love wins

this weekend, specifically friday, june 26, 2015, will go down in history as the supreme court ruled 5-4 that same sex marriage is a right guaranteed by the US constitution.

even though i am personally little affected by this ruling, just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. as great as the US is, in some ways, we are a large slow dinosaur. in my opinion, no one should be able to or has the right to tell you who to love. 

don't even get me started on the mental and physical unfairness of not being able to marry the person of your choice. prior to this ruling, same sex couples could not enjoy the same federal advantages that we heterosexual couple have enjoyed, including benefits, rights, and privileges regarding property rights, benefits, and taxation. it's taken a long time to get here, but what an amazing feat it is to see the US effect change, even if it is super freaking slow.

a review of some significant dates in US history:

jan  1, 1863    emancipiation proclamation frees slaves

jun  4, 1919    19th amendment grants women the right to vote

jul   2, 1964    civil rights act bans discrim. based on race, color, religion, or nat'l origin

jun 16, 2015   supreme court rules same-sex marriage is a right

anyways, today we celebrated with a huge box of donuts from the doughnut plant, including a limited edition raspberry yeast triangle donut :)

i spent the afternoon preparing a nice dinner, something i really haven't done in a while, since we had kris and jessica over! i was running a bit late, so i didn't get a photo (sad!), but with the wine and desserts they brought over, i think it was a pretty fun and tasty night. there's something really easy and non-stressful about having neighbors over. or maybe it's the actual neighbors themselves that leave you feeling relaxed. 

the menu included: 

kinpira gobo

swamp morning glory (aka convovulus aka water spinach)

bittermelon with ground pork

shrimp with edamama

stewed beef with tofu skin

chawanmushi

haiga + white rice

i was a little worried that they wouldn't like the bittermelon, one of our favorite dishes due to its flavor and ease to prepare, but i think our non-asian guest was actually a fan! 

a fun way to finish off the weekend and thank goodness for our handy bosch dishwasher.