Last week I found myself in a rather peculiar place that you probably wouldn’t think a flirty, feisty and fun girl like me would be.



For the first time in almost a decade, I was again sitting behind a desk, furiously scribbling down notes, back in school.



I’m taking a statistics class at Tacoma Community College (thank you SO much Professor Straayer for signing me in from the wait list!!!) in the evenings, which is a prerequisite I need to get admitted to the Master of Public Administration program at Evergreen State College.



Being back in school feels so surreal after such a long time, but I have to admit that it also feels really good.



Sure, all of you readers feel the social side of me week in and week out, but I also have this intellectual horsepower that’s most adequately cared for in a higher education environment.



This may sound incredibly lame, but undercover nerds like me don’t care: I LOVE school and I’m very happy to be back in it.

St. Helens is blowin up!

Friday I headed to Doyle’s Public House where I found The Husky, The Pusher and others playing games in an early-evening haze. Following an overloaded work week, a round of hugs from these buddies was just what I needed.



After the Doyle’s love, there’s no way I would’ve missed the grand opening of The Hub, Tacoma’s newest restaurant at 203 Tacoma Ave. S. The Husky, Natasha, Mushroom Maven and The Lawyer were the first to arrive. I had a delicious green salad and a pepperoni pizza that accompanied the Harmon’s Mt. Takhoma Blonde Ale. That initial crew bugged out after dinner, and Natasha and I jumped into a big table in the back that included D-Nice, Little Lizzle and other names that I can’t include to protect the innocent.



What I can say is that a good time was had by all as an overflowing number of people switched in and out of the tables all around us. The service was stellar, and I was surprised to find that The Hub creates an excellent Cadillac margarita. I’ll be heading back to The Hub soon!

Urban Art Festival fundraiser hits the spot

Saturday I couldn’t wait to get to the Urban Art Festival Fundraiser at Sanford and Son. A standout performance came from Battersea, which felt like classic new wave, post-punk monotone bliss. Alice Engelhardt was on keyboards, and I even scored one of her paintings that was in the raffle. Sweetness!!! I also couldn’t wipe the smile off my face after being introduced to the experimental rock group, Trip the Light Fantastic. Their music makes me want to drive really, really fast on stimulant drugs.



After, Rory and I headed to Puget Sound Pizza where we found members of The Elephants band singing karaoke, and lead singer Trevor was messing with me and whispering in my ear that the band was thinking about changing its name to the Cosmic Lovers. My night ended with one of the Elephants singing Prince’s “Kiss.” Naturally, that made the crowd, and me, go wild.



Tell me where you like to party.