Indulging in meditation and chocolate

My progress toward actually attending a meditation retreat is going about as well as my progress on cutting back on sugar. That is to say, it's not going very well.

Last night, my friend KGB and I ate popcorn and pizza at Central Cinema on Union Street and laughed hysterically at the cheesy, melodramaticness that is the movie "Purple Rain." I had never seen the movie and KGB, among others, considered it a major gap in my pop culture education. I sort of loved it. Prince makes everything, including his own bad movie, better.

We were stuffed from dinner, but after the movie ended, we both craved a little sugar. KGB suggested we stop by Dilettante Mocha Cafe on Capitol Hill. We scored majorly on parking, with a spot on Broadway on a Friday night, which KGB deemed a sign we were supposed to have chocolate.

The moment we stepped inside, both of us went into chocolate shock. The walls are painted a rich, chocolatey hue, which frame a counter with a dozen tempting kinds of cake on display and rich chocolate truffles, chewy chocolate caramels and other decadent chocolate morsels. The menu included several kinds of hot chocolate, ice cream with chocolate truffle sauce and many, many variations of chocotinis. It was a chocolate frenzy.

KGB settled on a milkshake with Frangelico and brandy ($8), while I chose a sundae ($6.50) with Molly Moon Scout Mint and espresso ice cream topped with chocolate and cream caramel sauce and chocolate bits. Once I took my first bite of luscious, almost chewy caramel and chocolate sauce mixed with melty, cold ice cream and crunchy chocolate bits, I was ready to die in a chocolate and ice cream-induced coma.

Hm, this post was actually intended to be about meditation. How did I get so off track? Ahem. A couple of months ago when I started leading meditation, I hoped I would somehow find the gumption to go on a 10-day silent meditation retreat. That gumption, like my willpower, is nowhere to be found, at least not yet. But I'm not a total wimp: I decided to take an intro meditation series from the Seattle Insight Meditation Society, which starts Monday. I need another commitment like I need the pair of gray patent oxford shoes that just arrived (they are really so very pretty), but I think the six-week series, led by Rodney Smith, will be a huge step toward deepening my meditation practice and guiding my students on a weekly basis. I have really fallen in love with leading meditation and the space it opens for other people, and I hope this meditation series will help me with my own practice. I roped my friend KNA into it, and I am happy we are both putting aside some regular time to just sit and breathe.

I'm having some technical issues today but will post pictures of aforesaid desserts as soon as I can.