Greening the world, one farmers market at a time

Successes of the weekend:

• Scheduling a get-together with a friend and her three-week-old daughter. Said squeaker was nothing short of saintly, considering her age, and we managed to have an hours-long talk about a variety of topics, including what to tell family members embarking on a long flight to Russia with a bunch of clergy ("Have fun, and don't cause another schism"). The little one got hungry just as our food arrived, and my friend was a little nervous about breast-feeding in public, but in that neighborhood anyone who objected would probably be set upon by semiretired flower children with law degrees who have spent the last 10 years advancing their spirituality through martial arts. And the food was good too: I got a pile of soba in a ginger-lime dressing with lots of vegetables. Even vegans eat well at Mark's.
  
• Hitting both the local farmers markets, thereby doing some damage to my cash supply but going home with two kinds of cherries, three different pots labeled "herb" (cilantro, dill, and lavender--remember to read the labels, kids), a pile of mixed greens with miniature pansies sprinkled in, and some maple sugar candy, because the impulse purchase is strong.
• Finding a charming new work outfit for 50% off at a patchouli-scented vintage store. I was hesitant about the top, because I still want to work on toning up my arms, but decided to take the bargain on offer. I was not at all convinced by the saleswoman's reaction to my expressed doubts, though: "Oh," she murmured, "That's just the illusion of the worrrrlllld." Gevalt; then gimme back my credit card and charge it to my previous incarnation.
  
• Seeing that another vintage place I had visited previously had actually followed through on my suggestion that they get in touch with the DC Rollergirls and arrange a sponsorship deal. Warm fuzzies.

Not-such-successes of the weekend:

• Resisting the lure of the furry beasties. Weak-willed, I stumbled into the neighborhood pet store to see their kitten adoption event. A marmalade adolescent demanded that I make a fuss over her, then her brother, initially more interested in acting out a "my harbls, let me show you them" meme, gnawed on her tail until I petted him too. Decided to consider working as a foster mom. Emphasis on consider; I still like my new furnitures.
• Catching up on the Netflix backlog. The weather is too good yet.
• Finishing the I-promise-it'll-get-done-eventually Argentina post. I took notes! They are typed! Now to remove the cattiness and whining and insert colorful observations of the countryside, people, food porn, and language. ("'Mazhin' is spelled m-a-l-l-i-n, right?" "Of course; how else could it be spelled? Why do you ask?" "Um, no reason.")