Date 2 of 52: The Fine Dining Experience

When it came time to plan my first date, picking the theme was easy: Jenn loves to get dressed up, but we haven't had many opportunities to do so for quite a while.  The annual Officer's Association "Dining Out" was the only opportunity to do so in Astoria, where closed toe shoes and a shirt with buttons is formal.  We haven't been able to go out here in town yet.  A "Fine Dining" Experience was it.

Late in the afternoon I told Jenn that we had reservations for dinner at 8:45 at a nice place and to dress accordingly.  Then, after she left for an afternoon appointment I went to work moving my clothes down to the downstairs bathroom and making dinner rolls.

I woke Mathias up from his afternoon nap at 5pm in fear that he may never  go to sleep that night and made chicken nuggets and tater tots for the boys for dinner (I was a little jealous of their menu and ate several myself).  Then, when 8pm finally rolled around, it was time for the boys to go down for the night.

Jenn took the boys upstairs, and I quickly got to work starting dinner and setting the table with our china.  I then ran down stairs to quickly shower, shave off my beard, and get dressed including jacket and tie.  Once back upstairs, I set a plate of brie and crackers out and put the chilled champagne on ice.  Then, all I had to do was wait; I felt like I was waiting at her parents' house for her to come downstairs for a first date.

Finally she came downstairs, I popped open the champagne, we shared some cheese and sat and talked.  I disappeared into the kitchen for about 10 minutes to steam the mussels with shallots, white wine, and a few freshly chopped tomatoes which I served over linguini - a favorite dish of Jennifer's that she hasn't had many times since we left Baltimore several years ago.

With dinner on the table I could finally relax.  The food turned out great, and it was a nice change of pace to just sit and talk, almost like it was before children when we could go out in Baltimore for a leisurely dinner whenever we liked.  The only problem was I couldn't find anyone to clear the table and do the dishes when it was over...

Jenn's view:
I was excited when I saw the mussels and champagne in the fridge.  Brian hadn't said a word about what was going to happen on our date, but I helped put groceries away earlier in the day, so some key parts were revealed  He did manage to hide the brie in there somewhere.  Brian told me we where headed to a classy joint and to "dress accordingly" so I had fun thinking about what I was going to wear.  I went out that afternoon to get a pedicure and came back nice and relaxed for out date.  Evidently that is when he moved all his stuff to the basement bathroom.

Mathias took over a 3 hour nap that day, so our date got off to a late start.  I was reading bedtime stories when Brian came up and told me he would pick me up at 9, a slight delay.  I finally got the kids settled into bed and got myself all dressed up.  I put on a slinky little black dress and a cute pair of peep-toe wedges.  They showed off my new pedicure beautifully.  Then into the bathroom to try to do something with my hair.  I had about 5 minutes to fix/hide that bump you get from having your hair in a ponytail all day.  I decided to try some major teasing with marginal success.  Hurrying now I applied some make up, for those of you that know me, that is a once-a-year occurrence.

I left the bathroom feeling more like a drag queen than pretty, but I was out of time.  I put on my red wool coat.  It matched my pedicure perfectly...did I mention that I loved my pedicure? I looked in the mirror, not bad.  Then, I waited.  I looked at the clock, he was late!  I went to the top of the stairs and sighed loudly.  Nothing.  I talked loudly to myself, "When is my date going to get here?"  Nothing.  Finally he came to the bottom of the stairs.  I took one look and all was forgiven.    He greeted me smooth faced and handsomely dressed.  I joked that he was late, and he said he had been waiting for me down stairs.  I said he told me he was coming to get me so I was waiting for him upstairs!

He offered his arm and walked me to the living room where brie and crackers were waiting.  He took my coat and went to hang it up.  I actually had those first date nerves.  I found myself checking my hair and fixing my dress before he came back.  We sat for awhile and relaxed.  He disappeared and then dinner was served.  He lead me to the dinning room where the table was set with our good china and crystal, complete with the toasting flutes from our wedding.  Candlelight set the mood.  He served mussels over linguini with homemade dinner roles, one of my favorites!  We sat, ate, drank champagne, and chatted like old times and smiled a lot.  Then he disappeared again and brought out individual apple crisps in little cast iron pans for dessert.  Delicious!  I have to admit by that time I had a very full tummy, a little to drink, and it was very late.  I was falling asleep at the table.  Brian cleaned up the bare minimum so the kids wouldn't destroy anything in the morning, and we headed upstairs.

Brian did a wonderful job.  I was so surprised to see him all dressed up and THRILLED that he shaved off his beard.  He grew it out over the holiday break to annoy his mother when she came to visit.  It worked.  Anyway, he picked a great date idea.  I really do enjoy getting dressed up, and he always cooks amazing food.  Next time we have to let the kids skip nap time so we can start a little earlier.
A+ babe!