Fat Tuesday and What Didn't I Eat: Tuesday

Hello world! Happy Valentine's Day, Chinese New Year, Presidents' Day and Fat Tuesday.

It's a disgusting wintry mix outside today, and as much as I love snow, I do not enjoy the rain mixed in. While I'd begun the day with high hopes for a much-needed gym session tonight, the weather, my malaise, the fact that it's Fat Tuesday, and the fact that I have the apartment to myself this evening are combining to seriously threaten my commitment. Maybe I can ease back into healthier behavior (after this weekend) by just eating well today? Oh crap, wait, I already ate two Krispy Kreme donuts this morning. Perhaps Fat Tuesday should just be celebrated and I'll revisit the regime tomorrow.

That said, I had a wonderful weekend. On Friday I met BSH at Columbus Circle and we bought some snacks (cheese, fig spread, baguette, salad) at Whole Foods, then off to her new apartment in Lefferts, Brooklyn. It was so great! Granted, it was only moderately unpacked/moved into, so I can't wait to see it with lamps and a kitchen table, but it's a really great space. We henna-d, wined, dined, and watched Sweeney Todd (which somehow seemed much worse this time than when I saw it in the theaters), using the subtitles as karaoke prompts. After all the merriment and cheese, I headed back to Astoria and met up with Mex, who had just returned from an impromptu trip to New Haven, CT to watch the Yale/Harvard basketball game. I was impressed with this adventure, and he suggested we go together on Saturday and stay over. And I do love a spontaneous adventure--if by spontaneous, I mean I can at least plan ahead and pack and make a reservation.

So after staying up late playing pool, we woke up Saturday morning, booked the New Haven Omni, and off we went on an afternoon train. We got to town and checked into our fancy digs, then explored and had a snack and went to the Yale/Dartmouth (his Alma mater) game. I loved all the campus architecture -- it was very Gothic and reminded me of Oxford. After the game, which was fun and full of heckling (from us), we headed to a nice bar/restaurant called The Playwright to eat, have a few drinks and watch a little soundless Olympics. Once that place started turning into a nightclub with a Mardi Gras party, we just walked back across the street to the hotel. So convenient!

So Sunday we woke up late (12:00 checkout is fantastic), had some rolls and coffee in the room, then headed out for more exploring and souvenir buying. I got a Yale Women's Rugby t-shirt and he bought some Yale sweatpants. (Unfortunately, they only say Yale on the leg, not the butt.) Then off to find the famous pizza joints across town, but sadly one was closed and the other had a very long line, so we just found another NH Little Italy restaurant and had a perfectly nice lunch of pizza and salad. Then back to the train, back to the city 2 hours later, and we took a break for napping and time apart to get cleaned up.

Which brings me to our Valentine's dinner! I already told you where we were heading (and obviously we didn't watch a Celtics game, as there wasn't one and we made other plans), but our romantic dinner was everything I'd hoped. The restaurant was very dark and lit only with candles (in a good way), and we had our little table for two that felt very private. The first course was beet hearts (literally, they cut them into heart shapes) with goat cheese and walnuts inside, then fire-roasted tomato soup, then chile-rubbed shrimp with corn avocado cocktail (me) and baked clams oreganata (him), then lamb with roasted balsamic winter vegetables (both of us), and finally a mocha mousse with peppercorns (both of us). All delicious, though the lamb was the best course, and each with its own wine pairing. Plus, he doesn't like seafood, but tried and ate everything, which (as I'm a hater of picky eaters) impressed me. We stayed for a little more wine and then headed back home, mushy and hand-holdy all the way. It was just lovely, and I'd had my worries after we'd spent the whole weekend together already that perhaps things would be stale or we'd be sort of boring by that point, but nope. He also explained that he intended to bring me flowers, but then left his house too late because of Olympic figure skating and so he will give some to me some day this week as a surprise. And while that might sound a bit worrisome, it's leagues better than last year, dear readers. Plus, now it's a surprise as to when I'll actually receive them, and it'll be cheaper for him post-V Day! (Yes, I'm a miser.)

Monday we watched The Hangover and then he left and I caught up on freelance work, reading, and The Tudors. To quote Schmate, it was a long weekend that felt like one, and it was fantastic. I think a change of scenery, even for 24 hours, helped me feel very refreshed, too.

Now I just have to get back to being disciplined after eating like I've been on vacation for awhile, but this will definitely happen this week. And I'm out of time (and you're probably out of interest) so I'll cut this off here, but I hope you all felt as loved and relaxed this weekend as I did.