Refining my Life: The Lantern Festival ..... Date 5 of 52

The newest bouquet Larry bought me

I had been looking forward to this date for a while. I purchased tickets to the Lantern Festival through Arkansas Daily Deals a few weeks back. One of the things I *LOVE* about these group coupon sites (other than getting things so cheap!), is finding out about things I wouldn't have ever heard about otherwise. I've listed a few sites below. I'd love to hear if you know of any that I don't have listed!

So we started out by eating at Macaroni Grill. I've never eaten there before and had a gift card. One of the goals of our "day out" dates is to eat somewhere we've never eaten at before. I'm hoping we find some new favorites! As far as Macaroni Grill, I really liked the building. They were generous enough to supply us with crayons and a paper tablecloth :D So I took advantage of course!!! I must say I was a bit disappointed in the quality of the food.. Both of our entrees were quite bland, and honestly pretty dry. My favorite part of the dinner was actually an appetizer. I can't remember what it was called but it was full of goat cheese. ;)

After we left the restaurant, we still had about an hour before the Lantern Festival was set to start. So we headed to Sams Club real quick. LOL I got some headache meds for a nasty migraine, plus we picked up a few odds and ends. And Larry bought me another bouquet of beautiful flowers. They are innie outtie disbuds. I *LOVE* them.

Finally it was time to head to the Lanterns! Festival. I was pretty excited about this without really knowing what to expect. It was really neat to see all the luminaries. The idea is you could stroll hand in hand with your love, all romantical and stuff. LOL I think Larry and I are past the oozy public romance type thing. But it was super nice. I was actually disappointed in the lanterns. There really wasn't as much as I was expecting. There was plenty of white lights, plenty of luminaries, but not big lanterns. Most little areas were just focused on selling food and drink. But I loved watching the ballet dancers, the Shakespearean mini skit, the musicians. We had a great time. And a bonus... we found a cold stone creamery in Little Rock!!! It was closed already on our way home. But it's definitely on the list for a future date night. ;)