Thursday, January 19, 2012

Rubbing elbows with the famous... date 3 of 52

Last night Larry and I had our 3rd date.  It was a special one.. the night we got to LEAVE THE HOUSE!!!  I arranged for my mom to watch the kids overnight, and started scrambling to try and figure out what to do.  The plan was having Larry's input on most of our nights out.  That way I know that we're doing something we both enjoy.  The problem was, neither of us had ANY idea what to do.   I've discovered we're no longer individuals with interests of our own... we our extensions of our children!  We just didn't know what to do without taking their interests in mind.

I have several restaurant.com gift certificates.  But I've also bought some gift certificates from Arkansas Daily Deal and other group websites.  (I've listed several group coupon websites that I like below)  My goal is to never eat at a restaurant that we've eaten before.  12 "day out" dates... 12 new restaurants.  This month, we settled on Salut Bistro.  I'd never heard of it and had no idea where it was.  I was definitely thankful for Genevieve Penelope Sassafrass (my GPS) that I got for Christmas. :)  Miss Sassy took us right to the parking lot.  However, once we were in the parking lot we had no idea where the restaurant was!!!  We wandered into a building there (there were several around), and luckily found it right away.

It was a quaint little bistro, with the nicest waitress.  We arrived a bit early (just before 5), and found out that their bar opened at 5 and their kitchen at 5:30.  The waitress was nice enough to talk the chef into opening the kitchen up for us!!!  There was a beautiful patio that I would have loved to have eaten out on... but it was just way to cold.   We had a nice little drink while we waited on our food.  Larry had a cucumber margarita.  I was leery of a cucumber flavor, but it was actually really good!!!  I had a strawberry lemonade that was quite yummy. :)  Then our food came, and it was quite delicious.  I really loved Larry's dish!!  He had the italian sausage tortellini.  Oh man it was sooo good.  Mine was good too but not as much as his.  Sure am glad I got a man that is willing to share!  ;)  It was a really good dining experience.  We had the place practically to ourselves, and it was nice and cozy.  We were able to talk, relax, and just enjoy ourselves.

After we left Salut Bistro, we decided to go down to RiverMarket area and check out a couple bars.  We saw that the Flying Saucer had a Trivia night on Tuesdays.  This was something we figured Larry would really enjoy, and was gonna check it out.  So we stop, and I have to pee pretty badly.  (keepin' it real y'all!).  So we walk up the couple blocks to the Flying Saucer, and it's REALLY packed.   We're not a fan of crowds, so we walk to WillyD's piano bar.  And their closed... it's just too early yet.  So we decide to walk around and just see what was going on.  So we walk up and down, and by this time I have to REALLY REALLY pee.  So we run into Stickyz so I can take care of business.  Sit down for a drink. There's not really many people in there.  A group of guys sitting beside us, 2 ladies at a table, and a family in the corner.  Suddenly we start noticing that the group of guys by us is garnering a lot of attention.  One of the waiters come over and asked for one of the guys picture before he leaves.  The young boy from the family came over and asked for his autograph.  Neither Larry nor I recognize him, with his dark glass frames, plaid jacket, etc.  We finally decided he must just be a local celebrity.  I even contemplated asking the waitress who he was, but figured I wouldn't know anyway.  I tried to get Larry to let me take his picture with Mr. Famous.  I wanted to post a blog poll to see who recognized him.  But I couldn't get Larry to go for it.  LOL 

So we leave and go and check the Flying Saucer out again.  It's about time for the Trivia tourney to start.  However, it's still super packed, so we decide not to even go inside.  We walk over to Willy D's to listen to the dueling pianos.  When we walk in, the place is empty.  It seems the pianos don't start dueling until 9, and it's not even 7:30 yet.  So we just decide to leave. As we are headed back to our van to leave, we see the same guy in front of Juanita's and realize he must be playing there.  So when we get home, I go to Juanita's website, I discover it's Drake Bell (from Drake and Josh) that we were sitting next to!!!!  I couldn't believe we had sit within ARMS REACH of the star of my kids favorite tv show, and didn't get a picture OR an autograph.  But ya know what... we still rubbed elbows with the famous. ;)

We came home quite early.  Much earlier than we planned.  We just realized that we don't enjoy the bar/club scene.  And from now one we will have a much more concrete plan in mind.  But once we got home we played games all night. :)  So it was a win!!  I didn't get many pictures of us at all.  There just didn't seem to be the opportunity.  But, this one that's on the side is so special to me.  I decided that 2012 was going to be about relationships.  And I've noticed such a difference in my relationship with Larry.  It was never bad, don't get me wrong.  But we had our rocky times, our tough spots.  And every relationship can be improved, right?  And we aren't perfect yet.  But we're holding hands every chance we get.  And he's opening my door all the time.  And it's nice. :)

3 comments:

Wendy Conley said...

Jackie, this is just so sweet. Its nice that you "rubbed elbows" with Drake (I know your kids loved that), but your plan of 52 dates with your husband this year is awsome. I absolutely love this plan and the picture is just so sweet, and every relationship can use a little extra attention (exspecially when you have children because you do get lost in your children because they are so important to you). The bar scene is not for us either. When all outings are planned around your children's intrests you tend to loose your own.

Jennifer said...

Sounds like a great time! I love your comment about relationships. That was my NYR. I have even planned "girls nights" with all of the ladies of our family for once a month. I jumped in and did a blog and our first date night is tomorrow so check it out if you have time! :)
http://mn2m.blogspot.com/

Jackie said...

Jennifer, what happened to your blog??? I went to read it today, but it's gone!!