As I mentioned in my last post, I have been dealing with a lot of stress lately, which has made it hard for me to focus on my writing. Fortunately, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now and it seems like a lot of the conflicts I had going on are about to be resolved, so I am very happy. Art therapy, setting boundaries, attending support groups and being gentle with myself are the top four things that have helped me the most in dealing with the stressful situations and I will write more in depth on how I used these coping skills in later posts. For right now, I will keep myself in the positive, happy space by remembering the great time I had during my 32nd birthday celebration with my friends.
I invited lots of my friends and planned a day where we would relax in my favorite part of town - Atlanta's Little Five Points area. First we would eat at Savage Pizza and then we would just window shop at our leisure until we would stop at Kolo (a piercing place with the best jewelry ever) and I would finally get an Industrial, which is a type of piercing that I have wanted since I was a teenager. We would finish up the day by eating ice cream at nearby Morelli's.
My plan for the most part worked! Savage Pizza was the perfect location for lunch, for though the interior of the restaurant is small, it has plenty of seating outside and the weather that day was beautiful. Nine people arrived for lunch and we had a great time talking and laughing. We were in no hurry, so we just took our time and we stayed at the restaurant for at least two hours.
Savage Pizza is one of my favorite Italian restaurants. There are two in Atlanta and their theme is comics superheros with fun murals on the walls and superhero action figures hanging from the ceiling. It definitely has a fun feeling, besides having excellent food. I also like the fact that they recycle all of their paper, cardboard, plastic and metal containers!
In the picture below you can see part of one of their huge murals and two of my friends. Of all the pictures I took of my friends that day, this one turned out the best and if you think my shirt looks familiar it's because it's the same shirt I wore for my birthday celebration last year.
You can't tell in the picture, but I wore a beautiful golden colored tiara all day long as a headband. People should know when they're in the midst of the birthday queen!
For lunch, I ordered the eggplant parmesan sub.
"Breaded and baked eggplant, red tomato sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan on a sub roll" This was a very satisfying and filling lunch and great comfort food. The breaded eggplant was firm, yet moist, and the tomato sauce gave it great flavor.
After eating our fill, we leisurely browsed the funky shops in Little Five Points, like Junkman's Daughter and Crystal Blue. It was especially fun, because some of my friends had never been there before! We ahhed and ooohed over fun clothes and funky knickknacks. When we got to Kolo, however, most of my friends trekked on over to my favorite bookstore, Charis, because the thought of seeing someone getting pierced made them squeamish. I have wanted an Industrial ever since I first saw one as a teenager. Here is a picture of one from the Kolo website, in case you don't know what they look like:
Strawberry BalsamicPecan Praline
Blueberry Rosewater
Oreo
Krispy Creamier
Flan Caramel
Ginger Anis
Coconut Almond Joy
Ruim Raisin
Caramel Almond Cloud
I had the pecan praline, which I know isn't nearly as exciting as some of their other flavors, but it was still fabulous. What made it even more fabulous is that I had in a waffle cone that was dipped in hot fudge and then covered in nuts. They did this right before handing me the cone, so the fudge was still warm and wonderful.
I really wish there was a Morelli's in my area of town, but then again, I would probably spend all my money on their ice cream! We stayed and talked and laughed and enjoyed our ice cream for at least another hour before parting. It really was a very happy day, even if I was not able to get the piercing that I wanted. My favorite DBT skill is "creating pleasurable experiences" and I certainly accomplished that goal that day. I am glad that I had such a memorable day and so in the times when I was really stressed out in the next month, sometimes I would pull out the memory of this day and remind myself that I have a lot of friends who love and support me very much.
What a great reminder of your wonderful birthday party. We had a blast, didn't have to watch anybody get pierced and got introduced to fabulous pizza and to betty what's-her-name.
I'm sure I have had pizza from Savage before, but I don't remember it being that good. Maybe they got a new cook. Once again, I'm glad you invited me.
Karen
What a fabulous birthday! I would love to visit a feminist bookstore again! There are so few left in the whole country! Those books you got look excellent and I'd love to learn more about them. Happy Birthday!
Thanks, Jen! It was pretty fabulous! I haven't read any of the books yet, but I'll be sure to review them once I do.