I could get used to this...

Three day weekends, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

This weekend, thanks to Good Friday, gave us yesterday to play, play, play. I always appreciate an extra day here and there when I don't open a textbook or pick up a pen with which to grade student papers. Yesterday gave me a total respite from the grind of school, and I took full advantage of that fact. I enjoyed something of a sleep-in, and then Michael and I sweated through a super intense (to me) spin class. After that, I motivated myself to go swimming. Despite dreading it and feeling confident that it would be killer to swim post-cycle, it was a GREAT work-out, largely due to the fact that almost no one was at the pool.

Our big adventure for the day was lunch. We spontaneously decided to try The Oinkster, a place that has become something of an institution. Several friends and food critics and Zagats all highly recommend this casual but foodie-haven, known mainly for its pastrami. And the fries and shakes are pretty damn good too.

Source

It is definitely one of those "up-scale" fast-food places that serves good food and even boasts a nice selection of beer. The beer selection tempted me, but then we opted for a shake as our liquid pleasure. Once we dug into our pastrami sandwich and fries, I wondered how and why we had waited so long! The food was so great that I would seriously consider a return within the next week or two. As for the shake - also good and very different. They have standard options (vanilla, chocolate and strawberry), but we chose the ube shake. Ube is a purple yam, and it give the shake a purple tint. The shake was good - VERY sweet. I am glad that I tried it and can report to a friend that I have now experienced the Oinkster's ube shake. Next time, however, I might go for a beer.

Here is the pastrami sandwich:

After inhaling our food, we found ourselves in a serious food coma. A nap was the only viable option for the afternoon, so nap we did!

Today will be less laissez-faire. I do need to work through some papers, but dinner might involve a new recipe while sipping on a dirty martini. The perfect evening before I challenge myself to an open-water swim tomorrow!