Scenes of a late spring weekend

This weekend the weather was absolutely gorgeous. I feel like this is the sort of trite statement about the weather that can only begin uninspired blog posts, but nevertheless, it needed to be said. Never one to let a blue sky and 70 degree day go un-experienced, I spent the majority of it outside. After all, the weather in New York is pretty crappy 9 months out of the year. We are currently in the short window between when it is cold and miserable (which it actually hasn't been this year) and when it becomes hot and muggy and everything sticks to you and makes you acknowledge just how grimy this city actually is. These few weekends in the spring and the fall when it is perfect must be cherished. Below are a couple of isolated images from my weekend. 

On the way to brunch on Sunday in Williamsburg, we passed this mural. I thought it blended nicely with the cloudless sky. Do you see it? Talk about blue!

The brunch place had delicious Brazilian food and was very quick (perhaps too quick) to refill the caipirinha pitchers. They had a band playing samba music. Sitting outside in the sun, you could hear the band, but not be overwhelmed by it. The waiter took this picture, and I stole it from a friend on facebook. I like how my face is perfectly obscured by a hand. 

After brunch I'd bought tickets to Brooklyn's Folk Festival. Nothing wrong with folk music. Also, this particular folk festival had carnival games where you threw wiffle balls through a spinning banjo. We were entered into a raffle to win a banjo, but since they haven't contacted us, I can only assume we're still banjoless. Instead, we got the instant gratification of a free kazoo. Unfortunately, after a few too many pitchers of caipirinha (and this is the downside of drinking in the daytime) we had trouble finding the place. And when we finally did find the place, we were both a little tired and didn't stay for more than one set (a lovely girl's quartet called The Calamity Janes) and a few minutes of the open hootenanny jam downstairs. I tried to take pictures, but it was too dark (which is why you should never go inside on a beautiful day). Thus the only pictures we have of the Brooklyn Folk Festival are these from the photo booth. Just two people soberly enjoying folk music on a Saturday evening. 

 On Sunday, I met some friends in Astoria Park to play cards and enjoy yet another beautiful day. At one point we kept hearing all the kids repeat "Will you marry me?" which we thought was a weird game given their age group. Finally, we looked up and realized there was a sky writer. By the time, he finished the "marry me" part, the first bit with the name was already erased so we never got to see the name. We didn't hear any screams of excitement from the park, which was odd considering it seemed like the writing was directly above us. So either it didn't go well, or the guy had the good sense to charter a romantic cruise of the East River (one of the most romantic possible places to mount a proposal, to be sure). Also, this picture was taken on my cell phone, which is why it has that same grainy je ne sais quoi of all of my Chicago pics.

And now it's Monday, and it hasn't stopped raining all day. This is the natural order of things. Also, it makes for an excellent day to work from home.