More spring than the last time I said it was spring

So last week wasn't spring after all, but this week surely is. It's a sunny 70. Someday I will tire of starting every post talking about the weather, but today is not that day. This weekend I celebrated the weather outside on Saturday and Sunday, but Friday was spent at a murder mystery dinner suggested by a friend.

Held in the basement of a theater district Italian restaurant, it was as far from celebrating the outdoors as one can reasonably be. Luckily on that particular night, it was still winter. My friend had found the event on Groupon. We thought perhaps it would be an interactive experience where we would take on characters (something I've always thought would be fun). Instead it was more dinner theater where actors who clearly hated their lives rattled off bad puns and dick jokes while attempting (with varying success) mobster accents. While the show was pretty terrible, my friend who works in film did point out that based on the smell left in the room after a shoot-out, it was clear they were using real blanks in their guns, which seemed a surprising production value for the show and also not especially safe. In the end, we had a chance to guess the killer, which none of us succeeded in doing (turns out it was a plant who we never suspected because she was the only person they pulled from the audience who seemed as uncomfortable to be there as we were). We missed out on winning a "Married to the Mob" t-shirt, but such is life. Regardless of the quality of the show, I still had fun at least, thanks to some excellent company and an enjoyable post-show discussion!

On Saturday, I celebrated a friend's birthday at a Brazilian restaurant in Brooklyn. This reminded me that I never have quite perfected pao de queijo. I've made something that is really delicious and very easy, but after once again trying the real thing, I realize how far off the mark I am. If any readers are skilled at making a nice dense Brazilian cheese bun, please feel free to pass on the recipe.

Friends in the closest thing to Brazil in Williamsburg. 

Sunday was the most glorious day weather-wise (well excepting today, of course). Sam had the idea to go boating in Central Park, although after we got to the park, I remembered it was the first weekend of the month which means we could get into many museums for free as Bank of America card holders (I hate to give them free advertising on my oh-so-popular-blog, but it really is a good program. One day, when I monetize, they can owe me retroactively for this.) So we ended up skipping the boating and concluding our walk at the Guggenheim. They're doing an exhibit on the Gutai movement, which apparently centered in Japan in the 1950s-70s. Mostly it involved using every day items (like light bulbs and paint cans) in the art or painting in unusual ways (say with one's feet). This is what I got out of the exhibit anyway. Gutai scholars out there are free to correct me. Here are a couple pictures (Sam-taken) from the museum.

I don't remember seeing this at all, but I guess whatever it is, Sam took a picture of it.

The iconic center gallery of the museum. It's kind of hard to tell here, but the colorful things going across the center were large plastic tubes weighed down in the middle by colorful water. They looked more interesting in person. 

Overall, it was a lovely weekend. I'm excited for this upturn in temperature (as evidenced by the fact that it's all I will talk or write about). Happy spring, friends and readers! I eagerly await your cheese bread recipes. Other comments also welcomed.