Anybody Got a Poisoned Apple?

Not that I have a death wish or anything, I just thought maybe I could get an ugly old woman to be jealous of me, cook up a poisoned apple in her cauldron and coerce me into eating it so I could sleep for a few days. Seriously, Snow White had a pretty good deal, don't you think? I bet she didn't have dark circles under her eyes or need three cups of coffee before noon (although I bet the prince had to battle some major morning breath to kiss that one...).

So the last few weeks have been incredibly busy. I honestly don't think I've had a restful day in at least a month or two, as as much as I'd like to claim that lack of sleep and peace in my life doesn't affect me, the massive clumps of my hair that are coming out every time I run my fingers through it beg to differ (they must be taking after my father - sorry, Dad, you had to know that was coming). So what has your favorite neurotic blogger been up to? Let's take a gander, shall we?

For the last month or so, I've been gearing up to say goodbye to two of my closest and dearest friends, Joy and Eric. They decided that they needed to move back to Phoenix to be nearer to Eric's family, and although I knew that this was the right choice for them, it was hard to say goodbye. I can't tell you exactly when we became so close, but at some point, our lives just wove themselves together and we became family to each other. I love them and all of their children very much. So last week was a frenzy of Joy and Eric things - Their oldest son Noah had a birthday party on Monday, we threw a surprise party for Joy on Tuesday, Wednesday I worked at Joe's, Thursday I helped them pack up a bit and hung out with them on their back porch one last time, and then Friday morning I jumped in the minivan with the rest of the family and accompanied them on their 18-hour journey to Phoenix. I wanted to be able to help Joy do some of the driving, plus I have never been to Phoenix and thought it would be fun. We had a really good time, and I'm so glad I went. We spent the night outside of Albuquerque and I shared a bed with Isa, my four-year-old friend. I now know why my mom would put a pillow between us when we shared a bed. I got kicked several times throughout the night, most of them were kicks to the face (Isa somehow managed to turn herself around in her sleep so in the morning her feet were about an inch away from my face). We drove the rest of the way Saturday, unloaded the truck, and I got to hang out with Joy and Eric and their friends Saturday night and Sunday. Sunday afternoon I took off after a tearful goodbye at the airport and I was back home Sunday night at around midnight.

Monday I was up bright and early and had a full day of work, after which I went downtown to help my friends Justin and Audrey put the finishing touches on their new store. Well, it's not a new store, per se. They've had their store, Shop Good, in the Plaza District ever since November of last year. But they've now doubled their inventory and they needed to expand. So they found this incredible space on 9th street right next to Pachinko Parlor, Sara Sara Cupcakes and Iguana Grill. They opened their doors for the first time on Monday, but still had plenty of work to do before their grand opening last night (Wednesday). So Monday and Tuesday nights were spent cleaning, pricing, tagging, arranging, and other various -ings.

Yesterday, I left work early to help with the grand opening. Justin and Audrey had the great idea to throw a huge summer block party involving all four businesses on the street, plus featuring The Spero Project, a local non-profit that works with refugees in the city. So we threw a Summer Mustache Bash. Tons of people showed up, lots of guys shaved their facial hair, leaving only a mustache (most looked way creepy - not a look I would recommend), and for those who didn't want to grow a 'stache (or couldn't, like the majority of the women there) had the chance to buy stick-on or clip-on mustaches for the occasion. It was super fun! Everyone looked silly with their mustaches, and we all had a great time. The restaurants set out tents with food and drink (and donated a percentage of all their sales to the Spero Project, how cool is that?), there was live music until 1:00 in the morning, and tons of people got to see the store and learn what Shop Good is all about. By the end of the night we were all exhausted, but so happy with the way things turned out.

And so now, after the surprising, face-kicking, crying, laughing, mustaching two weeks I've had of never getting to be before midnight and never waking up after 8, I'm ready for a good long sleep... Someone might want to text me tomorrow morning to make sure I wake up or I might just pull a Snow White sans apple. But for now, I'm going to pour myself another cup of coffee and try to keep my mind off sandwiches...I mean sleep...