The Perfect Weekend

by Nicholas Allen — October 12, 2007

My lovely co-blogger, Gwen Cooper, and I decided that it might be fun to wrap up the week with a sort of "his and hers" catalogue of our favorite things to do with significant others over the weekend here in New York. You can read Gwen's tomorrow, but for today here's the Nicholas Allen Guide to a Perfect Couple's Weekend in New York City.

Some people like to kick the weekend off with a raucous Friday night outing, but I personally like to take things a little easy at the end of a long week. I'm a film buff (for those of you who haven't already figured that out), so my favorite plan for a Friday night is to chill at home with takeout and DVDs. One of the best pizza places in New York—and that's really saying something—is located within blocks of my apartment, and there's nothing I enjoy more than a night of pizza and flicks with Patricia by my side. Not just because she's such great company (although she is), but also because the woman orders pizza like nobody I've ever seen. Seriously. She once came up with the idea of ordering it extra well done, and having been turned on to this tip I've never looked back.

I like to sleep late on Saturday mornings, but when Patricia's spent the night I try to get up a little earlier than she does so I can make eggs and coffee and go out to get the weekend paper, and have the whole thing ready by the time she wakes up. For an hour or so after breakfast, we adjourn back to the bedroom where Patricia will usually invest some time in demonstrating how...um...grateful she is for my effort.

In the fall, there's no place in New York I enjoy going more than Ft. Tryon Park, located way, way up in Upper Manhattan. The park is home to the Cloisters, the Met museum's collection of medieval art, and also offers acres and acres of stunning views of the Hudson River and New Jersey Palisades. When the leaves are changing, it's spectacular—not to mention romantic. Patti and I have plans to visit tomorrow; she's never been there, and I can't wait to be the one to show it to her. There's a wonderful little candlelit restaurant at the Cloisters, which takes care of dinner Saturday night.

Now, I'll admit that Sunday is where I morph from "unusually thoughtful boyfriend" right back to "typical guy" status. The one sport I'm passionately dedicated to is football, and I'm a Jets season ticket holder. When there's a home game, my buddies and I head out to the stadium super early for a tailgate party—one that most of our girlfriends (when we have them) usually opt out of. But even when there isn't a home game, I like to invite the guys over to watch the game on TV and eat junk food and, well, be guys. Of course, it pleases me to no end when Patricia agrees to join us, although she's just as apt to use the time to have brunch and catch up with her own circle of friends, who aren't especially into football.

And there you have it: a perfect New York weekend as outlined by Nicholas Allen, Dating Blogger. Whatever you guys end up doing with yours, I hope you make it a good one!

Nicholas Allen is a writer and columnist based in Manhattan. To read all of his blogs, click here.