French Night Out

Last night on a whim, G and I decided to head out to a favorite French restaurant, Tersiguel's to use up a Living Social deal we had.  I booked a table using Open Table and in the special requests section I mentioned we had a 3 month old and that a table where we could get up to take her outside if she got fussy would be nice.  When we arrived, they had us in one of the smaller rooms (the restaurant is in an old, old house).  They made sure we were perfectly comfortable and let us know we were fine and to not worry about the baby being disruptive at all.

G bouncing Nora.

The night was great.  The chef had made up a special amuse bouche (translated to mouth amuser) of toast with a eggplant mixture that I actually liked (and sadly eggplant is the one veggie I normally am not so into).  We began with an amazing spread of hors d'oeuvres of calamari, mussels, clams and shrimp.  I ordered the frog legs and the tomato garlic mixture that was with them was heavenly.  G had a pot with a variety of ham and sausage and veggies with sauerkraut...a sort of stew that was incredibly tasty.

Grenouille!

All through this, Nora was pretty well behaved.  She's been very interested in our food lately, staring at it intently, watching us chew.  I've been holding up things for her to smell and she seems to definitely be our child, though she'll have to wait a few months to taste anything.  And the staff!  At one point the maitre d' came to tell us that the entire staff was in love with her, and that that was why they kept peeking in.  They were all incredibly friendly and did seem to want to come look at her and talk to her (complementing her leopard leggings at one point).  She did need to be held most of the time, but we worked it out.

We rounded out the night with coffee and their divine creme caramel.  Then the maitre d' brought us out some house made blueberry sorbet that he thought would be a perfect palette cleanser.  It was delicious as well.  We gathered our things up, Nora nearly asleep, the maitre d' helped us outside and told me that we had made his day.  I assured him that their excellent staff had made our night wonderful.

She couldn't quite make it through dessert.

It was nice to get out for a nice dinner in a place where they were more than accommodating, to sort of feel out how Nora would be.  It was different than it was when it was just us two, but we did still manage to discuss world events, political ideologies, the new church we're attending, etc.  At the end of the night the bill was more than we had planned on spending, but I assure you it was worth every penny.  In fact, I'd be bold and say the night was absolutely priceless.

French Date

Last week while G was off we hit up restaurant week in historic Ellicott City and went to the French restaurant I raved about before Tersiguels.  It was a 3 course meals for $21 a person for their lunch time, and very well worth it!  I started out with their restaurant soup,  broth made from when they poached butternut squash and filled with veggies and a drizzle of herbed oil.  It was delicious.  G got the pate that I got last time we came. 

Then for our main courses I ordered their bouillabaisse, a variety of seafood (salmon, a white fish, mussels, clams, shrimp and a lone scallop) on top of squid ink pasta in a broth.  The pasta was slippery and gave me so much trouble, in the end I just gave most of it to G and enjoyed the seafood.  I am not used to having difficulty with food and so I got a wee bit irritated with my noodles!

G ordered their chicken salad--- roasted chicken breast with asian pear, pecans, goat cheese and endive.  It was tasty and we plan to recreate it at home!

For dessert I ordered the creme caramel, forgetting that I didn't take a photo last time either.  It was yummy as always paired with red currants.  G went bold and ordered their homemade ice cream, which that day was coffee.  When it came out it looked like this:

In ice!  Beautiful, it kept the ice cream cold and unmelting the whole time he ate it.  The coffee ice cream with a bite of red currant was delicious beyond words.  G enjoyed the crispy cinnamon wheat thing on the side.

Overall it was a pretty nice time.  We sat and drank coffee with dessert, and just enjoyed a lazy afternoon.

Living Room Picnic

We decided to skip going to a vineyard tonight in lieu of staying in and chatting about goals and ways to achieve them during a candlelight picnic on our living room floor.  If you've never done this I highly recommend it.  Currently it has me searching for some nice, but inexpensive floor cushions so that we can have other dinners sitting around our coffee table. 

We ate some bresaola with sausage, and a black pepper covered parmesan.  I made a plate of arugula with olive oil and balsamic vinegar drizzled on it.  We drank a chianti G picked up last night.  And for dessert we had black figs paired with a raw milk parmesan (aged 3 years) that was recommended to go with figs.  All of it was delicious, the area was lit by two beeswax candles in our antique glass candlesticks, and the conversation was delightful.  I think it tops an outing any day!

Restaurant Week Date Night

Last week was restaurant week here in Baltimore, and many of the restaurants decided to extend into this week.  So last night we headed to Blue Hill Tavern for dinner.  It had been a last minute decision on my part to get us out of the house and trying new things.  I am so glad we did!

Caught him a little off guard, the food was coming, and the camera wasn't working!  And yes, he came right from work and has a 5 oclock shadow!

First we shared some bread and butter and olive oil while sipping on a sauvignon blanc.  We were both have seafood for both our first and second courses, and the wine went along deliciously.  I have been craving mussels lately like nobody's business, so I ordered a first course dish that was mussels in a spicy ginger carrot broth and a touch of coconut.  There was also lemongrass in it, as we could both taste it.  It reminded me of Thai soup. (We share all of our meals, so we usually order different things from one another.)  G ordered a first course of fried green tomatoes with Peruvian scallop, shrimp and sablefish ceviche.  As much as I loved my mussels, I actually loved his more (but turned down his offer to trade....he was kinda in love with his dish too.)  I never would have paired those two things, but it was sooooo scrumptious!  

For our second (main) course I decided to go with something that had the most things I'd never tried.  So the salmon it was!  Organic salmon with vegetable quinoa, tomatillo sauce, jicama mignonette, and haricot verts.  I had never had quinoa, only have had tomatillo anything on occasion (thanks to salsa verde) and had no clue what jicama was.  I loved it all though.  The nutty quinoa, the apple-like jicama, and I honestly could have eaten the tomatillo sauce like a soup!

G on the other hand continued his shrimp and hearty theme, going with Shrimp and grits, which was grits, andouille sausage, soffritto, and shrimp etouffee.  His had an amazing flavor to it. 

We each got a dessert, but I ordered the candy bar to go.  I've had it before, it's a pretzel crust, peanut butter mousse, chocolate ganache, caramel and vanilla ice cream (the ice cream we ate at the restaurant).  It will be devoured tonight.  We indulged in a key lime napoleon with white chocolate mousse and guava caramel.  I wasn't sure about this, but by scooping the guava caramel onto the tip of your spoon after the napoleon you first got a sweet floral fruity taste and then the sour key lime after.  It was surprisingly delectable.  I'm not sure G left a single crumb!  

It was nice to get out for a grown up dinner.  G wore black slacks and a grey button down.  I wore my black dress I wore to the crab bash.  We were more dressy than most, but G wanted a nice night.  And indeed it was. 

Date Night

And no, I didn't take a single pic.  How horrid of me.  G looked up showtimes for Inception, a movie I have been dying to see.  I kept telling him no every other occasion though because I felt we had so much else to do.  But last night I caved and we arrived early, grabbed the best seats in the house and settled in.  We picked up a carton of dibs (the chocolate covered ice cream things you can pop in your mouth) and a small popcorn.  The small popcorn was almost too much for us!  

The movie was phenomenal.  It was the first film I had seen in a theater since the last Harry Potter film.  And it was amazing.  First, let me share that I was of the age in the 90's to have huge love for Leonardo DiCaprio.  As I've gotten older I am far less attracted to him, however I tend to love any film he's in.  He has the complete ability to take on a character and make it believable.  This film was no different.  The film is about a team who has the ability to go into a person's dream to steal information, generally used for corporate espionage.  They have an architect who designs the dream world to be something so real the dreamer doesn't know they're dreaming.  It's a fascinating story.  G wanted to see it because Christopher Nolan (of the latest Batman films) directed it.  The way it was filmed was just crazy, the movements of the actors at times being slowed down, but in a non-Matrix way.  It was believable, more like when time is stopping.  I can't really share more because that would be cheating, but I urge you to see it in a theater.  

The theater was at the mall so we swung into Gap to look for a pair of jeans for G.  He's a 30 inch waist with a 32" inseam and finding stylish jeans that fit him perfectly is difficult.  They didn't have any.  The guy working there took a pair and checked in the system and said they didn't have a single pair that size in store.  Well, I found a random one, G liked them, and with an extra discount they had on adult jeans it was less than $30 for the pair.  Now we just need to order him a very dark wash pair online for a more "nice" jean.  I picked up a couple pairs of tights for this fall and a purple sweater G loved on me for $10 on clearance.  

We stopped in at Chili's to get some chips and salsa and ended up getting a couple hamburgers that way we would have leftovers for lunch today (since obviously I didn't cook last night, nor the night before).  It was a nightmare, our food ended up getting comped.  I never, ever make trouble at a restaurant.  I'm that person who hates to send food back.  However, I thought G ordered his burgers medium, so I ordered for us while he was away and then when he got back and said that no he normally orders it medium well I called the waitress over to change it.  She told us that it really didn't matter since she hadn't wanted to tell us but the cooks don't really ever cook it any differently.  She assured us the burgers would come out like normal.  When they came out, mine was bleeding.  Literally.  Um, no, I may eat my steaks pretty much raw but I like my hamburger done.  Food safety and all that.  So it got sent back to be cooked more.  Every time we needed something we had to call her over 2-3 times before we got it.  In the end, we each had over 1/2 of our meals left so asked for boxes.  Ten minutes went by and we see her flitting about but no boxes.  I should point out that I have been completely pleasant this whole time, if she had spilled a drink on me I probably would have laughed it off, mistakes happen.  However she even made eye contact with G and never brought the boxes.  Finally she comes over, mutters something about no one getting us boxes (her job), and flits off again.  She brings the two boxes and then apologizes because she forgot to bring the ranch we like to dip our fries in (the avocado ranch).  She brings out ancho (the pepper) ranch.  When I ask about the avocado she tells me they're the same thing.  I say, "No, the avocado has avocado and pico, this has ancho peppers."  She rolls her eyes, says "okay..." and walks off, comes back a few minutes later with the avocado ranch, says "here." to G and flits off again.  So I call the manager over.  The one thing I know you never do with a customer is argue with them and then not apologize when you were wrong.  I tell the manager I just think she needs to say something to her, the manager said "because she's wrong, they are different."  Apparently it was her first week on the floor waitressing.  I don't think she's gonna make it long, the table next to us, (not sure what she did to them) I'm pretty sure didn't tip her.  I told the manager we had no problem paying but she told us no, that we weren't paying for a meal like this.  

But all's well that ends well.  G and I had a great night, went to bed early and woke up feeling refreshed.  Hopefully this weekend will be just as great!

Anniversary Evening

Well we didn't end up going to the African restaurant due to the fact that we left the house at 6:45 and they close at 8.  Why a restaurant that has a chill looking lounge closes at 8 we have absolutely no idea, but it does.  We checked.  No, they don't just stop serving at 8, they completely close.  Never mind that their website says they're open until 9. 

We did end up going to our favorite Afghan restaurant.  I had a yummy baby pumpkin dish to start and a amazing salad with a glass of Malbec.  G chose the lamb soup and a vegetarian entree that was oh so yummy (this place has some great mushrooms).  Full, we skipped dessert. 

We ended up drinking a couple martinis at home and headed out to hear some jazz music.  However on a Wednesday night we just got to a place as they were ending.  So we moved on to a Scotch bar called Birds Of A Feather that had been recommended to us at a wine tasting event several months ago.  It was a relaxing place, the owner was pleasant and we all sat chatting the night away.  (G and I each had a shot glass amount of scotch, she had split a drink between us to try.)

(I am not sure, I feel like I look like Marilyn Manson here.  G loves the red lips on me so for special date nights I wear Russian Red.  Honestly, it's a pain to keep it up all night, but it's my treat for him.  I always worry I look garish.  Oh, and G has informed me I really am that pale.  I think he's lying, usually I have a little pinkness to me.)


It was a nice anniversary, the best part being when we slow danced in the kitchen to Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.  A Fine Romance indeed.  

Date Night

A wee bit of spring popping up, shining hope.  

Today G showed me our itinerary for today (after our interesting morning).  After we tacked him on, we left and headed home.  He had planned for us to go play mini golf, and then on to a little hole in the wall Mexican place for dinner (one that had been recommended to us).  To say I was upset was putting it mildly, I was unconsolable this afternoon, feeling like he'd gone the "friend route" when I knew we desperately needed romance.  But he was right, and we ended up having a blast mini golfing.  Turns out I suck, but I definitely suck less than G!  I'm glad the place wasn't busy since we made fools of ourselves. (Final score was 62 to his 92.)

Rocking out to CCR, my get happy music of choice.

A hole in one on the 2nd hole!

G takes his stance.

I fell down laughing as G swung and tapped his way into 7 or 8 shots for a simple hole!  He snapped this.

Then onto Fiesta Mexicana, which will now be our Monday Mexican night hotspot.  It is a tiny hole in the wall, with 4 tables upfront, and 1 in back.  It's small, you order and you can watch them make your food.  Guacamole is made to order and is yummy.  Limited amount of chips, and they bring the chips and guac (if you order it) to the table with your meal, but it's a smart move.  As the owner says, if he brought it to your table beforehand you would get full.  Instead, we actually nearly had chips left over (but G scooped up his lettuce and cheese with them).  The owner looked at me during the meal and said he would make mine spicier next time (I cleaned their salsa verde out.....at one point G asked if I was going to have any taco with that "hellfire" as I piled it on!).  For dessert we had their last piece of tres leche cake and it was amazing.  Our biggest surprise?  They have Mexican coco-cola, fanta, and squirt!  We ordered a coke each and savoured them.  

Now we're home and the painting G had planned for us to do is postponed due to exhaustion.  It's 10 p.m. and we're headed to bed.  I promised G a chance to do a romantic date this weekend, since our fun date was as good a reconnecting time as he had imagined it would be.  So for now he's earned an extension, and he means business.  I told him to stop planning and just be the man he wants to be.  And to my surprise tonight he listened, took it to heart, and did.  Which means we're no longer allowed in most places due to the high volume of smooches!

My end of the night note to G. (I still have a few he hasn't seen!)

Date Night

So G and I had the best night out since we've been back from England.  We got all dolled up, with me taking the time to shave my legs (oh the horror!) and moisturize to be all soft and smooth.

(G looks funny, so I had to post this!)

These shoes got me through the night!

G says, buckle up for safety, kids!

Dinner was at Clementines, which we will do a review of on our review blog, The Rambling Reviewers, but let's just say it was delicious from appetizer to dessert.  I died and went to heaven momentarily.  Everyone kept asking us if we had big plans for the evening.  I guess we were a bit dressed up, but since I was wearing a dress from Target that I got for less than $10 a couple months ago I just thought I made a little effort.  G was cracking me up though.  I asked him if I was overdressed on the way there and his response was awesome, though maybe only to those who know us, or know our New Year's Eve from this year:


G:  Overdressed?  No.  Now if you had been "keeping it classy like Miley Cyrus" you might have been a bit overdressed, but you look great.

This was my escargot with shitake mushrooms and shallots in a dijon thyme sauce with toast points.

This was the pic I took because "these are so awesome I am going to shove some in my mouth, grab my wine and snap away!"

Then after dinner we headed back here where I drank Grey Goose and apple cider (known in our home from now on as a cidertini) and some Grey Goose with unsweetened (a.k.a. tart as hell) cranberry juice and chatted with my best friend.  We discussed important things like dogs as children and our need to go to Burning Man.  

Red lips for the night!

We headed to a club near base, that was whoa expensive for what it was so we won't be going back.  $20 for the 2 of us to get in, and $30 for 2 grey goose and red bull.  Craziness.  Like I said, we won't be going back.  I had fun dancing, though my feet are killing me today!  We figured with it being a club near base there would be a lot of military people, but we stuck out a bit.  I did get compliments on my belt as always, which makes me glad I bought it (with a giftcard so it didn't cost me anything!).  

Overall a fun night, and we're heading to D.C. in a bit.  I'm thrilled to get to go to a museum.  Sunday will bring rain, but we're planning on sleeping in, going to a later mass.  Tomorrow afternoon we have brunch here in town where G might be having a fried PB&J with ice cream for dessert.  Me?  I'm planning on sipping on some mimosas while enjoying this fabulous life.  Hope everyone is having a wholly satisfying weekend!

So Excited!!!

For those of you who know us well, this will come as no surprise, but for my lovely readers (and family) who I don't catch up with often enough, I must admit full on that I have a dis-combobulated husband.  I say this because I know that he has a hard time putting a plan in his head into action, hence he thinks he's done more than he has.  I'm talking about dates.  G and I have been together for 3 1/2 years now, and in that entire time he's planned 3 dates.  Count them: one in Soho at La Travaille over Christmas vacation when we were engaged, and two at Strada this past spring (and yes, we are both well aware that makes those 2 dates 2.5 years apart) and three when he planned the museum outing here in Baltimore last month.  


G's main problem is that he doesn't know what the hell he's doing.  I mean, let's be frank, I am the great love of his life, he's pined for me so long he didn't even pay attention to other women who were interested in him (although at the time I highly encouraged him to talk to them), and I'm the only woman he's really ever been in a relationship with.  Oh, and ours started when we were 22.  He's a late bloomer (or mild obsessive, since he's loved be since we were teens).  And he has no idea how to plan a date.  I tell him, keep it simple.  I am a simple type of girl.  Food is always good, but other than that, who cares?  


So my lively (typo, but I left it because I like it) readers guess what is happening tonight?  (don't pay attention that it was supposed to happen Wednesday, I gave him more time to breathe)  G is making me dinner (I helped prep things last night as his sous chef, sauteeing onions and peppers).  And yes, because I've helped with the cooking I know what we're having.  But G also has typed up a menu that has a quote, and although he really wanted to show me he is making that bit a surprise.  And then the rest of the night he's planned something here in the house, so we'll see.  He's been keeping a notebook squirreled away that has it written down, but I haven't gotten my hands on it.  (I do know he's planning a trip to the martini bar soon for me!)


Tomorrow I will post pics of the amazing food, and along with the share-able other activities.  Right now I'm like a kid at Christmas!  

Things I've Done Today

* Re-painted my nails with Light My Sapphire, because after removing spray paint from my hands, there was no more polish.  And because it makes me smile.
* Ate yummy leftover shornakhod.  Even better today.  Oh yes it is.
* Thoroughly contemplated different outfits revolving around one pair of shoes.  Thanking God for the memory I have with visualizing, because I did this all from the comfort of my bed.
* Went to a free wine tasting with G.  Awww yeah!
* Bought a nice goat's cheese called Bucherondin from the wine store (which also carries cured meats, bread, olives, truffle oil, and liquor galore.....)
* I fell in love with a 1972 scotch that is supposed to have a taste of seville oranges.  I'd settle for the cheaper one that is supposed to have flavors of vanilla and butterscotch.  (both by Glenrothes)
* I sound like an alcoholic, but I want to learn to drink scotch/bourbon.  
* Because I am wanting to throw a retro cocktail party with martinis, scotch on the rocks and shirley temples.  

And now I'm just rambling.  So here is what I wore on our mini date to the wine store.  

Gah, it was brought to my attention that I didn't put anything about the outfit!

Dress:  Gap Outlet

Tights: Gap Outlet (I love them, they're thicker so nice for the cool weather)

Ring:  H&M

Boots:  Kenneth Cole Reaction

As I am typing this I am snacking on ciabatta with the goat's cheese, and lemme tell ya.... divine!  I am not usually a huge fan of the rind on cheeses (but I'm working on it, so I eat it anyways) but this rind is actually good!  And the wikipedia description is completely accurate... crumbly, gooey, yummy!

The wine we were tasting is from southern Italy, in Calabria.  We tried a dry white, and 3 reds, and every single one was decent-good.  We really liked the white, so we picked up a bottle of that, and we're headed back to the store for the last one we tried once it comes in.....they sold out.

So there you have it:  mini date successful!

Perfection

Yesterday was one of those days that was so beautiful you don't want it to end.  A day when you feel like God was smiling, and things fell into place for a reason.  A day to celebrate and twirl on the sidewalk, not caring who saw.  

G and I made the mistake of not doing enough when in England.  You know how it goes, you get busy, or you tell yourself you'll do it another time.  You tell yourself it costs too much, but never save for the type of adventures you may only have the chance at a few times.  So when we found out we were moving to Maryland, we decided to make plans, to see things, to live here, not just exist.  

So we've been exploring.  We've been here a little over a month, and while most of our exploring has been learning the area, drinking lots of coffee, and hitting up a market, we have bigger plans.  Oh yes, we do.  Like heading to D.C. sometime soon to hit up the monuments and museums.  We also want to take the train to NY and see the city.  I've never been, for reasons that are too hard to explain right now without wasting time.  Oh yes, there is much we want to do.

But today we woke up late, really late.  G got up and showered and then came back to bed and snuggled down with me, quietly tapping away at the computer, making plans.  So when I awoke, we got ready and headed to The Baltimore Museum of Art.  We walked around that place for a couple hours, taking in paintings, hitting up the Edgar Allan Poe exhibit.  We took the time to read the descriptions, I pointed things out to Garret, made him look deeper at some sculptures.  

And for dinner we went to a restaurant another blogger, Mercedes over at Desert Candy, had gone to recently called Helmand.  It's an Afghan restaurant, and it was by far the best meal we've had since coming home to the US.  We took a couple hours and just relaxed, conversed, and laughed, something I will admit has been missing lately as we deal with all the things to do with a new job and buying a home.  We would have taken longer there, but they are definitely a well oiled machine!  Our cooked appetizers came out nearly as soon as we ordered, even though it was a packed house, so who knows how they managed this magical feat? (I'm assuming they have a bunch of house elves in there!)

The restaurant was packed, which surprised me with it being a Sunday night.  The lighting was perfect, warm, intimate, but not dark.  We tried foods we had never heard of, and fell in love.  As we drank down a bottle of Pinot Noir, we ate fried eggplant and ravioli stuffed with leeks.  G had a salad of kidney beans, chickpeas, tomato and red potato with cilantro sauce that was enough to send me to ecstasy, it was that good. (we plan on making it at home sometime soon)  

G's main was lamb and mushrooms in a tomato sauce with challow (basmati rice with cumin) and spinach on the side with a hint of cinnamon.  I had a salad with red pepper, tomato, cucumber, blacked corn, and tenderloin steak that melted in my mouth (which caused quite the debate since G's lamb was melt in your mouth delish too, and we couldn't decide which was better).  

For dessert I chose a vanilla and cardamom ice cream with figs, dates, and mango.  G chose a paneer (homemade cheese) dish that had pomegranate syrup and raisins, and the texture was so amazing I've already looked up a recipe!

Afterwards we sang our little hearts out in the car on the way home.  We felt alive, invigorated, recharged.  And the best part?  Today is Columbus Day and so I have G all to myself again.  It will be a slower day, but I hope no less perfect.