Lunch... HOT DAMN!!! (Part II of II)

Click here for "Lunch... HOT DAMN!!! (Part I of II): Tale of the Dresscode"

Well, I get a call from Tayari... I give her directions to my job, and she gets there. I direct her to park in the gated carpool area, and we walk over to Silk...

Now, while I was directing her into a parking space, a "special" employee (one of a couple we ran up on that day, LOL!) was harrassing me about the usual office politics isshas that we have been discussing for years (goodness!). I wanted to yell "Would you PLEASE give it a rest?!! Do you realize Tayari Jones is walking this way?! I don't want to talk about job isshas right now!!!!"

I swear... some people. That's what I get for being nice to people, ain't it?

Anyway, we headed across the street to Silk.

It was hot that day (60 degrees), and I had on a sweat shirt (because my lab is sometimes a bit chilly)... But with all the running around/pontificating I'd been doing and my nerves being an inch away from being completely shot, mixed with the excitement of my favorite author coming to see me...

LAWD!! It is a wonder that I didn't pass out...

One of my coworkers had said earlier, "Dang LadyLee, two mother brains going to lunch. That's two much brain power for Silk. Ya'll gonna to walk in and the electricity gonna short out or something. The lights are gonna go bzzzz-bzzzzzz-bzzzzz... That's way too much intelligence concentrated in one place. Man!!"

I thought about that... I know, like always, some serious knowledge was gonna be dropped over in Silk... and I think I was a bit antsy about that, too, LOL!!

Anyway, we head over to Silk and are seated at a booth. (Yes, there was no dress code. This was a good thing because I would peering out from behind jail bars instead of writing this post).

We perused the menu. I had no idea what to order. My book club sista, Shunda, had gone there for her birthday, and I meant to shoot her an email earlier asking her opinion on what to order. We didn't talk about it then... Our convo was a bit strange and funny...

LadyLee: "You went to Silk for your birthday? I work across the street from Silk!"

Shunda: "Gurl, it was good. It's foo-foo, but it's good!"

LadyLee: *frowning hard* "Foo-foo?"

Shunda: "Yeah girl! It's foo-foo! "

What the...?

*LadyLee looking at Shunda with great suspicion*

She explained that "foo-foo" meant pretty food. Which to me means NO FOOD. LOL!

Well, we placed our orders, and talked. I was sweating like a dog, because it was HOT in there, and I was nervous, but eventually I calmed down, LOL! We talked about a lot of stuff: family, relationships, life, etc... I was sitting there thinking, "Dang, this is like sitting around talking to LadyTee, except for we are not sitting around joning out and cracking on the people around us."

LOL!!

Tayari ordered a shrimp dish, while I ordered the sea bass and fresh vegetables. I thought she would get that high ass $75 Kobe steak... That would've been cool, because I had a platinum card and three debit cards on me. I almost suggested it, but um, I was thinking that that amount is enough to pay my light bill, LOL!!

All I gotta say... that doggone food was GOOD. I've tried to cook sea bass only once, and um, let's just say, that fish produces a TON of oil. And at 14 bucks a pound, the Oldgirl was leaving that ish alone, and sticking to the cheap trouts and the cheap croakers. But the Sea bass at Silk was GOOD. Tayari enjoyed her food too. I will have to get what she got the next time I go over there!

She was throwing back the coffee, too. What a sight! That was funny... If I would've drank ANYTHING with caffeine... goodness, I would have been a bit too talkative and "special" during lunch!

We also talked about writing... She asked me about my manuscript...

"So what is it about, LadyLee?"

*Ladylee's heart jumping up into her throat, trying her BEST to figure out how to explain the plot.*

Man, I don't even remember what I said. We've never talked about it, and it is some type of cardinal sin from the deepest depths of hell to ask an author to read any of your work, so I've never spoken much about it, out of pure fear of being struck by a bolt of lightning or something. I think I need to go write down a speech and memorize it or something. I just remember my heart beating like a bass drum and my ears getting hot. Her expression was neutral. She nodded a couple of times. That's all I could read. Didn't know if she liked the idea or not, really.

And I wasn't going to ask, either. Hell nawl. If she would've said, "That's stupid, LadyLee!", I would have torched all 950 pages of my manuscript and tossed the remnants into Peachtree street traffic. Shoot, I would have shut down my blog and never write again.

We talked about her manuscript. Now I was trying my BEST to keep from cheesing TOO hard when she was talking about that!! Man, I am waiting on her next book like a crackhead is waiting on the pipe!!!

She had dessert, some chocolate cheesecake thingy with ice cream on top. I wanted some, but I am not eating sweets this month, so, um, I missed out! (DARN IT!).

But you know me, right? You know the Oldgirl... I had to ask some writing questions...

I'd been struggling with creating metaphors and similes something terrible. And since Tayari comes up with teeth shattering, bone crushing, heat scorching, body rocking metaphors and similes, and has the ability to wrap several in one sentence... You know I had to ask her "How DO you DO that?"

She said...

(Now do you REALLY think that I am actually gonna tell you what she said. HELL NO!! If I told ya, I'd have to kill ya!! Ancient chinese secret, babes!!)

We finished up our lunch and talked a little more. Man, if you EVER get a chance to go to Silk, please GO!! At least go for lunch! The prices are reasonable(half of what the dinner prices are), and they give you a good amount of food. We weren't stuffed, but we were pleasantly full!!

And best of all... there's no DRESSCODE for lunch, LOL!!!

I asked her if she wanted a laboratory tour. She said yes, because she'd never seen a working lab before. So I got her all checked in at security and showed her my lab... She met some of my blog characters coworkers, namely the Infamous Hen-Dog, Cowgirl Cre, and my boss The Darth Sista T. She was truly amazed at our set-up and all that we do there. Hen-Dog suggested that I take her down to the filth lab, but um, that would have completely grossed her out (as it does gross me out as it is), and I would probably never see her again! Her eyebrows were raised a bit when I mentioned that I'd set myself on fire before! (I should blog about my fire(s) and my explosions... Not sure if you as non-scientists would get a kick out of it. Us chemists consider that type of stuff hilarious, especially when no one gets hurt! We actually like to do re-enactments of that type of stuff!).

All in all, this was a GREAT visit! It's always good to see her! I didn't realize we had a lot in common. Plus she dropped some serious knowledge on me. I already look at the creation of similes and metaphors MUCH differently... And Tayari, you will be happy to know that I have come up with some pretty good ones for my writing since we've talked. Don't take much for me to see the light, mayne!

I walked her back to her car. I tried to take a parting picture with my camera, but my camera was dead. (There were some serious pontifications/discussions about picture taking earlier between myself and my coworkers, with me killing the convos by yelling "Hell nawl, I ain't taking pictures! I'm not gonna bother her! Ya'll trying to mess me up! I'm not harrassing her with the camera like I did last time! NO! We are going to go and eat, and that's it!!!!").

But she allowed me to use her camera and take a pic as she left...

All in all, I had a great time! How often does ANYONE get to spend time with their favorite author, actor, sanger, or favorite anybody? And this was only the 4th day of the New Year.

Goodness gracious alive!!

Dang, I hope this is an indication of a suprise-filled year!

Come on, 2007!! LOL!

Come back soon, Tayari:) Next time, I'll take you down to the filth lab, Celie!

LOL!!