Tag: date night

quality time in lieu of quantity of time

Posted on by jplatt27

Since my coach training started my weeknights are pretty packed. Between tutoring, coaching clients, and training calls, I have something every night Monday through Thursday.  This means that Mike and I don’t get a ton of time together during the week.

This actually hasn’t been a problem.  In fact, it’s been a gift.

For example, Mike and I get an hour and a half together on Wednesday nights between my calls and we’ve both started really looking forward to that time. We have dinner and cuddle on the couch and watch Parenthood. Though it’s nothing fancy, especially compared to the date nights we used to have every other Wednesday, this time is really special to us.

This time is earmarked as our time. I’m not blogging or reading or coaching or half paying attention to the show we’re watching while Facebooking. Nope, I’m totally in it.

For that hour and a half we are together, really together. And the quality time is so nice.

Between that and our weekly new recipe, we may be getting more quality time than we did over the summer. Time to talk, to connect, to really be with each other.

It’s nice to know that it’s not the amount of time we have but how we spend the time that matters.

how we celebrated one year

Posted on by jplatt27

We had an amazing three day weekend for our anniversary.

Here’s what we did during the weekend to celebrate:

Saturday morning we got up and got bagels at Bethesda Bagel in Dupont Circle. Best bagels in the city and amazing veggie cream cheese.

Then we drove out to Great Falls, Virginia for a hike.  I teared up when we got our first look at the falls.  We chose to hike the River Trail, a little bit of a rocky terrain right along the Potomac River. It was amazing. We hiked a bit on our honeymoon and this took us back there a bit.

Saturday night we went to the steakhouse at the W (we went there the night we got engaged too!). We were treated so well. The food was outstanding and the service matched it. I got a delicious drink–passion whiskey sour–went out of my comfort zone a little bit with this one and it was so worth it. Mike said this was one of the top three meals of his life.

After dinner, we went to the rooftop terrace at the W for a drink and to take in the view.  Still one of our favorite places in DC.

Monday morning (our actual anniversary) we walked to Georgetown Cupcake. On your first anniversary you’re supposed to take the top layer of your wedding cake out of the freezer, defrost it, and eat it.  Since we had Georgetown Cupcakes instead of a cake, we went and got a red velvet in lieu of a frozen top layer.

It was a great weekend, filled with love and fun.  A great first anniversary.  I’m looking forward to many many more.

Happy Anniversary, Mike!

Our proposal story

Posted on by jplatt27

Two years ago tomorrow, Mike proposed to me on a beautiful spring day in DC. It was a day I had hoped for, dreamed for, prayed for, for years. He got it exactly right.  Here’s my proposal story.

__________________________

In summer/fall 2009, Mike and I had been having regular date nights every other Wednesday.  We’d alternate who would plan and pay and try to do things we wouldn’t normally do.  We’d text each other on the day of saying where and when to meet.

So when during our last training run for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler, I didn’t think anything of it when Mike said “I think we should pick date night up again.  I have an idea for a place that I thought of last summer but never used.  How about next Wednesday?” I’m pretty sure I was thinking “oh that’s sweet. just keep running…one foot in front of the other…only 7 3/4 miles left to go…damn this hill is tough.”

I will admit that I had quite a few butterflies in my stomach when Wednesday rolled around.  At 10 til 5pm I got a text from Mike that said “At 5 o’clock, head down.  A car will pick you up, the driver will know where to go.” I figured he didn’t get a car service to take me to Ben’s Chili Bowl and thought, this must be it.

At 5:00 I left my office giddy and filled with butterflies.  I had been waiting for this day for a long time.  As I rode through the city in the sleek black car, I looked out the window with tears streaming down my face, trying to take in every detail of the world outside, the flowers, the sunshine, the tourists happily walking through the city.

The driver dropped me off behind the Jefferson Memorial, one of our favorite places in the city.  It was a beautiful sunny spring day as I walked around to the front of the monument crying behind my sunglasses but smiling all at the same time. I’m sure I was shaking.

I turned the corner and saw Mike sitting about half-way up the steps of the Memorial wearing a navy blue suit and carrying a single red rose. He smiled wide when he saw me. I will never forget that sight.

I met him halfway up the steps, he kissed me and said simply “I think you’ve waited long enough.” Then he got down on one knee and said “Will you marry me?”

I said “yes,” he stood up, we kissed, and the tourists starting clapping and cheering around us.

Our date night didn’t end there.  Mike had arranged for the car to wait for us and we got back in the car and went over to POV Terrace at the W Hotel for a bottle of champagne and celebrating.

Game Change

Posted on by jplatt27

Just dropped Mike off at the airport and I’m happy to report that I held it together last night and this morning! Dropping him off and driving home I was a little sad and wanted to cry but the tears didn’t come. And when I remembered I had this cupcake to comfort me at home, that didn’t hurt either. Writing this post also helped me move past my sadness so thanks for reading!

We had a really nice night last night.  Our plan to lay low was a good one.  I ended up getting out of work an hour early yesterday so I met Mike at the gym (he always gets out early on Fridays, lucky). Then we used a Groupon and picked up a pizza from Potomac Pizza. If you live in the NW DC area or Montgomery County, I highly recommend Potomac Pizza.  It’s the closest pizza to the Philly/SE PA pizza we’re used to that we’ve found in the 3 years we’ve been here. We came home, showered, and settled in on the couch with a few slices.

After flipping through the channels a little bit and watching a few segments of both Khloe & Lamar and SVU that’d we seen already, I decided we’d watch Game Change, the new HBO movie about the 2008 McCain/Palin campaign. Mike had already seen it completely through once in addition to bits and pieces randomly throughout the week.  He said he likes it more every time he sees it.  Since I have a hard time making it through a whole movie in one sitting and I didn’t have much interest in it and I didn’t want my separation anxiety to flare up during a long, boring movie, I was skeptical about watching this last night.  But I figured we’d at least start it.  At this point Mike knows we’ll have to view a film in multiple sittings anyway so no trouble if I got bored.

Well let me tell you, I couldn’t stop watching.  It was really good.  It’s all about how the McCain campaign chose Sarah Palin as McCain’s running mate and how they prepared her for the campaign trail. It was fascinating! And Julianne Moore played a great Sarah Palin. I kept asking Mike “did this really happen?” and “is this true?” or “do you think she actually did that?” I don’t want to get into a political discussion here because to be honest I’m not super interested in political debate, and that is not what my blog is about. What I am interested in and what the movie focuses on is the behind the scenes of politics: what goes into a political campaign, the many layers of decisions made, and the relationships (or sometimes lack thereof) between the people involved. These things are fascinating to me.  I’d highly recommend Game Change if you haven’t seen it yet. It’s been playing pretty regularly on HBO since it aired on the 10th so I’m sure you can catch it again in the next week or so.

We didn’t make it through the entire movie without taking a break.  We had planned to take a walk and get some ice cream so we did that about an hour and a half in. We popped over to Something Sweet, a small bakery/ice cream shop in our neighborhood that we visit a little too frequently, and took our ice cream on a little stroll and sat on a bench in front of the National Cathedral.

We had a really nice night and I’m glad it was tarnished by my anxiety.  Mike hasn’t mentioned anything, but I’m sure he’s glad too.

I’d love to know:

What’d you do last night?

Have you seen Game Change? What did you think?

Separation anxiety

Posted on by jplatt27

I get separation anxiety when I’m going to be away from Mike for a little while.  I think this started at some point during college and I can’t explain exactly why it started or why it continues today.  But it’s something I deal with.  And it can be intense.

So even though I’m super excited about going to St. Lucia with my sisters (Melissa, Chrissy, and Becca) for a week starting tomorrow, I’ve been battling this anxiety for the whole week.

As a sub-conscious way to protect myself, I’ll start to get short with Mike, frustrated with him for silly things, and will start to distance myself from him. Of course, this is the exact opposite of how I want to spend days together before days apart.

Once I leave or he leaves, I’m fine. I’ll shed a tear or two and get on with the fun. But the couple days leading up to the departure are rough.

So that’s where I am today.  Anxious about packing up and leaving tomorrow. Nervous that I’ll ruin our date tonight by picking fights or being snappy at my husband when all I want is a fun, romantic, relaxing evening together. And excited for vacation with my sisters all at the same time.

I’d love to know:

Do you ever have separation anxiety?  How do you get through it?

What's for Dinner Wednesday: Date Night

Posted on by jplatt27

Back again with another What’s for Dinner? Wednesday and tonight happened to be date night! We haven’t had date night in quite some time: either since my birthday date or when we went to the Nationals’ game. It’s one of my 2012 resolutions to go on one date night per month so tonight not only did I have a nice dinner with my husband but I also got to check a box on resolutions spreadsheet. Win-win!

Mike’s trying to “get into sushi” and we had a Living Social deal for Sushiko in Chevy Chase (Friendship Heights) that expires at the end of the month so we decided to go to Sushiko for our first date night of the year.

We started with some drinks: a rum and Coke for Mike and a mangotini for me.

Then I had a house salad with ginger dressing to start (which I pretty much inhaled and then had to tell myself to slow down, that I’m not in an eating contest, I’m on a date).

Don’t you love how vibrant and fresh that looks?

Next we ordered two rolls to share: the rock shrimp cilantro and the crunchy spicy salmon.  Mike chose both of these and I was happy to oblige.  Sometimes it feels so good to just trust your partner’s judgement. And it paid off.  Both rolls were delicious. The cilantro in the rock shrimp cilantro roll was so bright and fresh, it was awesome!

We topped off our meal with a soft shell crab roll.

Good meal.  I imagine we’ll be back again soon.

I’m glad we both enjoy sushi now.  Sometimes if we need a quick dinner we’ll stop at Whole Foods and grab some out of their pre-made case. It’s so funny how tastes can change.  If you would’ve told me 3 years ago that I’d like sushi by now I probably would’ve said you’re crazy.

I still kind of struggle while eating it though.  I feel like it’s a lot to put the whole thing in your mouth at once but it’s really poor sushi etiquette to not take it all in one bite.  (I learned that on a Bobby Flay Throwdown I think).  And honestly it just looks bad if you don’t. But I feel like it’s a lot to get down and I start to swallow it before I even get to taste it. Does anyone else have this problem?

I’d love to know:

Are you a sushi fan?  

What did you have for dinner?

date night at the nationals

Posted on by jplatt27

we had a really nice date at the nationals game last night.  we arrived to a sunny stadium around 4:45.

doesn't he look handsome?

i was not prepared for the sun because it looked like this for past few days in DC.

it was really warm when we got there and i considered getting a t-shirt to change into because i was wearing a thick sweater.  i walked into the team store and realized my allegiance to the philadelphia phillies when i got anxiety at the thought of buying another team’s t-shirt.

i didn’t get a shirt.

i’m sure you’re wondering why we got to the ballpark at 4:45. we had tickets to batting practice and got to go down onto the field to watch the teams warm up.  it was pretty neat but we were totally out of place.  the other people that were down there were dressed to the nines in nationals gear and were whipping out sharpies and baseballs for autographs.  and there mike and i are kinda standing back, wearing normal clothes, probably looking like we’re too cool for school.  though now that i think back on it, there was a group of women hanging around that weren’t geared up either.  and they were wearing heels.  i mean hello.

it wasn’t our team but it was cool nonetheless and we did get to see jayson werth up close so that was exciting for 45 seconds.  i was joking with mike that if it was the phillies he’d be going nuts.  he was yep and so would you: you’d run up to chase and say “chase me utley.” uh, no.  i don’t think so.  that’d probably be mike.  (but after googling him to remember what he looks like, i may retract that statement.)

after batting practice we did a lap around the concourse, got a pretzel, then some beers and stood at a table overlooking the field.

i love that part of the park overlooks the river

after our beers, it was time for some food. shake shack at the ball park, yes please!

 

 

 

we split a burger and cheese fries.  they were sooo good.

we sat at a high top table and just ate and relaxed.  it was really fun.  i’ve never been to a game that early before to hang out and enjoy the park and the weather.

then we went down to our seats for the first few innings.

we went to get a snack at the end of the third inning and after i waited in the shake shack line for 20 mins to get a milkshake, we decided just to head home.  before i got in the shake shack line, mike got this:

yeah, i know.

on our way out of the park, mike stopped to hit a home run.

september date night number 1: complete.