Date night

We have a babysitter we really really like and T seems to get along with her well.  Babysitters are also VERY expensive.

Tim and I have started scheduling regular dates so we can feel like people again and not just like parents.  Last week it was his turn to plan a date that he thought I would like and he took me to a swanky wine bar where we ate platters of cheeses and did three wine flights.  It was fantastic and romantic and fun (though I was dissapointed when I looked up my favorite when I got home and it was something you could pick up at Bevmo).

Last night was my turn to pick.

We got on the streetcar (which arrived just as we got to the stop) and started downtown.  I stopped at Ross five minutes before and picked up a great little black dress for $10, so,paired with black heels and red lips, I felt ready to have a great night.  I told Bubbs earlier in the day that I feel like all my clothes are either for work or they are pajamas.  He didn't argue with me :)

Dressed up, baby happy at home, date night rocked.

Sushi, unfiltered saki, and a cozy under the stairs candlelit table at Ryokos.

Dueling pianos that was fun for an hour...then the sorority girls got a little to roudy (and they didn't know the songs we tipped $20 for them to play)...it was kinda like a wedding - live people singing songs that were not meant to be played on the piano.  It was cheesy, but seriously, who can argue with a room full of people singing along to "Sweet Caroline?"

Bubbs thought the night was over, but we found a cab and headed to top of the mark for a martini.

I tease Bubbs for being Soooooooo sloooooooow sometimes.  Especially when I need a diaper or a bottle in the middle of the night. I think its a southern thing because when I talk to his family I get so awkward with the silences and the waiting...but they just take things slower.  Our cab pulled up to the hotel, the meter said 5.70, and bubbs pulled his wallet out.  He looked through it, then realized his cash was in his other pocket so he slowly started pulling that out.

"I don't care how you do it, but make something happen, Sparky."

Yup.  That was our cab driver.  It was magical.

We headed up to the top of the mark - a bar at the top of a hotel surrounded by glass and a beautiful view of the entire city with many many old people dancing to a live cover band.

They waived the cover charge (we're not sure why) and we ordered drinks.  I was good and stuck to wine, but Bubbs had a martini.  The band played, "Dancing in September" and we boogied.  Again, much like being at a wedding.  But we were the youngest people there.  It was fantastic.

We only stayed for an hour tops, but on the way out, A couple (both wearing scarves), stopped Tim.  The woman whispered in his ear and I could only hear his side of the conversation.

"A lot - of course...only two?"

Apparently, she asked him (in a french accent):

"You, do you love this woman?  I can tell, I've been watching you make out.  You must make her happy two times tonight."

It was a fantastic evening.  Full of laughing (AT the people around us) and beautiful settings.

Next date night is grown up exploratorium.