I love...thunderstorms & donuts.

There was a thunderstorm early this morning, which made it one of those mornings that you just want to stay in bed, cuddled up under the covers, listening to the thunder and rain. That is probably why I slept through my alarm clock and woke up 20 minutes before I was supposed to be at work. The thunderstorm must have inspired me though, because I was fast as lightning in getting ready.

Coffee - brewing.
Hair - up.
Contacts - in.
Teeth - brushed.
Clothes - on.
Make-up - applied.

Breakfast - well, there was no time for breakfast. Upon a quick inventory of my cupboard and food items that could be easily transported, I decided to throw a rice cake in my bag. Then I grabbed my coffee, double checked that I was fully clothed, and ran out the door. On my quick drive into work I kept looking at my bag and that rice cake taunted me at every glance: "You're still going to be hungry after you eat me!"

I finally made it to my office and walked down the hall saying good morning to my co-workers. Then one of them stopped me and said the sweetest words I'd heard so far today: "Jason brought donuts." Boom. Breakfast was served.

Sure, donuts were one of the key factors in my freshman fif-idon'twanttotalkaboutit-teen after I found a little donut station in my dorm's cafeteria and started eating them on a regular basis. But since then I've learned a valuable donut lesson: Donuts in moderation...sweet, sweet moderation.

So I had one...and a half. Okay, one and two halves.

Now I'd like to thank the thunderstorm for making me so late that I couldn't eat breakfast at home and instead could have surprise donuts at work.

I'd also like to apologize to the rice cake, which will now be spending the rest of the day in my bag.

I love...mysteries.

Did you know that some of life's greatest mysteries have been solved over weekends of wine, art, and food? Don't research this statement, just trust me that it's true*. I spent this past weekend with my friends Rachel and Jackie, who I've known since college, and we enjoyed wine, art, and food while contemplating our own weekend mysteries. We didn't necessarily solve each mystery so much as I "Jenny-solved" them, which means I made up my own answers to the following:


The Mystery of the Missing Wrap
Saturday we went to lunch at Flannery's on East 4th and I announced I would be ordering the BBQ chicken wrap. However as Jackie looked over the menu she broke the bad news that there were no wraps. I double checked and then asked the server. She confirmed they did not sell wraps and she didn't think they ever had. Just as my friends were about to file me away under "crazy" I knew that I had one more chance to solve this missing wrap mystery, so I texted my friend Lindsay, who is a Flannery's pro. She responded immediately and confirmed that they had indeed sold wraps, four different kinds in fact. But still there were no wraps to be had that day, so my mind completely frazzled I reverted back to my high school self and got the chicken fingers...with BBQ sauce. It was discovered during our lunch that our server was somewhat new to Flannery's - ah ha! That's why she wasn't aware of their lack of wraps.
Mystery Jenny-solved.

The Mystery of the Collar

After lunch we moved on to the Art Museum to see the Rembrandt exhibit. The pieces were amazing. While looking them over we pondered the purpose of the large white collars worn in some of them. Rachel suggested the collar represented a high status. I suggested it was to keep food from falling on the person's clothes. Then I decided that we were both correct and perhaps the higher your status the more important it was to keep food off your clothes...hence, the large collars.
Mystery Jenny-solved.

The Mystery of the Red Feather
As we ventured around to other parts of the museum, we ended up behind an older gentleman on the escalator. He was wearing a baseball cap that had a large red feather stuck out of the back. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. Why was it there? Did he know it was there? We crossed paths with him several times. He walked around slowly and would stand and look at some of the artwork for awhile. My mind started wandering about that random baseball cap feather! This is why you should stay tuned for my future short story "The Old Man & the Red Feather".
Mystery (soon to be) Jenny-solved.

The Mystery of the Mattress vs the Banana
After the museum we stopped in Little Italy for a glass of wine at La Dolce Vita and cannoli at Corbo's Bakery. Then we drove back to Rachel's house. Along the way Rachel pointed out a store where she'd bought her mattress. We started talking about how long a mattress is good for and whether that timing changes if you put the mattress in storage or sleep on it for the entire length of time. I said it probably only counted when you actually used the mattress and it wasn't like there was an expiration date on it. I used the opposite example of a banana, saying that a banana would go bad in a certain amount of time whether you used it or not. But by saying the phrase "use the banana" the whole topic of our conversation changed from whether you're able to use a banana vs. eat a banana, and it went down hill from there. So no mattress mystery was ever solved.

Mystery (almost) Jenny-solved.

The Mystery of the Woman Sprinting through the Aquarium
Sunday we had breakfast, got ourselves together and went to the Cleveland Aquarium. There were lots of cute fishies to see, the sharks were teethy (ah!), and I realized I might be slightly claustrophobic as I kept to a quick sprint when going through the enclosed tunnel tank thing.
Mystery (unfortunately) Jenny-solved.





Hope you were able to solve some weekend mysteries of your own! If you need any help let me know, perhaps I can Jenny-solve them for you.

*statement may not be true.