Date Night with the Sisters

We cheated a little this week, as my sisters and I needed to plan for Thanksgiving.  So Saturday night we had a dinner date with both Naomi and Rachel :)  Rachel and Naomi made us a delicious dinner and we talked about our menu for Thanksgiving and who would make what.  After about an hour of us dicussing (and Anthony watching TV) we agreed on the set menu and decided to watch a movie all together. 

Sorry for the short post, but not much to tell! 

Anniversary of the Proposal

So this last saturday night was an actual date as it was the one year anniversary of the day that Anthony proposed to me.  Now if you don't know that story it is a long one and not going to be told here.  However the thing to note from the proposal story is that after I said yes Pete, Alisha, Julie, Anthony and I went to the Chianti Grill.  So that was how we have decided to commorate the day that I said "yes" from now on, dinner at Chianti Grill.

However, I was kinda dumb and didn't make reservations until the day of so of course all they had was a 5:15 reservation and out movie that we planned to go and see afterwards wasn't until 8pm.  So we got semi-dressed up and went to dinner early :)  I got the Gnocchi alla Crema di Campagna, as that is what I got a year ago, and those of you who know me well know that I LOVE gnocchi!  It was delicious and I paired it with a yummy glass of Malbec :)  Anthony tried something new, as he couldn't remember what he had gotten last year.  So he had the Sirloin Balsamico (because he always gets the steak), as that is what the waitress recommended.  I think he totally forgot about me at a point in the meal as he was so in love with the mushroom, balsamic cream sauce that was atop the steak!  He even said "I just want a bowl of the mushrooms with the sauce", which for him is saying something as he is all about his meat! 

After our delicious dinner we drove around for a while trying to waste time until our movie, but both got so tired we decided instead to go home and enjoy a movie night in.  (We are old farts!) It was a wonderful one year anniversary of the propsal!

A Not So Date Like Weekend

So this weekend was our sorta, kinda, weekend off from dating.  Now before you all get upset, we had a party to go to on Saturday and then had a picture session on Sunday so those plans were already set.  But here is how the weekend went:

Saturday
Our good friend from church, Kristina, officially became a citizen earlier this month so we went to her citizenship party!  We had great food catered by non-other than Harold Brush of Fast Eddie's BBQ.  He made some awesome Korean BBQ beef and risotto, which was delicious.  We stayed there for quite awhile and talked and played games.  So all in all it was a wonderful night with friends.  Oh and I have to tell you about the gift we got her, because we thought we were being very clever.  Since she was a new citizen and all, we thought she needed to be welcomed properly.  So we got her a welcome mat for their front door!  (Hahaha I know we are awesome)

Sunday
We went to church in the morning and then our most favorite friend and photographer, Jessica Tuveson, came over and we took fall pictures for our Christmas cards.  It was a really fun afternoon, as we played in the leaves, in our mini forest in the backyard of our place and I got to throw leaves at Anthony! So it was a good hour of kissing and hugging and having fun as a couple, which I think means it was a date ;)

Well until next week friends!

Beauty & the Beast Failure

This past week was date number 4.  I stepped up after Vegas, since that was planned by both of us, and decided I was going to plan this date :)  Also I had looked up Beauty & the Beast the Musical a while ago and really wanted to go, but tickets were super expensive.  So I decided that we would try for rush tickets the day of and this is where the failure begins...

I called early in the week to make sure that the show was not sold out, but then found out from the woman on the phone that rush tickets were only available to students and educators (I was sad about for a second, until I remembered I work for an educational institution and thus have an ID for one), so thought no prob we can make this work.  Then to top it off she said, there is only 1 ticket per ID (Crap, we are screwed), and the final blow of they (rush tickets) are only available for three performances, none of which were Friday night.  Well that nailed the coffin shut.  So on I went in search of a new date idea. 

I searched City Pages, vita.mn and a few other places for stuff going on in the twin cities that didn't cost an arm and a leg.  However the best thing I found was a coffee house concert at JoJo's Rise and Wine near our house.  I decided I would make Anthony dinner and then we would walk over to the coffee house and listen to the the music. 

Then Friday actually came and it was raining.  So I changed my entire plan...

I heard that the Trader Joe's in Bloomington had opened and I was excited to go and get some staples :)  So Anthony picked me up from work, we headed to Trader Joe's with glee :) (this was not understood by Anthony), and I picked up some yummy treats and let Anthony pick out what he wanted for dinner (he picked the penne pasta with roasted red pepper sauce, which was quite good).  Then we headed to the RedBox to pick up and movie and have a low key night at home.

Anthony ended up getting two movies, The Help and Dark Shadows.  I made dinner and we watched The Help first, which was an AWESOME movie and almost had me crying about 3 times.  Then we started watching Dark Shadows, but it wasn't very good so we turned it off halfway though.  But it was a nice evening in :)

PS- No pictures were taken as they would have been lame pictures of us sitting on our couch eating and lord knows we don't need pictures of us doing that!

What happens in Vegas....gets put on this blog :)

So for date three, we kinda cheated as we already had the trip to Vegas planned and figured it was a treat to ourselves anyways.  So to Vegas we went :)

We got there on Friday afternoon, got our rental car (a Chrysler 300 or course), and headed to the Flamingo.  We were there early so couldn't check in yet and decided to go and try out the Buffet.  It was good, not like AMAZING as most people paint them to be, but not bad.  We ended up getting the 24 hour pass to the buffet so that eating was cheaper overall.  My sisters and cousin ended up joining us for lunch which was nice.  Then we checked into our room, which was an updated room with hardwood floors and a nice bed and chaise lounge.  However the bathroom had not been renovated at all which was sad.  But for the money it was all good. 

After settling in we decided we wanted to see a show and after looking through all of them decided that a Cirque Du Soleil show would be awesome to see.  There were 3 shows playing but one was with clowns which didn't appeal to me, and "O" neither of us were sure about, so Zumanity it was.  We ordered tickets and then went to check out the strip!

We went to the miracle mile shopping center, the M & M's store, the Coke Store, and walked all the way down to New York New York to pick up our tickets for the show that night.  As we walked through New York New York we both decided we need to stay there the next time we come to Vegas as all of the shops and bars were fun, and they even had a dueling piano bar!! (which I love!) Then we headed back to the Flamingo to get ready for the night and eat some dinner.  On the way back we walked through the mall that housed all of the name brand high end shops and I dreamed of one day when I may own something from one of those shops.  However, Anthony quickly brought me back down to reality noting, "even if we did have the money for that you are not spending that much on a purse" :(  One can dream though right?

As we returned from our 3+ mile walk, with sore feet and tired legs, we reminisced on seeing a ton of "characters" on the street, including 4 bumblebees, 2 elmos, 2 hello kitty's, 2 elvis's, and a smattering of others.  How one makes a living and doesn't die in those get-ups I shall never know. We then ate again at the buffet, which was fun watching the people pile their plate high with just crab legs, and headed out for Zumanity.

I had high hopes for the show, however I must say I was very much saddened by the show.  There were only 3 aerials, and the rest was tumbling.  The comedic couple in the show were probably the best part of the show for me, as the rest of it just felt really sexually driven and not entertaining at all.  But hey you live you learn and next time in Vegas we will just go and see something else.

After the show we picked up my sisters and cousin and went to Fremont street :)  Naomi played the BIG slot machine at the Golden Nugget and Anthony got to play some craps (won money too!).  Otherwise we walked around and saw all of the old time casinos, that have now been renovated, and watched the "show in the sky" which happened to be the Doors.  I was hoping for Bon Jovi, but was still a fun experience :) After that we called it a night.

Saturday we slept in and went to the Harrah's buffet for brunch, which I must say was A LOT better than the Flamingo buffet.  We then got ready for the day and met up with my Cousins and sisters at Mandalay Bay.  We lounged pool side for a while, then everyone got ready, did some gambling, went for a quick bit and then headed to get ready for the PARTY!  A friend of my cousins had reserved a room with a Dance floor and bar to party all night long, and we partied!  When I had my fill of dancing and mingling (since Anthony is not a dancer), we headed out to catch the last fountain shows at the Bellagio!  We got a front and center spot and watched the water "dance".  They were both really cool and I am glad we got to see them.

Sunday we headed home.  So that was our weekend in Vegas :)

Mega Sprawl for mega date

Week 2 and now it was my turn to try to think of something.  What to do, what to do?  After last week  the bar was pretty high.  My effort to manage expectations early on may not have worked.  Early on I reminded Liz that my level of creativity is low. I mean really low.

Dinner.  Movie.  Shopping.  Which one?

Well, let's go to the Mega Sprawl.  That was decision number one.  But we can't just go and hang out for a date this early into the challenge.  There must be purpose.

Dinner.
I get to (or more accurately I have to) pick where we are going to eat.  Bubba Gump Shrimp!

Shopping.
To be honest shopping in the sense of "let's go buy stuff and look through clothing stores" is not a date. It is punishment.  Fortunately the Mall of America is more than just clothing stores (well, there are some parts that are a desert of punishment via clothing stores, but not the whole place yet).  We walked around and, yes, we went into some clothing stores and also a non-punishment store.   In the end the window shopping (the best kind of shopping--no money spent) was enjoyable.  After all it was about spending time together.

Movie.
There were a few movies that I had on the picklist but it came down to start time.  We ended up seeing and enjoying Hotel Transylvania.

After that we both were pretty tired and went home, snuggled into bed and fell asleep watching TV shows on Netflix. I think we did well for Week 2. And remember, please, the bar of creativity is not to be set too high. :)

Challenge...ACCEPTED!

So clearly Anthony and I have been using this blog to it's fullest potential, by stating that we are getting married, when we have now been married for 2 months and a day.  Wow, time flies when you are having fun ;)  So to help this blog along, we have decided to blog about a challenge that we recently accepted.

Our friends Julie and Jason in their first year of marriage set out on the wonderful journey of dating one another, with a goal of 52 dates in 52 weeks and documenting said dates with pictures.  Well they got, I believe, 6 dates in and it all came to an end.  Now approximately a year later with baby in hand they have challenged Anthony and I to finish what they couldn't and have very little time for, with their very precious Emil, now vying for their constant attention.  So we accepted, what could be better than dating your new spouse for the first year of your marriage?! 

With that in mind I decided that each week we would switch up who decided on what we did for our date that week.  For our first date I stepped it up and made a date day that I knew Anthony would enjoy! (however I will let you know there were 2 other date ideas that I had first before I settled on our actual date, but the other ones fell through due to funds.  But I am not telling you what the ideas were as I might try to attempt them again in the next 51 weeks!)

Since I know that Anthony doesn't like surprises, I put our date day on our calendar and told him the date was a secret surprise and he would find out what is happening as it happens.  Well the stinker took it as a challenge to figure out what we were doing and of course stole my thunder and fun the night before by guessing that we were going to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival :(  However we still had fun.  We got there about 11am, after google maps took us the wrong way, just in time to see the first Danger Committee act, "Blunt Trauma".  The DC as always was hilarious and we enjoyed the show.  Then we moved onto MooNie (aka Philip Earl Johnson) juggler, rope walker, foolish mortal. Which I must admit was such an AWESOME show, just because of the sad audience volunteer that he had.  He normally does a non-speaking show, in which he whistles, hums, and uses physical gestures to capture the audiences attention.  However, with the special nature of the volunteer that day he had to speak for most of it (to help the volunteer learn to skip, along with various other menial tasks).  And to this I decided he could be quite a funny stand-up comedian.  Anyways, with our rib cages now hurting we went in search of food until the next Danger Committee show started.  Of course we made a pit stop at the "Chess" tent so that Anthony could pay $5 to play a "chess GOD" in the hopes of winning a Shrek chess set or $25 dollars.  Anthony lost of course, but was happy to have made the "chess God" pause a few times ;) 

We sat down for the next Danger Committee show "Flaming Death" and ended up seeing an old co-worker and friend of Anthony's.  We sat with him and his wife and watched the show.  We chatted with them afterwards for a while and then decided to head onto our next activity, which I was determined to not let Anthony figure out!

However, that battle was lost quickly as he played 20 questions with me about where we were going next.  But I would not let him tell me where he thought we were going so I was at least still happy in my little illusion that I was actually surprising him.  I told he he got to choose dinner, so of course we went to McDonald's...and from there I made him close his eyes until we got to the destination of choice.  I pulled into the "cell phone" parking lot off of post road and parked where we could then watch the plans land and take off. I told him to open his eyes and his look of glee and satisfaction told me he had guessed right in his mind.  We then sat at in that parking lot for about an hour and a half and listened to the ground control usher planes on and off of the tarmac. (Anthony downloaded the radio waive on his phone so that is how we got to listen to it). 

Overall it was a wonderful kick off to our 52 dates and I am excited to see what Anthony has in-store for me this evening.

PS- Sorry there are no pictures I will get some on our next date!