Lovely Weekend

I'm just coming off a really nice weekend, and I wish I had one more day before the week started up again. Friday night after work I met Todd and Dylan for dinner around Union Square. We ate fully healthy vegetarian fare, and then counteracted every bite with a trip to Veneiro's. So good! If we lived closer, I'd have cannolis everyday.

Treats in tow, we made our way to the movies to watch Nine. I hadn't expected the movie to be as dark as it was. Afterward, Todd and I talked about the ending and how we both thought it was heading someplace different — and better. It had the feeling of an ending-by-committee. I think our ideas would have made for a more original movie that left viewers with much more to think about after the credits rolled. Also, did you ever have a writing teacher tell you that if your story includes a shotgun mounted on the wall, the gun has to go off at some point in the story? The idea, of course, is that if you give a detail like that, it should be there for a reason. Well, Nine had a shotgun on the wall and it never went off. Again, I think the detail had a purpose in an earlier version and got workshopped out to make people happy. I liked the movie, but I think anyone interested is just as well served waiting for the DVD.

Saturday the three of us went to a newly found brunch place in Harlem. It was really good and has a nice vibe. It's the kind of place where you could bring a book or laptop and settle in for a few hours, I think. Dylan went off to a friend's birthday shortly after brunch, and I requested that Todd and I spend the afternoon with a bottle of wine and a viewing of the latest Project Runway. He indulged me, and it was just what I needed. I've been feeling pretty stressed out lately, and the laziness and relaxation of our afternoon was perfect. We tried to go shoe shopping after PR, but we got sidelined by the new Whole Foods in our neighborhood and did grocery shopping instead. The evening ended with sushi in bed while we watched District 9. It was good, but very different and less political than I expected.

And yesterday started out with hours of homework (boo) followed by brunch downtown with Ben and Lorraina. Apologies in advance to Ben if you read this: I sometimes get a little negative about all the time I have to devote to school and the way it limits the fun things I can do. I know that going to school is an enormous opportunity, but it's still hard not to feel disappointed about all the social things I miss. Ben got his MBA a year ago and now has a job that would make me want to jump out a window. I can't believe the hours he works, the travel he has to do, and the way his employers expect him to be available at their whim. On the subway I had a moment of schedenfreude and said to Todd, "If anything can make me feel better about my situation, it's brunch with Ben!" Brunch was wonderful, and not because someone else's schedule sucks harder than mine. Instead, it was just a treat to catch up with friends I don't see often enough.

Todd and I did shoe shopping along 8th Street after we ate, and I came home with two new pairs of boots. Hooray! Poor Todd got no shoes and instead luggeed my boxes. He's the sweetest.