This blog is so I can hold onto this memory. Also, because my last blog was so serious. I need to be thinking of good times.
Hubby and I have been married for 19 years. We also dated 4 years before my parents finally put their foot down and said "no more living in sin." We have been together for more than half of our lives now. I am happily married so I can't believe when I was in elementary school I wanted to be a nun. I think it was because of the "Sound of Music." I thought living in an old church and hanging off ropes of bells big enough to lift me up would be fun. I thought I would be running barefoot on a lush carpet of grass and singing on mountain tops and by babbling brooks and I would get to wear Maria's clothes. Reality had not set in yet.
Last year for our anniversary in September 2010 my husband planned a surprise for me.
He didn't tell me where he was taking me. Just told me to dress decently.
We drove to Dallas and I had a feeling that he was just taking me out to eat at Craft, one of Top Chef's Tom Colicchio's restaurant. But after a while I realized we weren't heading in that direction. The closer we got to the Winspear Opera House or AT&T Performance Hall (whichever you prefer) I saw the posters featuring the Blue Man Group. Now I had never had a desire to see them because I had no idea what they were about. I was thinking this was going to be a percussion concert or something. But I kept an open mind. The show actually ended up both funny and entertaining. Although later I read a poor review on the Dallasvoice.com. Obviously we had better seats than the reviewer because he could see the men behind the giant iphones during one segment of the show. The critic from dallasnews.com liked the show. He called it whimsical and compared it to the manifold pleasures of Cirque du Soleil. I agree with the 2nd critic. I think the first guy likes sad dramas and watches boring foreign films. The man who almost had a heart attack during the show wasn't good enough for him. I think our boys would have liked it too so we're thinking of bringing them next time they are in town.
After the show we walked to a mural on a brick wall we had seen earlier while driving and then we simply walked around enjoying each other's company. We came across an old, beautiful church that had just released Spanish mass. Outside of the church food trucks were parked waiting for the crowd. The year before last on our anniversary we went to The Modern Museum and saw a food truck, Spencer On the Go. At the time we assumed that they were a local food truck and we would try them later since we had just eaten at Macaroni Grill. You would think that the camera men would have been a hint that something was special was going on but we were too obtuse. A few months later while we were watching Food Network's "The Great Food Truck Race" we saw Spencer's food truck in the exact location we were at. I was sooooooooo disappointed that we missed the chance to be on TV and to try some amazing food. Having missed the chance the year before I wanted to see these food trucks. However, I soon realized all the trucks were selling the same Mexican fare and not really offering anything that enticed me. And there were no camera men around either. There was one man selling a salad on a tortilla that looked worthy but he was selling from a cart and not a truck. He was also handling the money and had no access to a sink. Being the germaphobe I am there was no way I was trying.
After walking around a bit and because the heat was rising I began to sweat. Lord knows momma don't like to sweat so we went to the W Hotel's bar and had a few coconut martinis.
By the time we got to Craft for dinner (my hunch earlier in the day was right) we were quite tipsy.
Because of the alcohol level we forgot to ask our waiter to take our picture and forgot to take pics of all the food. By the time I remembered to take pics we had already gorged ourselves on the fine fare. But we weren't so tipsy that we didn't savor every morsel. We ordered enough food for 4 people because we wanted to try everything. We ordered: Scottish salmon, red snapper, beet salad, baby spinach, Jerusalem artichokes, chanterelle mushroom risotto, polenta, gnocchi, Yukon potato puree (can you say pure butter?), and dessert which I did take pictures of. We also had some superb mixed drinks but I can't remember the names. I just remember they were really strong.
It was a wonderful day.
These pics were taken with my phone so they are not the best quality.
When these huge balloons came out this was the one time The Blue Man Group gave us permission to take pics.
After the show we walked around Dallas. We saw this wall earlier and wanted to take a pic of it up close.
That's hubby.
Buildings I liked.
Mushroom
At the W Hotel's bar.
Super high-backed couch. Took pic looking up.
Drinking coconut martinis and Amaretto Sours
Uh-oh. Can you tell our eyes are starting to glaze over?
Inside Craft
We were in a semicircle table. These are filament lightbulbs that are between the tables.
Lights up close
Dessert
They gave us a Meyer lemon muffin for breakfast.
The sink in the bathroom.
ju m
