While my husband has been off at Vegas since last Wednesday for a convention I wound up with a long weekend because my library was having a new boiler installed on the roof which involved bringing in a crane. For safety reasons we had to be closed, which meant I got a bonus day off work. I spent the afternoon with my friend Kristen. We had lunch at Barcocina. I had heard great things about how they had renovated the space since taking it over after Shuckers closed. The reviews online were middling though, so I was a little worried about how it would be. We had a nice lunch though. The weather was lovely so we got to sit out on the patio right along the water, which was great. The space definitely is the best thing about the restaurant. As the other reviews suggested the food was fine, but nothing outstanding. I had the buffalo chicken tacos, which although spicy did not really taste like buffalo sauce to me at all. My friend had the shrimp quesadillas, which seemed to have enjoyed. I feel like the service must have been a little lacking somehow as well. Because we were out to enjoy a nice leisurely, casual lunch and were enjoying catching up I didn’t really notice it while we were there, but when we left I realized we had been there at least an hour and half. Not exactly a speedy lunch and not great if you needed to get back to work. After lunch we stopped and got some gelato from Pitango Gelato. I love me some Pitango, but it had been a very long time since I had been. With the Charmery now open steps from my house I’m much less inclined to drive down to Fells Point for gelato. It was nice to pay them a visit again.

The rest of Friday evening was spent dealing with taking my cats to the vet. One of them is sick and not eating. We still don’t know what’s wrong and that’s not a happy topic so I’m going to dwell on it here other than to say that we tried out a new vet, and I’ve really liked them a lot so far. So if you’re looking for a vet in Baltimore I would recommend Doc Side.

Saturday I took myself to the movies to see Boyhood. It’s written and directed by Richard Linklater, who also did the Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight trilogy. I loved all of those movies and I was looking forward to seeing this one. In some respects it’s the same as those movies as it feels like dropping in on someone’s life and watching them for awhile. It’s about living in the small moments of a life. In the Before trilogy you’re seeing a few hours in a couples life play out almost in real time and dropping in on them every 9 years. In Boyhood you’re dropping in on a family every so often, but for much shorter periods of time but more frequently. It’s also actually a very interesting piece of filmmaking. If you know anything about the movie than you know it was filmed with the same actors over a period of 12 years with filming scenes with them every so often over that period. Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette play a divorced couple raising two children. Linklater’s daughter Lorelei played the daughter Samantha and Ellar Coltrane played her younger brother Mason Jr., who was the main focus of the movie. Because of watching the same people age over a number of years I had to stop and remind myself several times that this was a fictional movie and not a documentary. That of course also had to do with the story of the movie, which really did just feel like watching someone’s life unfold. At points it may have felt a little too real. It was really lovely though. I both laughed and cried while watching it, which is always the sign of a good movie. If it sounds like something you think you would enjoy I would definitely go see it.

Saturday night my friends Sean and Catherine had a housewarming party, so I went over there for a few hours to welcome them to the neighborhood. They have a great little house, and I am jealous of their garage. I’m sure they’ll be happy there for many years. It’s nice to have more friends moving into the neighborhood for a change too instead of leaving it for the suburbs or another state entirely.

After church this morning I went out to lunch and for ice cream with a couple of friends. All in all it’s been a nice weekend. Though I could do with out the cat drama. I’m also looking forward to having my husband back home tomorrow night though.