“All day long the sky is blue
and everyone says ‘how do you do’
in Shangri-La
Every day’s a perfect day
and you can go your own sweet way
in Shangri-La”

Yesterday, it was a Chumbawamba song stuck in my head. Today, the Rutles. (Hey, at least I get music that I like stuck in my head…)

We got up this morning and FINALLY gave elsaf her birthday presents. judiang put me in charge of getting the gifts, so it didn’t go as swimmingly as I’d hoped, but we got her some nice things nonetheless. A KMart gift card for her Martha Stewart tendencies. A garden hopper (being shipped from Amazon.com) for her green thumb. And an indoor/outdoor wireless thermometer, also yet to come from Amazon. (Therein likes the not-swimmingly bit – postpone and things don’t arrive in time.)

Then the three of us headed off to Shangri-La. Betcha didn’t know it was in a suburb of Detroit, didja? Heh. It’s a great place that serves a Dim Sum brunch on Sundays. We met Elsa’s family there and her parents bought us all lunch. Wonderful! And best of all, the Dim Sum was wonderful! Some of the best BBQ pork pastries I’ve ever had. And wonderful tarts. And just all wonderful tidbits.

We waddled back to the car and then looked for firewood. I still chuckle at city folks having to go to the grocery or whatnot to BUY their firewood. We rural folks just pick up the branches that fall & burn them. Home Depot was a strikeout, but Judi got yet another bit of birthday gift for Elsa while we were there. Lowes had some, but we had to ask the right questions to discover its location. Quick stop at Circuit City for a cable splitter for Judi, and then back to veg at Elsa’s.

We pondered going to a movie, but none of us wanted to go unless we all went. So we stayed and we’re all glad we did. We had a relaxing afternoon, followed by Italian dinner making by me & Judi. We tried to recreate the things we did in our cooking class. Elsa, it turns out, is a natural at rolling pici!

The dinner was a success – check out Elsa’s glowing review! Heh. It was nice to do that for Elsa, because she’s always coming up with wonderful meals to cook us.

Now we’re outside & writing in our LJs or (if you’re Judi) downloading pictures from our camera (from the July Italy Trip!!!!) It was a pleasant day – quite the Shangri-La, if you ask me!