"Caramel Macchiato"

Tom Cruise comes into Solstice during a rush, and his assistant tells us, "Mr. Cruise would like a double short caramel macchiato with extra vanilla and whipped cream in a paper cup". I am working with my boss, Doug, and he and I roll our eyes at each other. I am so tempted to make him a real macchiato, but we are in a hurry, so Doug pulls my some shots while I add the caramel sauce and vanilla. When I pour in the shots I realize how absurd this order is, because there is less than an inch of room left for milk. I shudder in disgust.

A Conveniently Long Three Mintues

I was about to go to San Francisco to get MARRIED.

I go to the Robinson Center, and notice Alex's food sitting on the table (because Alex's food is instantly recognizable in dreams). I take the grapefruit and eat it, asking if he is around, and someone tells me he will be back in a second. I don't have time to wait so I walk out the door with the grapefruit and run into Alex. He says, "We should talk... This is absurd!" I agree that "this" is absurd, but have to run off to my midterm, promising to talk as soon as I finish, before I leave for San Francisco.

While filling in the name bubbles on the answer sheet during the instructions for the final I remember that Alex is supposed to ruin my wedding, and also realize what is absurd is that I am 17 years old and getting married. I get up, under the semblance of going to the bathroom, and return to the Robinson Center. My fiance is there- some Asian EEPer packing his suitcase. Slightly confused about why I was going to get married in the first place, I tell him, "We're 17 years old! Let's not get married, we have to call off the wedding." When he gets all teary-eyed I grab his wrists and say, "We don't have to break up! Let's still be in love. We're so young, we should enjoy being young." He never really says anything, just looks sulky.

I leave him with his half-packed suitcase, figuring I should take advantage of my bathroom break and actually use the bathroom before going back to my midterm. I find the cellar where the bathroom is located, but I know I shouldn't bring the giant ziplock bag of Alex's pot I've been carrying around into the cellar with me because the supervisors check everyone before they go in there. I hide it under the window sill, but then suddenly realize bathroom breaks can only be three minutes long or they will fail your final. Instead of going to the bathroom, I decide I need to get coffee. I mean, I really NEEDED coffee, so I go into the Safeway next door and find Connor's checkstand. He understands my semi-urgency and pulls out the giant urn of drip and pours me a cup. Unfortunately, I can't drink it straight, and the only sweet thing around is caramel sauce. I pour some in- and realize I only have 23 second to get back to the final! The coffee isn't hot enough to dissolve the caramel, and I take two gulps, spilling all over myself as I run away

Last night work was stressful

There is a line out the door at Solstice and some small bitchy woman gives very specific, nonsensical instructions for her drink. She ends up coming behind the counter, and after a few minutes of bitching, she tamps some cinnamon and cocoa in with the espresso, and instructs me to steam more cinnamon in the milk.
Meanwhile, Emily is calling out a new order every ten seconds, and I get confused and pull the shots into a mug of water, and then steam the water. I realize my mistake and try to find the woman to remake her shots, but give up and move on to the next drink. I make more mistakes, and then can't remember how the espresso machine works.

Behind-the-Scenes at Disneyland

I leave my mother in the café-urbanoutfitters, because her coffee is taking too long. Exiting through the sliding doors, I peruse the touristy street for other food options. Here is a hot dog and burrito stand. Across the street is a ritzy bistro with nothing under $13. On the corner I spy a lobster house, advertising their fantastic milkshakes.
None of these appeal to me, so I continue on, towards the museum. I pass though the backyards of several small houses, an apartment complex, and a church. I descend some stairs to an observatory. Inside, there are some plaques and some looking-glasses, but everything costs money to see. I exit again.
Going back up the stairs, I meet my mother and sister. We move onto a concrete platform to the water's edge. I climb the edge and stare out to sea, as do many other people. The ocean churns violently, crashing around the spiky rocks to splash those of us on the edge. I am tempted to dive into the water, but it is a diseased green-brown, and I know I will be dashed to pieces on the rocks.
Slightly out from shore, columns of rock rise from the sea, reminding me of the Statue of Liberty's crown, or the Rudolph movie's set. They form a nearly impenetrable wall between us and the open ocean, but beyond them I catch a short glimpse of a hugegreen, half-submerged statue of a woman. This is the spot that is so famous in this town, but I am pushed from the ledge before I can fully appreciate its beauty.

Later, we enter a bustling metropolis. Trying to reach the main shopping center, we find ourselves in a monstrous and empty Nordstrom. They are still working on taking down their christmas decorations. The building is very elegant, composed of high-arched ceilings, marble floors and pillars. We tramp down an echoing hallway to a room with a dark, wooden stage. Security here thinks we are coming to audition, and they press-gang us into a line of drama members. We escape through a dusty, dark white room, and hightail it back to where we parked our car. We speed onto the highway and try to figure out the best way around the mountain and home again.

Another of Andrew's great ideas

I am downtown after school with my backpack and drawing portfolio. I have to go to the Opera, so I stop in a stuffy women's clothing store, where many women buy fancy flip-flops. The saleswomen are suspicious that I am mentally handicapped, and have escaped the care of my parents, so they call my dad to take me home. He arrives, awkward in his suspenders and cut-off polar fleece, and talks to me soothingly.
Eventually I give up trying to go to the Opera and end up heading south on I-5 in the backseat of Andrew's car. I talk to Kathryn, who is in the front seat, then Alex appears and we understand each other. Then Ariana appears between us and sings. I rummage around in a paper sack and pull out a plain bagel that as been slightly tainted with blueberry. Ariana asks, "Is that for me?" and I lie and say yes. I take the blueberry-tainted pepper bagel instead.
Andrew mutters something about a watershed, and veers off sharply to the left just before the tunnel, where there is an exit I've never seen before. Although this is somewhere on Capitol Hill, the exit is steep and overgrown with blackberries, and leads us to a snowy field. We all jolt around as he drives us into the middle of the field. I hear a strange noise. Creaking.
"Andrew!" I say, "This is a lake! Are you trying to kill us? Get us off of here!"
He doeesn't believe me, go I get out of the car and brush the snow off the surface. It just looks like ice and Andrew is not convinced. I decide to at least save my own ass and head for the shore. As I walk, my footsteps reveal a different surface. Examining it more closely, I discover it is dark wooden planks, similar to the flooring in Solstice. Everyone else approaches and enthusiastically brushes off a large area. Andrew says, "Look, they've reinforced the lake, it's safe!" Then he comes up with the idea to use our matching planks to reinforce the lake even further, so everyone pulls out a hammer and nails planks on top of the existing ones.
Deciding it would be a better use of my time to go to work, I walk over to the espresso machine on the south end of the lake. The order is a triple tall two percent caramel latte to go, but there's something wrong with the beans... someone has filled the grinder with hard candies. This seems like a really bad idea, but I figure someone knew what they were doing, so I pull the shots. They come out multi-colored, and then deflate to a sugary residue.