Escape to Massachusetts.

The father and I in Massachusetts

The extended weekend in Massachusetts rejuvenated my growing weariness. Work ragged on my nerves and I worked late many days last week. As soon as my father pulled up to the train station to carry us to the 'country,' I instantly calmed. My mother had flown to Panama earlier in the week and so I figured my dad may want some company for Superbowl weekend.

We ate well (and by well I mean lots of ice cream cake) and watched many, MANY movies. Like father, like daughter I suppose. We saw the surprisingly adorable Warm Bodies on Saturday and ventured to get scared but really only disappointed by Mama on Sunday. There were also several DVDs watched on his new 70-inch HD television. I laughed along though I was bit underwhelmed by Seven Psychopaths, but I was shocked to find that I really loved End of Watch - a lot. It wasn't perfect, but I'd venture to say it was the best movie we watched over the weekend.

Since I've had a mild obsession with Kevin Spacey since high school, and one of my favorite directors is David Fincher, I've been anticipating Netflix's first original series House of Cards for some time. Good thing Netflix released all the episodes this weekend! The three of us knocked out six episodes, and I can't wait to continue - Spacey's always so good! I've been saying it for decades now! I also love any show that features a newspaper newsroom.

On Sunday my brother joined us, and his friend arrived to haul out my dad's huge, old tv. It was a mighty journey to behold these four guys get the tv from the house to the truck bed.

My aunt and uncle from Rhode Island arrived for the spectacle of the Superbowl on the giant television! It was truly beautiful to behold football on that tv. And yet, I didn't care too much either way who won. I was mostly enjoying the wonderful company and doing a lot of math to weight the chances of my pool numbers winning me $1000 (spoiler alert: they didn't).

Monday morning found my dad driving us back to the train station, which is always no fun! I wish we could have stayed in the relaxing atmosphere (with a rambunctious dog, though - the infamous Buddy), but alas we had to get back to New York. I had to stop into work for an hour, but I was soon back at home with Pee Wee.

And because this is New York, we already had a friend asking us to hang out. I met up with friends Jaime and Lisa at the Bowery Electric for a Bronx show and ran into many other friends, which always happens. We didn't stay for much of the show since I was tired, but it was fun to catch up and Jaime also had that thing that is somewhat of a holy grail in the city: a car. She drove me to Manhattan and back to Brooklyn in the warm heat, which ruled in comparison to the chilling walk to the subway I would have had.

Last night I caught up with Beca at a local neighborhood eatery and then Jaime invited Jesse and I to a fancy cocktail place called Apotheke in Chinatown. And woah! That's a great place for a fancy cocktail! Great atmosphere, live music, and the craziest cocktail menu I've ever seen. I opted for something called the Bees Knees which was listed under the health and beauty section and mentioned 'immunity,' so y'know, drinking a cocktail and thinking I'm not only being healthy but preventing disease really appealed to my senses. GOOD THING IT WAS ALSO THE MOST DELICIOUS THING I'VE EVER TASTED.

Also, in Chinatown it's located on the corner of the street where the final stand-off in last summer's Premium Rush takes place. Yes, I recognized that. Yes, I saw that movie in the theaters. You try to keep me away from Joseph Gordon-Levitt!

Tonight, finally: respite. And perhaps some more Kevin Spacey...

Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

Fridays are usually my days of rest. I rarely go to one bar, let alone two on a Friday. After a week of work and whatever activities after-work, I love coming home and getting on the couch or going to a neighborhood restaurant for dinner or even just stopping by a nearby bar for a chill evening. However, there were a couple of shows going on, so I prepared for an evening out.

Jesse and I stopped by a bodega on the way to Fette Sau in Williamsburg--I needed a Five Hour Energy to make this work. We met up with Tyler, Diaz, and Meghan at the BBQ joint and waited in line. I was a bit out of my element, as I'm not a big fan of the set-up in the restaurant which is cafeteria style and on a busy Friday night includes waiting around with a tray of meat trying to find a place to sit. Also, they charged me for someone else's side and I didn't realize until I found the receipt later when I was complaining about how expensive my meal was. The pulled pork was good, but I was uncomfortable the entire time eating with a drunk and I think probably drugged young guy next to me. Had to watch my elbows, couldn't hear Jesse across the table, and generally did not like the atmosphere. Most people love that place, so I may just be crotchety. Or just like places that are comfortable to eat.

After dinner we went to the Knitting Factory which is probably my favorite venue because it has a bar that is separated and soundproofed from the stage. You can still see the stage from the bar, but you don't have to hear it. A marvelous concept. They also have a SuperNintendo and N64 hook-up to play in the bar. That night I gave up my plus-one that Jesse had for me to a friend since my heart wasn't into the bands, and I could sit in the bar area with friends. Jiscilla met up at one point and when the Smoking Popes' "Need You Around" started playing in the bar we both sang along in our best bass-y voice and then we discussed how formative the Clueless soundtrack was for each of us.

Diaz & Jesse playing a Street Fighter

Jiscilla

Jesse, Tyler, Lisa and I jumped in a cab and headed up to Greenpoint to check out our friend's band United Nations at the metal bar Saint Vitus. The show was great, but by 1am I was fading fast. I had a very important 10am brunch in the morning as a maid of honor in a wedding, so I needed to sleep.

Tyler & Jesse at Saint Vitus, camera focus not working

Tyler couldn't get it to work for me & Lisa, either

On Saturday, after a delicious "working" brunch with the bride and the other maid of honor, Jesse and I linked up with my friend Jess. We headed to Chelsea to finally see the Haroshi exhibit, which was small but the few pieces were interesting (first picture and below). It was a beautiful day and Jesse and I proceeded to walk around Manhattan running errands and enjoying the weather.

Unfortunately by the evening a terrible headache (and fatigue) took over so I got in bed with Pee Wee and we finished reading Gillian Flynn's Dark Places (review here) and watched Haywire. It was a pretty mediocre story, but I always enjoy Soderbergh's directing.

I woke up on Sunday feeling much better. Jaime called me and we deliberated over where to brunch for five after noon on a Sunday in Brooklyn. It's quite an art to get this right, but we chose correctly for us, Cara, Lisa, and little Lowe. Good food, no wait. We didn't kidnap the kid, though it was fun to have a coloring-on-the-table type brunch.

Cara & Lowe

Lowe is a true artiste

Cara & Lisa

Jaime, Lowe, me (you can see my grays! Eek!)

I arrived home to start getting ready for the football games and the people coming over. I'll just stop talking about my Sunday there, I can't go on about the Patriots right now!

SUNDAY!

Pre-game: READY FOR ACTION!

HALFTIME: STAYING FIERCE

WE WON!

It was a good day to be a Patriots fan--Sean, Jesse, and I were certainly excited. We watched the earlier Atlanta-Seattle game with a group of really great, fun, football-loving Seattle fans that we recently came to know in the neighborhood. The tension was palpable in their apartment during the second half, and when they lost by such a small margin after that comeback we were all sad. They are good people though, and even though they were sad, they walked over to our apartment to partake in the Patriots win. Here's to taking down the Baltimore Ravens next week!!!!!