Date Night!

As of this June 25th, T and I will have known each other officially two years, which isn't a huge expanse of time considering we're about to pledge our undying love for the remainder of our days this September, but to us, it's a big deal. So anyway, back when we were dating, we did all sorts of things - went to the movies and dinner, went to festivals around town, walks on the canal, trips to Brown County...whatever we wanted because our time was ours, and no matter what we were doing, as long as we were with each other, the world was good. We could sit outside at a park or walk around the Monon Trail for hours just chatting and enjoying each other's company because we had all the time in the world.

Things started to get a little crazy after we got engaged last July and then moved in together last November. Soon it seemed that our time was not our own...most of it was spent packing and moving, wedding planning and then the holidays hit, which means major family time. We were saving our money as much as we could for our honeymoon and for the house. A weekend would roll around and we'd look at each other and go "Should we go out to dinner?" Of course, the answer is usually "No, we should save our money. Let's eat at home and catch up on our DVR." But what's happened in the long run is we haven't gone on an actual date night. If we do end up going out to dinner on a weekend, it's usually followed by a quick run to Target to pick up some items or a trip to Home Depot, which is terribly romantic, isn't it? Nothing keeps that fire going quite like buying bags of lawn fertilizer and Weed-Be-Gone on a Saturday night.

Actually our last date was the night of my birthday, which didn't end well. Dinner at my favorite restaurant, BARcelona Tapas was cut short by me getting the stomach flu. The stomach flu on my flipping birthday. Lovely.

So this next weekend we decided to set a date and go out, just the two of us. We picked a restaurant and decided we'd head to the canal and just walk around and talk like we used to do when we first started dating. So Saturday morning, we were both in high spirits, anticipating the relaxation and fun that was to come that evening. We did the usual, got up, ate breakfast and worked out. As T looked outside, he noticed the sky was clouding up. Sure enough, the perfect sunny weather we were supposed to have all Saturday was changing to rain. But we kept saying "it'll pass, it'll pass" and as the afternoon went by, I kept checking the radar like it was my job, hoping that once dinner time hit it would pass.

We took the gamble, and went to dinner, to BJ's Brewhouse, which is an awesome awesome restaurant, and I highly recommend if it you have one in your area. Good beer and really good food. My favorite is the dessert....it's called a pizookie, which is a huge, warm cookie that is served fresh out of the oven in a small cookie pan with a dollop of ice cream on it and chocolate syrup. It's happiness in a cookie dish. Takes your breath away with one bite. So, of course, we had to have that with our meal. And it was delicious.

It was still raining a bit by the time we finished, but we headed out. As luck would have it, the rain stopped once we got downtown. We parked about 2 miles away from the canal (Have to get that in because I gave T such a hard time about how far away we parked...), and you know what? We had an amazing time. We just took our times, strolling on the canal, held hands and just talked. And not about stressful things either like wedding planning, jobs or families. We talked about my wanting to write again...the conversation actually getting me to start this blog. We talked about our future and what we want, and it was great. For a short few hours, it was like we were dating all over again. No worries, no obligations or places to be...it was wonderful. We reconnected in a way we haven't in a really long time.

Of course, we got in the car and started heading back home, and me, being the perpetual worrier, says "Man, I don't want to go to court on Monday. I'm really not looking forward to my trial." Nope, can't shut my mind off for one second! T had to point that out to me, and I quickly tried to change the subject. (But of course, that didn't shut off the good old mind)

BUT the date night was a success, and I truly think that we will be making a point of doing more things like this as we get married and begin our lives together.

Until next time...