Saturday, June 21, 2014

Amigos


After shopping for needed items and before seeing the movie The Fault in Our Stars, my niece and I had a late lunch at a Mexican restaurant called Amigos where we were served impossibly fresh and sweet pico, just-made and perfectly limed guacamole, grass-fed burgers and a frozen mango margarita for me and a plain unfrozen margarita with salt for her, both in chilled mason jars. We watched the France vs. Switzerland World Cup Soccer game as we ate and sipped and chatted, all this sinfully indulged in at mid afternoon while my son, my daughter and my husband were hard at work. In honor of our family's work ethic, my niece and I made sure to enjoy our delicious escape from responsibility. Later, at the movie theater, the one with the red leather power recliners seats, we reclined and shed a tear along with the middle-school girls and their parents taking up the full two rows in front of us, who were seeing this tearjerker about cancer kids as a birthday party outing. A handsome, young-looking man handed out bowls to all the girls before the film, then filled them with popcorn while a slender red-haired, middle aged woman handed out napkins and drinks and a pudgy middle aged man took pictures of the birthday girl and her friends. My niece and I decided they were mom, dad and stepdad, all bearing equal responsibility for that gaggle of soon-to-be-weeping tween girls. It's a good film. As my niece said, "It wasn't treacly. It had just the right amount of cynicism for me."


16 comments:

  1. Oh, you women! What a lovely tiny break in the world of work! How I wish I could have been there for that meal. I would have felt so at home. Pico AND mason jars?
    And in a way, I feel I was.
    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mary, I thought of you when I tasted that pico. You know I did!

      Delete
  2. sounds like you had a great day! now i have to go to amigos!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Candice, it's kind of a dive but that just makes it all the more fun because the food is good!

      Delete
  3. Sounds fabulous! I would have fit right in! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jean, thanks for commenting. Welcome! I'm off to visit your blog.

      Delete
  4. That picture made me smile. It is my idea of a perfect meal. And isn't it surprisingly hard to find those things--salsa, guacamole, margarita--done just right? What a special relationship to have with your niece. Your family is a bit extraordinary this way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vesuvius, truthfully I think of her as my third child. She's spent summers with us since she was five and she and mine really are like siblings. It is very special. I'm grateful for her in our lives.

      Delete
  5. Those margaritas look like the best part of the outing -- my god, they look good! And your niece is as adorable as your children, and can I say that YOU are looking gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Elizabeth! When it comes to photos of me, I like that iphone pix lose detail with every transfer! Congrats on how amazingly well your book is doing! It's such a powerful work.

      Delete
  6. I read that book and really liked it. It is HUGELY popular with the middle-school girls who use the school library!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Steve, the theater was packed with sobbing girls. My daughter read the book and loved it too.

      Delete
  7. You ARE gorgeous. What a lovely day. Now I want Mexican for lunch :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. michelle, you ARE kind. And there's nothing like Mexican food done right! Thanks for the title of my previous blog post!

      Delete
  8. Sounds like you two had a wonderful day. I love the photos, you both look so happy!

    I read the book, too, and it made me cry. I am afraid of being disappointed by the movie, even though I'm sure I would still cry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. dear ellen, it was a good day! as for the book, my daughter read and loved it and then saw the movie and she wasn't disappointed. i understand it follows the book fairly closely. xo

      Delete