My husband and I were full of joy, living our simple but happy life where I cook at home and we spend nice time together. Of course, since it was our anniversary on Thursday, we decided to go out for a “fancy dinner.” First, we debated – why spend the money when I can cook something fresh, healthy and delicious? Why go out just because that’s what we’re supposed to do on an anniversary? In the end, we caved to the enticing dinner out idea, expecting it to be much more amazing than what I could have provided at home.
We went to a local Italian restaurant that had opened recently in Mentor, one we had been excited to check out. We sat on the patio and the evening was perfect. The dinner, however, was a disaster! I ordered shrimp and aglio olio. The pasta was in a brown, meat based sauce which was seasoned only with heavy salt and garlic. Where were the fresh herbs? Why were they putting heavy meat stock in what should be a light oil sauce? Why was my shrimp chewy? When I said “no cheese,” it seemed they went back and scraped it off the same dish. Expecting a true Italian meal, I was sorely disappointed. And robbed! This experience cost about $86!
We chose to take a secret shopping opportunity the next night to get “free drinks and an appetizer” for an anniversary continuation. I got dressed up like we were going to a wedding. We had to take such detailed notes that we didn’t even really get to talk or enjoy each other’s company. And all of the appetizers were meat based, so I munched on snack crackers served at the bar. Once again, disappointed by the experience of a fancy night out! Plus, it took me 1.5 hours to write the report afterwards. Ugh!
Finally, I was busily making plans for my birthday. My mom gave me birthday money for a bike (Thanks, Mom!) and I made all these elaborate plans that we were going to go biking through the park, pack a picnic, lay in the sun and relax. I got so caught up in planning Sunday on Saturday that I wasted Saturday afternoon planning, then on Sunday it stormed and I was frantically trying to still squeeze in a bike ride in the couple hours before the rain came back. Before I knew it, the day was over. The weekend, as a matter of fact.
Have I learned nothing? If I had just kept on living the way I’ve been living – simply enjoying life, cooking, noticing the moments – it would have been an amazing, relaxing weekend. Instead I stressed myself out and ended up really low on energy from eating out!
The story does have a happy ending, though. I finally gave up trying to make plans and instead we made the beautiful Italian dinner together that I had been craving. We lit a candle, sat facing each other, and enjoyed fresh, homemade ingredients prepared just how I like it. If only I had started there all weekend!!!
OH MY GOSH!!!! HAPPY B-DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry your weekend plans weren't what you expected them to be. I have found that the best plans are those that aren't planned:)
ReplyDeleteI was missing your blog bigtime!!!!