eastowners

Current Mood: Cool & Lovey

Last night for the first time in about a month Brad & I were able to get out for a much needed Date Night.  I know I’ve blogged about these before, but let me tell you why they are so important.  We started doing these regularly about a year ago, and it has helped us out in more ways than we can count.  I know it sounds cheesy…Date Night…but seriously it’s one thing we forgot how to do after embarking on marriage life and the decision to have a child.  We were so busy thinking about jobs, parenthood, and jumping through the hoops of life that we forgot about US…and what we like to do together.  It’s something that I think every couple should do, and it should be an institution!  We get so wrapped up in every day life that we forget about the things that drew us to this other person that we chose to commited our lives to.  So I urge anyone in a long term relationship to make sure that they fit a Date Night into their schedules on a regular basis.

Last night we decided to head out to Bar Louie in Woodland Mall.  They have yummy out of the ordinary bar food, and a happy hour we were unaware of….meaning martini’s for pretty cheap, and that’s what we’re all about!  I think they were about $5 each, regularly probably around $7.50.  I had a few Peartini’s along with the Blackened Fish Po’ Boy.  Brad had a variety of martini’s including the Peartini, and the VooDoo along with the Shrimp Po’ Boy.  We also shared their absolutely wonderful Salted Pretzels.  There isn’t much special about these, other than they are soft pretzles sticks (easy for sharing and dipping) and they come with queso, yellow mustard, and honey mustard for dipping.  We stuffed ourselves to the gills, and decided to see if there was a movie playing of interest at the new cheap 2nd run theater at the mall.  There wasn’t much in our time slot, and nothing that we wanted to see.  So, we headed to Meijer.

We actually had an agenda for going to Meijer this time.  When we went camping with our parents a few weeks ago for the Wine Festival, Brad’s Dad had purchased a table top propane grill for a pretty reasonable price.  He had said that he had gotten it at Meijer for about $25…Brad thought that it’d be a great alternative for us instead of buying a full grill for a much higher price.  Being Demi-vegetarians (we eat fish/shrimp…and that’s the only type of meat we eat) we have been wanting to grill our vegies, Boca Burgers, Smart Dogs, and Shrimp Kabobs for years now!  So, for a grand total of just over $30 we purchased a table top grill & a mini propane tank to go with it.  I think we’re going to do some grilling this weekend before the nice weather ends!  We also picked up some Jones Soda that was on sale (one of Brad’s fav’s), and some Strawberry Kiwi flavored Vodka from Pinnacle on a whim…hey, we are still working on the impulse buying - at least this time it was a relatively cheap impulse buy!  We also picked up some frozen lemonade for mixing and to drink on these somewhat warm early Fall days.

We were actually home relatively early this Date Night.  While it was somewhat short, it was nice.  I just enjoy spending time with Brad - alone - without having to take someone to the bathroom as soon as our food arrives, listening to “Hey, did you know” or “I have a question” every 5.8 seconds.  We love our daughter, but she drives us CRAZY sometimes!  Other than dealing with retarded people in the parking lot of the mall (a fine lady ignored the 3-way stop, laughing her way as she turned in front of me…as with most malls-ALL incoming traffic has the right of way), and trying to find a parking spot on a Friday night (we finally found one, and then the girls were parked the wrong way making them go the wrong way down the one way parking lot lanes).  Ah well.  Funny enough, we ended our date by falling asleep on the couch around 10:30pm.  I guess that’s what happens when you’re old! 

This morning/early afternoon has been relatively quiet around the Eastowner’s house.  We made brunch, Vegetarian style, with eggs, toast, and Morningstar Fake Sausage Links.  Clare of course ate tons of food for her growing body, and Brad & I enjoyed our Michigan Maple Coffee from Shuil with our food.  This afternoon we will be heading up the street for Eastown’s Street Fest.  Every year they close down the street and offer up live music on 2-3 stages, and venders up and down the street selling their wears.  If time permits & we have the gumption to go…I read in the paper this morning that their’s a Marching Band Competetion up in Rockford.  I doubt we’ll go, but it might be a nice end to our already groovin’ day.