The Post In Which I Ramble About Burritos and Maple Sugar

Yesterday's bitchfest aside, last weekend was actually pretty fantastic. For once we finally managed to actually do all the things we planned on doing, plus some. Friday night we had tickets to see 300 at the IMAX, so we decided to do a quick dinner in our hood before driving all the way to Reading in rush hour traffic. What culinary delight did we choose to bless our palates with? The newly opened Boloco for some "inspired" burritos.

While there's no shortage of places to acquire cheap and tasty burritos (C and I counted no fewer than 6 places in a two-mile radius from our house), Boloco seemed to promise a more upscale atmosphere than some of the other local joints. By which I mean all the patrons would be wearing clothing and the place wouldn't stink of cigarettes being smoked at the kitchen doors. True, I was a little skeptical- I mean, did I really need to add another burrito joint to my repetoire? And the place was a bit more pricey than, say, Anna's, or Qdoba. But damn, that wrap was delicious. Then came the best part: every Friday they give out coupons for $1 burritos! Redeemable any time! Shit, yo, I'm going there every Friday to get a $1 burrito and then get a coupon for another for the next week. They also had big signs up for three upcoming dates of FREE burritos, all night long. For real. I am so going to every one of those nights. God, I love living in a college city. Oh, and P.S.: their smoothies are also quite delish.

How did this post turn into a burrito festival?

Anyway, we braved the traffic on 95 and made it to the IMAX with an hour to spare. Except... what is that huge line forming outside the theater? That can't be our movie. It doesn't start for an hour! WTF? Apparently the IMAX holds 500 people, and about 100 of them were already in line for a sold-out show. We barely had time to appreciate the glory and wonder that is Jordan's before we found ourselves standing in a snaking queue. Good thing I have my v-cast phone and C had his Nintendo DS on him to keep ourselves entertained. Ha! Oh, date night.

The movie itself was pretty good- loved the way it looked visually, even if the story itself lacked any kind of depth. It was pretty much exactly what the commercials promised: 300 Spartans violently killing millions of Persians. It was bloody and gory and exciting, but didn't require me to use my brain overly much. Perfect for a Friday evening.

Saturday was spent doing random errands in a leisurely fashion. The nice weather held and it was very pleasant to see all of Boston wandering around in spring jackets. You could tell the college girls were itching to break out the tank tops and mini skirts as I saw a number of sandals and short sleeves. Too early, people! Do you not know New England? You could be up to your chin in snow an hour from now! Later that evening my lovely cousin showed up with her husband and we hit up Tir na nOg for some crazy music/drinking action. It was a little bittersweet since they'll be closing at the end of this month, but we enjoyed the hell out of ourselves anyway.

On our way home we realized we were starving and decided to stop at one of the only late night places we could find: Pizza Days. Two words: not good. Oh, and one more: expensive. Ok, a few more: stomach ache.

Brilliantly, we had made plans to meet my parents for breakfast on Sunday morning at a place up in NH, about an hour away. I diligently set the alarm when we finally got to bed around 2:30 and surprised myself by actually getting up when it went off. As I was getting ready, proudly extolling on how awesome I was for rousing myself on time, Chris looked at me and said, "You sprang ahead, right?"

I stared at him dumbly for a few seconds, then ran for my phone to call my mother (who is not just punctual, but always, always early for everything). They were already in Mason. C and I decided to brave the trip up there anyway, and arrived as they were finishing their breakfast. We sat down with them (probably pissing off about 90 people that were waiting for tables), and had a pleasant breakfast of pancakes. C topped the meal off with a maple donut and we headed on over to the Sugar Shack to learn all about their maple-making methods. The tour was surprisingly interesting, mostly because when they say Sugar Shack they certainly mean it. Pretty much a lean-to, it was like something out of a Native American story- one that involved garden hoses to pour the sap and a giant coffee urn to bottle it up, yes, but still.

We spent the rest of the day lazing about as my mother toiled in the kitchen for our dinner fare. All together, a most lovely weekend.

Then yesterday happened and all memories of pleasantness vanished in a thin wisp of stale smoke. But now I'm back on track, my library is back to normal, and we've got tickets to see Aloha tonight at the Middle East. I'm a happy librarian. See the smile?