Let me show you a few things.

Wow, another week has gone by! My excuse for not writing is simple (and obvious?) -- Jesse's return meant not wanting to come home from work and spend time on my computer when I could be spending time with him.

Plus, today he's off again. At least he'll be in the country; at least it's only for six days.

We spent much of our evenings cooking together! This is exciting for us. [I had a whole paragraph here that Blogger messed up, and since it's gone TWICE now, I care not to rewrite it!! Who cares? Who gives a hoot? Who's reading? It was about cooking.]

Our weekend looked like this...

Friday night: a triple date with two of the best couples ever... sometimes it may have felt like us ladies were on our own wavelength of conversation, but that's just how it is sometimes when you've been best friends for over 12 years. It's funny thinking back to when we all grew close our senior years of high school, how awkward and unknowing we were in retrospect! To now, with our three significant others, the six of us happily ensconced in the back room of a Brooklyn restaurant, sipping cocktails and talking about careers and home decor and routines. And one terrible story about a horse.

I feel so terribly lucky to have the friends I do.

Saturday: Jesse and I met up with Tyler (I affectionately call him "Ty Ty" most of the time) and Jiscilla for brunch... it was gently snowing as we waited for our table, but it was well worth the wait for the food and the continued catch-up. We parted ways and Jesse and I decided to watch the latest Netflix DVD recieved, Celeste and Jesse Forever. Here's my review; I wouldn't recommend it. (Did anybody see that and enjoy it? Please, let's chat, I need another perspective.) Jesse and I spent a lot of time playing backgammon over the weekend as part of Analog Time, and Adam joined us Saturday evening. And then Jess and I headed to a birthday re-do for our friend who just wanted to DANCE. And dance we did.

Sunday: I'm the co-Maid of Honor in one of my best friend's weddings this summer, so the other Maid and I (can we get new names for these roles?) got together for brunch and and afternoon of party planning! This is all I can write about this here since I know the bride may be reading. Afterwards, Jesse and I went to a surprise 'Bachelorette Party' for our new Seattle Seahawks-loving friend, Damian. Yes, he was resplendently dressed in a tiara with veil, bachelorette sash, and a shotglass on a necklace. The bar area of the apartment even provided risque straws of your average bachelorette variety. Damian and Lauren are getting married next month, and though they are new friends, it was a blast to hang/party with them, especially to bask in their excitement!

Then sleep, then work, then backgammon, Girls, Top of the Lake, then sleep, then 'goodbye and safe travels' this morning.

Last weekend.

The time has come again. Jesse has been home for a good two months, and tomorrow he leaves for a whole one. It's probably the reason I've been slacking on updating -- spending my downtime with Jesse was priority the past couple of weeks. (And updating will most likely take up as a distraction upon his departure.)

It's been some time since he was out of the country on tour, and we've haven't been apart for an entire month since the very beginning of our relationship. In fact, the beginning of our relationship started February 27th, 2007 -- a six-year anniversary coming up! He will be in Sydney, Australia that day. But I don't dwell on these things; it's corny but we do have the rest of time to hang out... which he takes care to remind me of every now and then.

We spent his last weekend in town like real hardcore cool people by going to a backgammon meet-up. Yeah, you read me right. Jesse loves the game backgammon, and while I find it frustrating to play him because he is simply streets ahead of me in the game, I like it too. Jesse heard about a meet-up at SPiN, the Susan Sarandon-owned ping-pong bar in Manhattan. Backgammon aficianado Jaime also joined us and we descended into the back room a bit nervous for what type of crowd backgammon brings around. Turns out it wasn't only octogenarians, but a pretty diverse crowd of young, old, foreign, etc.

Jaime remarked at one point, "dang, if I was single I would totally come here to pick up guys." You heard it, ladies: BACKGAMMMON MEET-UPS! Better start learning the game!

On Sunday, Jesse and I had a double date brunch with Kells and Jon, to La Palapa where brunch is $15 for a coffee, a delicious margarita, and the best huevos rancheros I've ever eaten. It's our favorite Manhattan brunch spot - at least the most frequented. After having a laugh as we always do with those two, Jesse asked me if I wanted to see a movie since we had no plans for the afternoon.

Me, see a movie?

Sometimes it's hard to get Jesse to go to the theater with me, especially since I go so often. My Letterboxd is telling me that I saw 40 films in the theaters last year. That's...a lot. I like going with Jesse because he is highly opinionated about films. Even when he's not with me I leave the theater wondering if it would be something Jesse would enjoy. I'm getting better at predicting his love/hate levels!

Anyway, I checked my phone and the new Williamsburg Cinema was playing Soderbergh's latest (and last?) feature film, Side Effects. Soderbergh can really go either way with me, and I wasn't sure if this was something that would be any good. I thought it might tread a little too political (for a movie starring Channing Tatum, if you know what I mean), but it ended up being something entirely different than what I expected. I really liked it, and Jesse did too!

That evening we went to a new restaurant in our neighborhood that had been getting good reviews and is up for a 'Best New Restaurant' award. It was delicious food! And had great cocktail to boot. It was a fitting ending to a great last weekend.