I was at some sort of posh gathering of people at a house in the country. the house has all thea amenities, with a pool and tennis courts out back, with a stable and hiking and riding trails behind. the was some sort of feeling of being there under duress. it was late summer / early fall in northern california, the weather reminds me of northern faire workshops towards the end of them.

I was with a friend who didn't know anyone. we walked up to an outdoor bar (not a serving one, but on where people could just stand and rest their drinks) and observed everyone milling about doing various activities. EJ was there near the tennis courts with a couple friends I barely knew. I decided I was remiss and should start introducing my friend. they walked up to the other side of the bar, and EJ set his drink down. I realized he was drinking from this plastic container that looked like it dispenses disposable towlettes. it had a red cap. I couldn't picture anything in there not getting tainted with the original contents.

I introduced and and this is EJ, who is drinking.... something gross. and he got sort of defensive. hey man, this container is totally handy. I stumbled over the names of the others, but he filled them in.

the rest of the dream is sort of fragmented. my friend was an accomplished horseback rider, and that had something to do with why we were there. she was giving a class on it, perhaps. some of the people there were like right out of a costume drama, entirely dressed approrpriately for Regency. one guy was really big, and dressed for Regency, but his clothes were askew and hair wild as he was very drunk.

...

later, I was back in town. I was to meet Mike (Lindsey), who had quit or was quitting his job, for breakfast. I did meet him, and we sat in this little two-person booth at a holeinthewall cafe. he knew one of the waitresses at the cafe. we talked, and it was stressful. time passed, and it got later and later, and I worried about getting to my own work late. I forgot something and went off to go get it.

after, I started heading to work, and Mike said, hey, we never ate! I said we did too but then thinking about it, I realize we hadn't; nobody had served us. I went back in and sat down, and this older lady came to put a small (inadequate) table cloth and take our order. Mike ordered this thing that was like... a dessert... sort of like a nougat cake, except toasted with butter. I was taken aback, I'd never heard of this before.

Mike's friend showed up, I can't recall her name, but she had blonde short curly hair and was above average height, and very cheery. she put a different woven table cloth on our table and promised to take care of us. she brought Mike what he ordered and it looked like it would go very well with coffee.