the ladies who lunch . . . and the bees who love their lunches

soon to be known also as the ladies who brunch, melissa, audrey, kjersten, and i met for lunch today at one of our favorite local spots, tre kronor. we decided to sit outside in the shade of the trees, which would allow us the warmth of the day without the sunburn, and would set us far enough away from foster avenue so we could hear each other speak. but we didn’t count on the bees. OH, THE BEES! poor kjersten got the worst of it. she and i ordered the same, delicious turkey-and-jarlsberg-cheese-on-a-croissant sandwich, but she got sweet-smelling fruit as her side dish, while i got stinky, vinegar-y (yet oh-so-yummy) pickled cucumber salad, which i am convinced kept the little buggers at bay.

not only did they land on her sandwich and suck out the juices, they chomped off bits of turkey the size of small peas and flew off with them. but not for long. they were back. or maybe it was just one very speedy, very obnoxious bee? our server, the wonderful joe, was incredibly patient with us as we tried to figure out how best to keep the bees away. he even brought out small cups of lingonberries and set them near—but not too near—our table. no such luck. the bees were more interested in the turkey.

after one mild freak-out session, kjersten finally got around to eating the majority of her sandwich, while the rest of us offered her what was left on our plates to make up for what the bee(s) took. okay, so it really wasn’t that much food. once our plates had been cleared from the table, joe returned to ask us if we had saved room for dessert. we hemmed and hawed and finally ordered some sweets, and then realized that the bees would certainly be back for those, too. so we moved inside and dirtied yet another table, all so kjersten wouldn’t have to share her bread pudding with us and the bees.

such adventure for a friday lunch date!