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...

Pursue the sound and lock the door.

Thanks for all the kind comments regarding my new blog layout! I have had a pile of these formspring questions piling up in my inbox, so here we go -

Hola Jessica! Someone may have asked you this already, but do you ever go out on tour with Jesse? If you do, what's tour life like? - L.B.

Yes, I've flown out to visit Jesse on tour occasionally. Comes with the territory! I've blogged a lot about my time out visiting Jesse in the past - just not in the past year, considering that they didn't tour for most of 2009. The first time I flew out was in 2007, roughly five months into Jesse and I dating. I've gone countless other times, and they're in the ol' archives.

Tour life is fun and funny. And I promise you, it's not glamourous. There's a routine to the day from everybody slowly getting up from their bunks to bus call late at night/early morning. Buses can get cramped; it's easy to get stir-crazy. I'm a pretty deep sleeper, so I rarely had issues falling asleep in my "guest" bunk on a moving bus, but for others it might be hard to get used to. There's not a lot of room to cuddle up in a bunk, so it's not like Jesse and I sleep together. The first time I was on a bus, back in July 2007 I was SO awkward about the bunks and waking up - should I get up? Did Jesse get up? Do I get dressed in my bunk horizontally or make a run for the bathroom? (Don't get me started on the itty bitty bathroom...)

However, other than the BUS, tour life can all depend on where you are. When the bus stops and parks you could be on a Chicago city street, or in Florida's panhandle next to a dilapidated Days Inn for a day off. It's what you make of it, of course. I've been to so many cities since I started dating Jesse, and I love getting to experience all of them - from the beautiful Portland, Oregon to the rural Council Bluffs, Iowa. It's fun for me, since I'm on vacation and I get to spend a lot of time with Jesse.

Oh, and: there's not a lot of the craziness some people associate with tour buses - Motion City does not equal Motley Crue. I'm not going to lie, they are mostly a nerdy bunch and there's rarely alcohol on the bus, and definitely no random ladies.

Hello! Since you live in the city, I was wondering if you ever find the time to go to any Broadway or off-Broadway shows. If so, what are your favorite shows? As a Theatre major I was just interested to see. I also wanted to tell you that your blog has encouraged me to rediscover my joy of reading. Thank you! -Lurker from Jersey
 
Hey! Glad you rediscovered your love of reading! That's awesome. I have been to a few Broadway shows since living in New York, and I love the theater - however, I usually only go if it has a real draw for me. For instance, any time Kevin Spacey is in a play (The Iceman Cometh in 1997 was my first Broadway play ever, and I saw him again a couple of years ago in Moon for the Misbegotten). I think he's brilliant. I also really loved Spamalot and Spring Awakening. And anything Shakespeare.

Fact: for years when I visited New York as a poor college student my friend Kelly and I would try to get the raffle/cheap tickets to Rent and we never won. Kelly definitely made it in once when I wasn't with her, but I have never seen that musical staged. And after seeing the movie version, I don't think I want to.

How amazing was MCS on Jimmy? lol their performance has made me even more excited to see them live next month! lol.
 
Yay! I loved them on Jimmy! Glad you're excited to see them - I think their tour is so awesome this year because they now know all their old songs so they're switching up the set list each night! I think they're having a lot of fun with it, too.

What do you absolutely LOVE?
 
Absolutely, hm? Nice hands, great performances, perfect wordplay, witnessing accomplishment on a grand scale, a song that complements my mood to the tee, acts of kindness, and knowing looks/locking eyes.

I love the key necklace you wear. Where is it from? It reminds me of my grandmother and how when I was little she would buy me and my sister themed gifts. My sister got apples (apple of her eye) and I got keys (key to her heart).

The necklace was a gift from Jesse. He has the lock, and I have the key. I believe he bought the necklaces in Japan. I'm sure you've noticed that I rarely take it off - he doesn't either. They've definitely become an intimate symbol to us in our relationship, and the only time I've taken mine off in the past two and a half years was on our wedding day. Literally, here's a picture of my mom taking it off while I'm about to head to the ceremony. It was promptly back around my neck the following day! I truly love it.

I've always been a fan of keys - and it was due to my grandmother, as well! She had a huge wall in her house that was covered in antique keys. I loved looking at them every time I visited.