weekend musings

What a great weekend. Saturday afternoon, we made a trek to Auburn for some shopping at Cost Plus World Market. I'd forgotten that this store was so close, and with the most recent trip I realized it's a pretty good local substitute for Trader Joe's.

If you haven't been there, it's a store with a pretty stellar wine selection, plus a lot of exotic foods and stuff for the home. A good place for early Christmas shopping, if you're that ambitious.

I simply seized the trip as a chance to buy some microwavable basmati rice and a sweet bottle of wine called "Il Bastardo."

Later that night, I made it to both the Modern Skirts at The Loft and Journey tribute band Chain Reaction at The Roadhouse.

The Skirts rocked The Loft as usual, but the night's biggest surprise was how big a crowd showed up for the Journey tribute show. We're talking wall-to-wall people.

I stayed for about six songs, including "Don't Stop Believin,'" and I have to say it was weird/cool to see 20- and 30-somethings get so excited about a song catalog that's more than 20 years old.

The only drawback to a night's worth of Journey songs? The huge potential for slow dances.

Two words: "Open Arms."