Ahhhh the weekend!!!

Bliss!!

Not that I know what I am so relieved about since it's not like I don't have work to do, however it will be nice to sleep in and the weather is supposed to be absolutely gorgeous with a high of a mere 81F on Saturday with low humidity. It was certainly a nice day for a walk home through Central Park tonight, made all the better by a random encounter with a colleague who was heading up to roadrunners by the Guggenheim to register for a weekend race, so we had a very pleasant walk up to the UES together.

This is looking like one of the nicest weekends we've had in a while which I'm thrilled about good, because I'm going to be out and about running errands all day tomorrow. I'm not the biggest fan of New York in the summer, in fact it's my least favourite season, it's hot, it's sticky and let's be honest here it smells. It's completely rancid; a charming scent I can only describe as hot garbage with notes of dried dog urine. Ack!!

Beyond all the errands - filling my prescriptions for my Peru trip, buying water purification tablets (apparently I need them, does Duane Reade sell these does anyone know?), picking up dry shampoo from Sephora - I understand there are limited shower facilities* on the Inca Trail, but I still plan to make an effort, dropping off my Winter Coat for re-lining before I need it again in a few months, returning a pair of jeans to Anthropologie, having my eyebrows waxed - they are heading for Denis Healey territory right now - and hitting the Gap Cardholder Event - 40% off man!! - popping by the gym and going into the office to work on Sunday I'm planning on having a low key one. Well, as much as I can anyway with all that to do. It seems like rather a lot now that I've written it down, but we'll see.

I was invited to a birthday celebration at The Half King in Chelsea, but I respectfully declined, since I question my ability to stay on (off?) the wagon among such company. Lovely lovely lovely people, but between you, me and the garden wall, a total bunch of drink pushers. You know the sort...

"What do you mean you're only drinking soda with lime? Because of the altitude in Peru? Oh altitude schmaltitude, you can have one drink, it is X's birthday after all. Go on, have a drink. Goooooo onnnnnnn!!!!"

The problem I have is that once I've had one drink, a second or third seems like such a good idea, so I think I'm safer not indulging at all right now.

One thing I won't be doing this weekend is darkening the door of any cinema showing Eat, Pray, Love. Seriously I would rather go and see The Expendables, even RottenTomatoes agrees judging it to be less rotten than EPL. Admittedly I never read the book although it came highly recommended among many of my friends, so any opinion I have is thoroughly uninformed, but it just carries too much of the stench of a 'self help guide' for my liking. I'm too no-nonesense forthright northerner for any of that gubbins. I'm from mining stock for goodness sake!! Besides, I have the 'eat' part down cold. In fact this evening I've been busy researching good food places to potentially check out for a weekend in San Francisco I'm planning in November with a friend from work.

So far I've come up with...

...Zero Zero - a pizza restaurant, a foodstuff I can take or leave, but I've heard it's worth a visit for the cocktails - NOPA - I'd hoped to go here last time, but it didn't quite happen, so we'll see if we make it this time, Commonwealth, Anchor & Hope and Outerlands. This one is actually a repeat visit, but I absolutely loved this place when I was last in San Francisco, and this is the only place I definitely want to stop by. I think my friend will love it too. Oh and I wouldn't mind popping my head around the door of a North Beach souffle place I saw on the TV show Real Cities, but if you have recommendations...feel free to send them my way.

My friend's husband thinks there's a good chance we'll run into Javier Bardem since when women vacation alone together that's apparently what happens, at least that was the case in Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona and Eat, Pray, Love. In that case perhaps Melissa and I will run into him on Machu Picchu, although I suspect he'll probably be quite busy rolling around in bed with Penelope Cruz.

*Personally I was hoping for one of these, but ahh well.