Since Vickie was back in town, she wanted to make plans so that during the times of no plans she could structure her studying/schoolwork time.  Linton suggested to Phoebe who suggested to Vickie to eat at Cafe Montrose: A taste of Belgium! because it was different.  Vickie got there first and asked for a table, but they asked if we had any reservations.  No…and your restaurant is empty….  They had to check in the back and then gave us the big table in the back near the criss-crossed wine holders (and fake HUGE wine bottles).  The lighting was “romantically” dim.  Vickie, Chris, Jonathan, and James were there first, and Linton drove Phoebe, Hannah, and me.  (I had asked to carpool but no one had answered me so I called Phoebe then Linton.  After confirmation, James called to say that if i still needed a ride Jonathan was going to pick him up and he could also pick me up as well.)  Jonathan and James ordered the $16 three-course special.  I got the disappointing $16 beef stew with the boiled potatoes (as recommended by the waiter).  Hannah bought the curry mussels (with fries) while Phoebe got the garlic mussels.  Yum!  Linton doesn’t like mussels, though.  And yes, the place did end up filling up by 8:30 pm.

Turns out the other location for Swirll doesn’t open this weekend, so we went to the original location where Oliver Huang works.  He told us to go ahead and try it (even though the grand opening was no more).  I didn’t want to eat all their resources so I didn’t sample again since I had sampled last weekend.  Eventually James and Jonathan had to leave because Jonathan is biking in the BP MS 150 and James is going with Braden, Vincent Tao, etc. to go jet skiing.  We were sitting around on the unique chairs they had.  I asked what people would do if they had one year off (question 1 from below).  Chris and Hannah said they’d travel.  What would I do?  I was thinking out loud and didn’t realize I was vague because in my mind I had some inclining.  Chris teased me that I was giving a general answer that anyone would give, since I was saying “learning” or “doing something”, etc.  So I tried to be more specific, like imitating another’s OT idea incorporating it into missions, or researching the healthcare system, or learning how to tap dance - or any dancing….

1. “If your company gave one-year paid sabbaticals, what would you do for that year?  Are you doing anything like that right now?”  This reveals passions, priorities, goals, secret desires….
2. “Will you share an embarrassing moment with me?”  This reveals security in self, ability to be vulnerable, able to take self lightly, able to continue after failures….
3. “If your house were on fire, what’s the one thing you’d make sure to save?  Why?”  This reveals sentimentaligy, practicality, values, what’s close to the heart….
4. “What’s the biggest misperception people have about you?”  This reveals how s/he views him/herself, how you can adjust your own opinion of others, dispels bad first impressions….
5. “What’s the one life experience you want a do-over on?”  This reveals regrets, character….