Friday night: dinner and a movie
I had a wonderful Friday night. I spent most of the day at work completely dragging with boredom, especially after the excitement yesterday with completing a project in time for Christmas and then getting my promotion from Research Tech to Research Assistant. Luckily, my coworker friend (let's call her L) was hoping to celebrate her birthday tonight, and since she hadn't had any plans I suggested we go to dinner, and she suggested we also take in a movie. We had a blast! We went to Not Your Average Joe's, which is a little more pricey than many restaurants I go to, but it's entirely worth it. We both appreciate that the menu is unique, varied, and completely unlike anything you might find at any of the other chain restaurants, plus they have a spectacular added benefit of not only giving a birthday person a free desert, but a free entree as well! That was especially a boon for me, since I offered to pay in celebration of her birthday, and it allowed us to still go ahead and get rather pricey glasses of wine with our meals and after dinner espresso drinks. I had a truly fabulous cherry-marinaded duck with sauteed spinach and butternut squash risotto. I haven't had duck since I was a little girl and decided it would be good to splurge, and it was certainly worth it.
The two of us must have talked for two hours! It was really nice. We had all of the work gossip, of course, but we had plenty of other things in common to discuss, which kept things very comfortable.
We went to the evening showing of Up in the Air, with George Clooney, and it was fabulous. We both laughed at the remarkably witty lines and the acting performances were certainly supurb. I can't imagine why this movie only has limited runs in the theaters! It's far better than so many other movies I've recently seen advertised.
So now I'm home, cuddling with the kitties and ready for bed. That was probably one of the first "girls night" activities I've had that was all my own in a very, very long time, and although it may sound a little silly, I'm proud of it. I know that I'm shy and that pushing myself to reach out, to take a chance and (gasp!) spend time with someone by choice is something that doesn't actually come easy to me. I'm very glad I'm putting in the effort to get to know L and to open myself up to the possibility of making friends at work.
The two of us must have talked for two hours! It was really nice. We had all of the work gossip, of course, but we had plenty of other things in common to discuss, which kept things very comfortable.
We went to the evening showing of Up in the Air, with George Clooney, and it was fabulous. We both laughed at the remarkably witty lines and the acting performances were certainly supurb. I can't imagine why this movie only has limited runs in the theaters! It's far better than so many other movies I've recently seen advertised.
So now I'm home, cuddling with the kitties and ready for bed. That was probably one of the first "girls night" activities I've had that was all my own in a very, very long time, and although it may sound a little silly, I'm proud of it. I know that I'm shy and that pushing myself to reach out, to take a chance and (gasp!) spend time with someone by choice is something that doesn't actually come easy to me. I'm very glad I'm putting in the effort to get to know L and to open myself up to the possibility of making friends at work.