Date Night!

Last Friday, my sister was gracious enough to offer to babysit my children while I went on a date. Josh and I have been trying to get to the temple for like three weeks now but our best-laid plans have always been interrupted with surprise responsibilities or repeated illnesses. I briefly entertained the idea of going to the temple but honestly, I just wasn't feeling it. What I wanted was a good, old-fashioned date with the husband, so we did that instead.

After dropping the kids off at my sister's house with a house key to our place (so that in case we got back after their bedtime, my sister could take them home and put them to bed), we went to Jinya, this new ramen bar on State Street. Every time we drove past it, we commented on trying it out but we just never did. It's hard to make long-term date plans for eating out, so we don't often do it.

The food was amazing! We had tempura-battered brussels sprouts and a pork bun as appetizers and they were absolutely delicious. I told Josh that the bun in particular was so satisfying as it went down my throat and settled in my stomach that I described it (in a whisper so as not to sound like a pretentious hipster to the other diners) as umami. He mocked me appropriately for the description but (also in a whisper) agreed. We chose to eat outdoors because it was so beautiful and aside from the ten minutes of smoke we smelled from a woman waiting at a nearby bus stop, it was very pleasant. Josh had a pork ramen and I had a spicy chicken. I added a seasoned egg and loved that part the most. The noodles, the meat, the vegetables, and even the broth was individually tasty, but combined it was heaven! I didn't grow up loving soups much, but soups from various Asian regions knock it out of the park. I thought trying pho was epic, but ramen is just as savory and delicious in a different way.

Josh also teased me for taking a hipster picture of our meal, so I included him in it.

After dinner we went over to a bowling alley and played a game. We were going to see a movie but nothing was out that we were interested in (technically it was opening night for Beauty and the Beast but there was no way Josh was going to go see THAT with me), so we opted for a game instead. I am lousy at bowling. I can't roll the ball properly, I can't aim, I usually throw half my turns into the gutter, but I absolutely love bowling! It's just fun! The lights and the slippery shoes and the satisfying sound of the ball crashing into the pins (on other people's turns because that seriously doesn't happen with me).

Josh had a hard time finding a ball that fit his fingers without being unbelievably heavy, so he ended up playing with a heavier ball than he would have preferred. My ball didn't seem too heavy for me, although my wrist was starting to hurt as the game progressed. Our final scores weren't terribly impressive, although Josh did manage to get almost double my score.

Since Fat Cats is so close to Iceberg, we decided to swing by and get some ice cream on our way home. The wait was really long, as it always is, but the ice cream is pretty good. I usually stick very close to my favorite flavors when I get ice cream because we don't get it often and I don't want to risk getting a gross flavor on one of the rare occasions when I actually do splurge on a treat. The same principle holds for eating out: because we don't do it very often, I'm afraid to get something new because what if it's not as good as my tried-and-true favorites? Sometimes it pays off and I find something new that is delicious but it is a risk, because other times I end up getting something mediocre and who knows how long it'll be before we next go to that particular restaurant?

Anyway, because of this first-world problem of mine, I was a little antsy at Iceberg. This was the third time in my life we've ever been there and I wanted to try an as-yet untasted flavor from their massive list, but I was afraid of branching out and risking a bad experience during such a rare opportunity. Josh sort of persuaded me to try something new, and I'm glad I did. It was yummy! I went out of my comfort zone and got a butterscotch flavor this time. It was a ton of ice cream, and not even halfway eaten before we got to my sister's house to pick up the kids, but very tasty.

Somehow, even after our three-part date with fun conversation and beautiful weather, we still managed to take up only two hours of time. That was like the fastest date of my life. It worked out great, though, because we were able to sit out in my sister's backyard with her and her husband and just talk in the beautiful weather for half an hour while James begged more and more bites of ice cream off of me. Eventually my brother-in-law saved me and ran the ice cream into the house and on a kitchen counter so James would stop begging. He went inside and we didn't hear from him until it got a little later and we decided to take our kids home.

James had managed to use his incredible balance and his tippy toes to reach up to the kitchen counter, pull down the cup withOUT spilling, and to bring it to the ground, where he was calmly feeding himself spoonfuls of ice cream. I have no idea how long he'd been doing that, but not a drop of ice cream was to be found on his clothes, the floor, or the counter. That was really impressive. The stinker!

We put the kids to bed and enjoyed half of a movie together until we both fell asleep on the couch. Such is the exciting lifestyle of the not-so-young couple with children! It was a great date and a great night.