We finally did it. We had a real date night. One without our little precious angel. Our little precious angel that has made it be 6 months since we have been able to go out in the evening together past something like 6 o clock in the evening. 6 short months. Ah, how the time flies. Can you believe she is 6 months old? Can you? Because I can't. The time flies when I think of it like that. But 6 months is a long time when it has been that long since your hubby and you have had an evening alone. We took no pictures, but I know you are reading this so you can see sickenly cute pictures of our baby, so here you go.
But last night we did it. It was enabled by one of my best friends in the world, Kassi. We didn't even have to ask. She offered. Thank you Kassi! She said, "Let me come over on Sunday night and hang out at the house after Ella goes to bed so you and Eli can go out." I said, "Okay."
I was skeptical that it would work. I was thinking, "Ella will sense that something is going on. She won't go to sleep well tonight. She will wake up and cry as soon as we get out of the house." But somehow, she didn't get the message and she went to sleep and stayed asleep until we returned. I didn't even call to check. (I did send one text to which I got no reply and then started imaging all sorts of horrible things.) But of course everything was fine. We came home to find Kassi on our couch watching some TV on the computer in a very small window because she did not know how to make it full screen. (PC user).
So, I will quickly describe our date. Actually, I need to go back a little bit to earlier in the day. Our date actually started at about 11 AM when Joanna (Aunt of Ella and sister of I) came over to babysit the little sunshine so Eli and I could go see Avatar in 3D. Much fun. It was a movie I really wanted to see in the theatre. Off to an early matinee we went and sat in a dark theatre for almost 3 hours in the most productive time of the day. Totally worth it, and I totally missed Ella. I couldn't wait to get back to see her. Funny how that is. Date paused.
Then we did some normal Sunday things until the evening when Kassi came over. Date resumes. Eli and I went out to eat at Chai Pani (again). It was open on Sunday evening and oh, so yummy. We also each had an adult beverage. We considered heading home, but then thought better of it as it was only about 8:30. Dessert maybe? But where can a mother go to get a dairy free dessert around here? The Chocolate Lounge perhaps? Oh ya. I had such a decadent non dairy chocolate dessert ensemble that I could not even finish it and had to take some home. And then I was awake for hours from the chocolate buzz. Totally worth it.
Asheville is a good place to live when you can't ingest dairy. All you have to do is go to the counter and ask in a slightly whiney, slightly better than thou kind of voice, "Do you have any vegan options???" And then you are told and shown how many wonderful, tasty, and delicious vegan options they serve. No need to go elsewhere. I love Asheville.
As I mentioned, we did return to a peacefully sleeping baby. Ah, success finally! And we totally wiped out our complete budget for entertainment and food for the month. Totally worth it.
