Date Nights - Rekindling the Mojo
I like to think that if graded, I would earn in A for parenting. Sadly, I’d be looking down at D- or dare I say, F, in the break-out category of date nights. Over the last 8 years, we have failed miserably when it comes to making time just for the two us.
That is, until three weeks ago when free tickets to Cirque Du Soleil’s OVO landed in my email box. The performance was on a school night and the weather - torrential down pour! Needless to say, it took all measure of planning, plus a wild ride on BART and a drive from Fremont to San Jose. Normally, I would have thought all the prep, plus an exhausted next day of work and school commitments simply wasn’t worth a couple hours of fun. However, it was strangely exciting to have my hubby waiting to pick me up at BART and dashing through the rain arm-in-arm.
Plus, OVO reminded us of one of our most favorite times together – also a Cirque show. We reminisced about seeing Cirque du Soleil’s LOVE in Las Vegas for our 10th anniversary and how Paul McCarthy was seated two rows BEHIND us (really!). We laughed at how “Paul” smiled at me and how when we tell the story now, it’s a wink and in another couple years – we’ll be Paul’s personal guests at the after party. We remembered who we were and how much fun we had together that night.
Not even a week later, we found ourselves (again kid-free) at Scott’s Seafood in Walnut Creek – celebrating with friends. Two date nights in two weeks. Never! Having spent every meal reminding and correcting my children about their manners – I felt ridiculously self conscious of my own table manners in the company of other adults. Over the course of the night, I used my husband’s bread plate, dropped my napkin countless times and struggled to make non-kid conversation. Then, my husband slipped his hand into mine and with a gentle squeeze, I realized how nice it was to be with friends and simply to be us for a night.
We were on a date night roll and next up was Wicked in SF! For the third week in row, I kissed our kids good night (at 4PM), left explicit directions with Grandma and Grandpa (no soda!) and headed off to BART to embark on another date night. This time, we met up in Oakland and rode BART into the city together. Just two blocks from the Orpheum Theatre – we enjoyed one the best dinners ever at Soluna Café. We splurged - cheese platter, crab encrusted mahi-mahi, lamb shank, ginger carrot soup and chocolate filled warm pretzels. It was perfect. Oh, how I love good food. And, that was just the beginning.
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