Unwinding

This past Monday was my first time spending my birthday and the weekend prior to it completely alone and in peace. My parents took a weekend trip with my sister to take a look at a college campus, which she may or may not be transferring into come Fall. I got a lot done - worked on my personal statement, went to work, read books about writing a personal statement, and did a lot of relaxing. 

I tried traditional Thai massage for the first time to see what the hullabaloo was about. From my understanding, it involves a little bit of deep tissue, stretches similar to yoga, and pushing pressure points to release tension and improve energy flow. I chose a thirty minute session because I was a bit apprehensive about the stretching - my shoulder's fine now but certain motions still make me nervous. Overall, I really liked it. A lot of reviewers of Thai massage businesses warned that it does get painful, so either I have a super high pain tolerance, or these people were pansies. Although the pressure on occasional spots felt uncomfortable, it never bordered on pain. My masseuse relieved a LOT of the tension I had built up in my back. I should probably stop using my messenger bag, because I think it only makes my back feel worse. 

I also cut my hair. I suspect part of the reason why I wanted to claw my eyes out from itchy-ness wasn't just allergies, but because my bangs were poking my eyeballs all day. 

Picture from www.foodgps.com

The best part of the day: buying six shrimp dumplings (har gow)

I could eat these every day. It's shrimp meat packed into a ball and rolled into a translucent wrapper made of wheat and tapioca starch. I think the tapioca starch makes it more transparent. I'm super super picky about the wrapper - if it's too thick it's super starchy and if there's too much wheat then the wrapper isn't as soft. 

Today, I also bought raw, unprocessed honey from a company called beekind. It's pricey, but so delicious I can eat it straight of the teeny jar. omnomnom. I bought a small bottle of Oregon Blackberry, which did have a hint of blackberry flavor.  I also bought a smaller bottle of San Francisco Wildflower honey, which was much sweeter, but had a nice cinnamon and citrus taste in it.  

This must be how Winnie the Pooh feels when he sees honey. I suddenly have the urge to dip my hands into the jar to scoop out honey to eat...but my hand doesn't fit into the jar =/