What a great time I had last night!

My two best friends from college and I went out to dinner for a girls' night out, and had just a terrific time. We went to a very sweet French restaurant (La Vie en Rose), and dined rather than ate dinner. Ms. MSW and Ms Teacher, my anti-sorority sisters (you might remember my study groups--always had Ms. MSW and Ms Teacher in my study groups, since they are both brilliant, and generous with their notes!), are in their mid 20s, and I just adore both of them.

Ms. MSW (Master's in Social Work) had lots to say--she begins her internship for her MSW program this fall, and has had to quit her full time job at Head Start, since they did not agree to her plan of going to 3 days/week instead of 5, even though her case load was three times higher than her cohorts. She is so bright and such a great, positive spirit, I can't imagine any employer letting her go at all.

She's also going to the Caribbean this weekend for a week, I think. I'm sure she'll find something to match her skills with an organization's needs, and do very, very well. In fact, I would not be surprised if her internship organization, College Hospital, which is a psychiatric hospital for 3 different levels of dysfunction: adolescents, in patients, and highly functioning patients, offers her a position there. Ms. MSW is still with her partner (I have trouble calling adults "boy" friends); I think they've been together for 8 or so years now. She's still beautiful and is a joy to be with.

Ms Teacher had big news--she is nearly finished with her Master's program, and may move to Guatemala!! She and her partner, Mr. Wine connoisseur, plan to visit the country in January for a month to see if they'd like living there. Boohoo for us, since I'd miss her terribly, but then I'd have another country to visit, wouldn't I.

Ms Teacher also casually mentioned that she was practicing to have a baby. She's going to let us know when they get it right. 8^) She is simply beautiful, and her smile lights up a room. It was so very good to see her.

The Dinner: A fixed price menu provided us with appetizers, entree and dessert. We added lemon drops (the best I have ever had), and a glass of not so great merlot for me. We enjoyed all of our food, which included onion soup, a walnut, apricot and greens salad in orange dressing (Yum!), and gnocchi with cheese in a white sauce.

Entrees for the three of us were, veal, Filet Mignon and shrimp, plus the most beautiful display of mini-vegetables I have ever seen, on a scrumptious bed of creamy mashed potatoes. Dessert included creme brulee for Ms. MSW and Ms. Teacher, and a fruit tart with a thin layer of dark chocolate between the custard and the crust. OMG it was good. May have to find a way to take my darling husband there sometime, if he can stand to take more than 30 minutes for a meal.

We thought the restaurant seemed quiet, and noticed we were the only party left in the dining room, so thought it might be time to vacate the premises. We stood talking in the parking lot for another 20 minutes or so, said our so longs and came home. Three hours of talking, catching up with each other, laughing and eating. What a great night! I feel nearly refreshed enough to finish all the laundry!

Thanks for reading,
Charmaine