. It's a cute little cafe-like setting, but you still get treated like you're in a restaurant which is really nice. The guy(I'm sure there is an actual title for his job)who was basically running the place was incredibly friendly and helpful by explaining what each thing on the menu was. It also helped that he was semi attractive, but his clearly European accent made him actually attractive. I ended up ordering a croque monsieur(open face sadnwich with ham and cheese)with a small green salad and my mother ordered marinated salmon, green salad and cream cheese toast. I wasn't sure if the place allowed photography, so I didn't get many shots, but damnit I tried. I nearly cried at the beauty on my plate when they brought me my food. It consisted of two of my favorite foods: burnt toast and cheese. Lots of cheese. I'm not a big fan of ham, but it was so good, it didn't even matter. It wasn't too greasy or heavy(I still couldn't finish it, though), it was pretty much perfect for what I had been craving. I had a croque monsieur at La Boulange further down Fillmore Street and it was really heavy and made my stomach cry later, but this one much more caring towards my insides. My mother's salmon looked absolutely gorgeous; almost to the point where she didn't want to eat it. But then she realized that's why they put it infront of her and she dug right in. Her toast was topped with yet another giant slab of beautiful green avocado. I tried a bit of the toast and gave it my approval. It tasted like it had chives in it, which made me happy because I LOVE having terrible smelling breath. Neither of us were able to finish our lunches, but the portions are so huge, I don't think anyone could have. They'd have to have a black hole for a stomach to do so. So in other words, my father would be able to clean his plate. And everyone else's....and still have room for 3 desserts. It wasn't very expensive either, but not to the point where I would go there all the time. It's definitely a place I will eat at when I feel like indulging and splurging a bit.

CROQUE DESTRUCTION!

Deciding that we had been sufficiently satisfied, we paid our bill and prepared to head back to my dorm. Of course at this point, it was pouring rain outside. I felt like me and my mother were swimming to the bus stop instead of walking to it. After nearly escaping a watery death several times, we made it back safely and went grocery shopping. MY FAVORITE!!!!!! I don't know exactly why, but grocery shopping gives me immense joy and anxiety. It's probably due to the fact that I have an eating disorder, but that's besides the point right? Anyway, we bought a few items at the local Safeway, which by the way, sells the most ENORMOUS M&M cookies that have ever graced my retinas. When we were done with Safeway, we headed over to Whole Foods to get more groceries. I know that sounds pretty rediculous, but it makes sense to me. See, the thing is, there are some foods I don't mind buying at regular grocery stores like Safeway, but for the majority of my pantry staple items, I insist on Whole Foods(or really any other organic grocery store)because I know for a fact that it's healthy for me and my brain won't send itself into panic over driver after ingesting it. While at Whole Foods, I suddenly remembered my undying quest for the perfect cupcake. I had never had a cupcake from there before, but I did remember noticing how huge and well crafted they were. We were already in line for check-out, but I begged my mother for a lovely fat injected cupcake. Besides, it would be for the good of my quest. There weren't many to choose from this time around, but it didn't really matter to me. What matter was buying a the cupcake and more importantly, me eating it. They had a few chocolate ones(including a vegan one that I was very wary of trying. Damn you, allergy to soymilk!)but I thought chocolate would be too heavy after my lunch. So I settled on a vanilla cupcake with simple buttercream frosting that just so happened to be in the form of a cute and bright rainbow. We purchased my food and my cupcake that was approximately the size of a small mastiff and went home.

I don't really remember what was done after that. Probably more unpacking, my roommate Katherine showed up and then I think we rolled around on the floor making strange gurgling noises due to lack of sleep. At one point I think we were at a diner, but alas, I didn't order anything and my camera was not present. I do know my mom stayed an extra night because the rain was basically out of control and was even worse the next morning. I had made plans to run some simple errands, but there was a tsunami every 5 seconds, so my mother and her car helped me out for the main part of the afternoon. Even with the car, by the time we had gotten one errand accomplished, we looked as if we had bathed in our clothes. The rain really put a damper on my mood, so saying goodbye to my mother was quite difficult. We made it as short as possible without her simply shoving me out of her speeding vehicle and I finished unpacking for the rest of the day. Eating later that day was not easy, but somehow I made myself do it.

The next day was going to be totally devoted to job hunting and trying to keep my room clean. And it was. Kinda. The job hunting was done(and it was terrible)and as for the room...well...I had only been fully unpacked for about 24 hours and somehow it looked like my suitcase had just vomited my things everywhere. I'd like to think there is some kind of method to my madness, but there probably isn't. I am messy; that's just how it is. Anyway, I walked around all of Van Ness, Polk, and Union street for about 3 hours searching for jobs. It didn't go as well as I had wanted, but walking around the city was quite nice. It definitely reminded me why I love this place so much. I bumped into Kim and Katherine(who were on the same mission as me)and we ended up in Union Square so Kim could turn in some applications. We were all really tired afterwards, so we back to our place to take naps. But before I could let myself sleep midday, I had to attend to some pressing business: THE GIANT WHOLE FOODS RAINBOW CUPCAKE.

Let me start by saying, this thing was incredibly heavy, and I don't mean in my stomach. I mean the weight of it in the box alone was enough to nearly dislocate my arm. I decided to cut in half so when I took a bite, I wouldn't end up looking like I had just slaughterd a clown with my teeth. I probably could have used a fork to eat it, but who the hell uses a fork to eat a cupcake? No one. At least no one I know or think is important. Anyway, I picked a bit of the frosting off first and I thought I was going to die(in a good way). It was so DELICIOUS. So DELICIOUS infact, that if I don't type it in all caps, you just won't get the point. It wasn't too sweet(well, I hardly ever feel anything is too sweet), it was thick enough without being rock solid and it seemed to almost melt into my tongue at first contact. My mind glazed over with pure joy and excitement. With frosting that DELICIOUS, the cake part had to be on equal footing. I pulled the paper wrapping off, said a few Hail Mary's and sunk my teeth in the beautiful baked SARAHA DESERT! I honestly don't think I have ever eaten such dry cake batter in my life. It was beyond horrible. I was so incredibly disappointed, I nearly wept. The cake was sticking to the sides and roof of my mouth, much like a peanut butter sandwich, only less enjoyable. I took a few more bites to try and see if it still tasted as horrible as the first bite, and of course, it did. I felt bad for not being able to finish the cupcake, but I refused to subject my poor tastebuds to that kind of torture and ended up just throwing it away. Aaah, but such is life when you decide to embark on a journey to find cupcake perfection. Some cupcakes please you, while others make you want to throw the tiny confection into a fiery pit of doom.

You disgust me.

Still scarred by the failure that was the Whole Foods cupcake, I passed out in bed for about two hours. Upon waking, Katherine informed me that our dear friend Jordan was back in the city and that they were going out to dinner. Me and Kim decided to meet up with for dessert afterwards. We decided on a place called Tango Gelato on Fillmore street because I had never had gelato before. Everyone met up around 9pm and stared into the glass abyss that held the sweet sweet lovin' of the gelato we were about to consume. I was somewhat overwhelmed by the flavor choices, so I decided to stick with something basic for my first go at gelato. I picked chocolate and peanut butter chip, Jordan had the same thing, Kim purchased mint chip and chocolate chip and Katherine chose chocolate and cafe chip. I honestly wish I had the mental capacity to explain the wonderious, smooth, DELICIOUS, intensity that is gelato....but my brain is at about 1% functioning ability right now. So instead, I will shower you with pictures of gelato goodness:

ALL GONE!

Everyone polished off their gelato, save for me. It's not that I didn't want to(ok, maybe that is part of it...), it's just that my stomach has become really sensitive and I can't always handle certain foods. Gelato being one of them. After consumption, it had started to pour rain again, but we braved it anyway and somehow all made it back to our respective places relatively dry. Then everyone passed out, and by everyone, I mean me.

The past few days have consisted of: rain, first day of classes, rain, mean ladies at Borders, more rain, cute boys in class, even more rain, job hunting, being broke, more job hunting, and the overwhelming feeling of simply wanting to sleep all day and set the weather channel on fire.

--Christine