Sometimes I underestimate New Jersey cuisine. This weekend included both some damn fine sushi and some stereotypical diner food.

Best placemat everrr

Part of a shared sushi feast

I was out this weekend spending time with family and friends and working on stuff, so while I can’t say my Halloween weekend was especially rockin’, I enjoyed myself, October snow and all.

Saturday morning, my mom gave a talk at a wellness fair about staying healthy during the holidays. I came by to help play with crystals.

Saturday evening we were supposed to go to this event called Blaze, but we had to cancel on account of the snow.  Instead, I hung out in my parents’ kitchen and worked on a paper. I’m not gonna lie, I kind of felt like a bespectacled sad bastard sitting at home on a night other people were out celebrating Halloween, but I tried to remind myself I was saving my energy for future outings and that, hey, it’s not like I had a costume or anything. Maybe next year I’ll do the Baberaham Lincoln thing.

If nothing else, at least I didn’t wake up hungover like I did the morning after that Halloween I performed as Bukowski in a “dead poet’s slam” and made out in the bathroom with someone dressed as Edgar Allen Poe. Long story…

Charles Bukowski

Saturday night’s dinner was really nice—sautéed Brussels sprouts with cabbage alongside  roasted peppers and fingerling potatoes and baked cod. There was also salad with baked goat cheese and rosemary vinaigrette.

sauteed Brussels sprouts and cabbage

rosemary-and-garlic-infused olive oil

Baked goat cheese

I had brunch plans with friends for Sunday, so obviously, that meant a trip to one of New Jersey’s many diners. I was basically in heaven. Diner coffee chitchat is one of my favorite things in life—even better when shared with some of my favorite people.

egg white florentine omelet

And yes, I am that weirdo who drinks V-8 juice.

After brunch, we hung out at my parents’ house in my old room. We may or may not have spent some time giggling over our high school yearbook. Can’t remember the last time I did that. It was really freaky to flip through and see all these names and faces I’d completely forgotten. This is to say nothing of all those handwritten notes that don’t make nearly as much sense as they did when they were written.

How was your weekend? Did you do anything for Halloween?