just like the heat it will be alright

Today wasn't half bad (and yes, that's a v. midwestern phrase). I was pleasantly busy at work, rather than overwhelmed, and left work around 7:15 for a goodbye dinner for Shadie, who returns to the States tomorrow. We went to a new restaurant called Little Penang--it served a strange mix of Asian, Indian, and Italian foods, and they offered far too many dining options to truly master any of them. The menu reminded me of the Cheesecake Factory's menu due to the sheer number of dishes, although they have not yet resorted to putting ads in their menus to offset the printing costs. The restaurant was hysterical--the only other people eating there were an Indian Nicholas Cage-lookalike and his wife, and there was a complete overabundance of waiters--they were all standing at attention around our table, and positioned sniper-style in the balcony overlooking the main floor. There were at least two of them for each of us, and yet only five of them helped us; the rest all stood around and stared slack-jawed at us as we plowed through a significant amount of food. At one point Matt tried to get the attention of one of the loiterers to get another soda, but the guy ignored his obvious attempts and just continued to stare at him. It got to the point where the waiter actually had to leave because he was trying so hard not to laugh at the fact that he was ignoring us. He definitely gets the award for best waiter ever.

The restaurant played a strange mix of slow eighties-sounding songs ('take my breath away' from 'Top Gun', 'right here waiting' by Richard Marx, etc.). It got so hysterical that at one point, Lauren's boyfriend Josh and I got up and slow-danced eighth-grade-style in the middle of the empty restaurant; I'll post a picture when she sends it to me. Basically, the restaurant was thoroughly weird, but it was fun, and it was a good farewell dinner for Shadie. She'll definitely be missed tremendously.

Tomorrow will be much busier than today, and so I should really sleep. Goodnight everyone!