star anise

i had a lovely day despite the drizzle. (i've been sore about the grey and rain lately because it is the promise of a sunny july & august that keeps me going through the rainy winter.) i picked up the final installment harry potter, did a little joy riding (gosh i love to drive) and spent an hour in sephora (girly girl heaven -- i swoon). not a bad start.

then came the real fun -- hanging with my elizaebeth. we saw 'hairspray', which is a thoroughly awesome flick. bouncy music, positive social/political messages, fantastically campy choreography and john waters in what is one of my favorite movie cameos. we followed the movie with dinner at pho van -- not my introduction to vietnamese food, but my first time with the pho family of restaurants. tres yummy!

we topped the evening off with another portland-area first pour moi -- a trip to uwajimaya. i picked up glass noodles (who knew they were made with sweet potatoes?), my favorite japanese roasted mixed nuts ("a happy present from the earth" the package reads, and i concur), banana tapioca and myriad other goodies. (okay, maybe not ten thousand other goodies, but quite a few nonetheless.)

while in the spice aisle at uwajimaya, i spotted dried star anise. i've seen many pictures of star anise and knew exactly what i was looking at, but as i picked up the package i realized that i had never physically seen star anise before -- just photos of it. it seemed a strangely momentous occasion -- a reminder that even after nearly thirty years, there remain plenty of simple experiences yet to be had for the first time. it's nice to know that there are new things small as well as big to look forward to. (i know, i know, one doesn't end a sentence with a preposition, but "to which to look forward" seems awkward. hmm, awkward doen't look like it's spelled correctly, but yeah, i guess that's how it goes. it's fitting that the word looks its meaning, non?)