Year of Dates: March

I am so behind in posting about our year of dates... and we have had dates in March, April and May... so here goes the start of catching up:

Hubby and I had our March date at the end of March during the week of our spring break, which we spent up in Vail, CO.  I had been looking forward to this particular date for months!

 The Lodge at Vail... the hotel right next door to my parents' condo at Lodge Tower have had a restaurant/bar for my entire life and before called Micky's Bar.  It was named Micky's Bar because of the entertainer who plays the piano every night during ski season and who is a one-of-a-kind AMAZING entertainer and wonderful pianist.

Vail's piano man, Micky Poage!

Micky can play anything, and what's more, he is such a true and gifted entertainer that you can go years without seeing him and the moment you walk in the bar, he remembers you, he gives you a hug, he remembers your favorite song (and plays it for you almost immediately) and makes you feel like HIS night is made because you came to see him.  What a gift!

About a year ago, the Lodge at Vail had a different vision for their future and it didn't include the amazing piano man who had entertained Vail for decades.  Subsequently, Micky found a new gig at a very nice restaurant in Avon, CO and this is where Hubby and I had our March date.

Local friends of Micky come to sing with him occasionally... the man in the glasses is singing along with Micky's playing

I hadn't seen Micky in years and I hadn't seen him since I have been married so it was so nice to introduce him to my husband.  Micky knows my parents and my siblings and remembers details about each and every one.  To see him is like visiting an old friend.

We had a wonderful night!

The menu was very expensive, but the food was DELICIOUS!  We were able to figure out a way to share plates for a few courses and enjoy a terrific meal and linger to hear Micky over a few hours.

We ate, we laughed, we sang a little (quietly, to ourselves at the table), we danced (Micky played "Moon River" for us), and we had a wonderful March Date!

Capturing the Simple ~ March

Amy at Filled With Praise has started a monthly blog post where you choose 9 pictures from your month post about them.

I thought it was going to be hard to choose only 9 pictures, but the truth is, 9 pictures covers the month pretty well... and now that I look at the collage, somehow I ended up with 10 pictures.  I'm not sure how that happened when I chose the 9 picture collage... oh well.

  Our pup, Lloyd got left out of this month, but I'm sure he will make an appearance in the April pictures.

Here is my March collage and below are the picture descriptions:

Starting top left and working left-to-right:

• Amazing view from Blue Sky Basin while skiing
• Church basement transformation for a baby shower I hosted
• A little relaxation during a VERY busy month!
• Lexie helping me choose a ski run for the day (she's looking at the grooming report)
• Date night with hubby at Micky's new restaurant
• Ski picture with Hubby -- the first of our little family
• Ski picture with my cousin, Elizabeth, we had a blast skiing together
• Ski picture with my brother
• Baby shower flowers -- white roses, mums and mini roses in mason jars with lemon slices -- I was really proud of these flowers and I loved having all the vases around my house for the next week
• It was great seeing my cousin for a few days

That's a fun way to re-cap the month... but I just remembered I forgot the Easter sunrise service on the top of Vail mountain... I'm sure I'll get better at this in months to come.

 Happy April!

Year of Dates: February

Yesterday Hubby and I had our February Date.

We have wanted to try a restaurant in Carbondale for awhile now, but we hardly ever get to Carbondale, and its not on the way anywhere either, so we hadn't been to the restaurant yet.

Yesterday, we made a special trip to Carbondale specifically to try White House pizza.

They offered half-priced appetizers on Saturday until 5pm, so we slept in late Saturday morning, got a few things done around the house, and then headed to Carbondale for an afternoon late lunch/early dinner date.

Caprese salad, BBQ Chicken pizza with a wheat crust, and a soft, gooey chocolate chip cookie... Delicious!

The atmosphere of the place was really fun including autograph pictures of celebrities who have been in to eat.

While we were there, a friend of mine from when I first moved to Colorado walked in with her husband and daughter.  I haven't seen this gal in 3 years as she moved to Washington a few years ago.  Now she's back in Denver, and happened to be in Carbondale for the day.  It was so great to see her and meet her family.

 Hubby and I are loving our monthly dates!

Year of Dates: January

My hubby gave me a WONDERFUL gift for Christmas... a year of dates.

This does not mean 365 dates... it means 12 dates.

An OFFICIAL date night every month for the year 2013.

We treat ourselves to dinners out or special weekends here and there, but we don't officially call them dates.  I LOVE the idea that every month this year we are going to do something and CALL it Date Night.

Last night was our Date Night for January... and it was wonderful.  It took us three tries to find a date, but when we did, we had a blast.  :-D

Initially, the plan was going to be bowling... but they have special Dollar Days on Sunday... so we figured it didn't make sense to pay full price tonight when we could pay 1/4 the cost if we went back on Sunday.

Next, we headed for dinner at Rib City before I remembered that we had Ribs for my birthday, and they didn't really sound good again so soon.

Lastly, we hit the jackpot... SONIC!

We are total nerds, but we are also completely in love and we had a blast at Sonic.  We treated the dinner like we were at a real restaurant.  We ordered appetizers.  Then we ordered the main course.  And the plan was to then order dessert, but we were full after the main course and decided to head home to curl up in bed with an old comedy.

We played music from our phones through the truck speakers and sang out loud with our windows down... we felt like teenagers.

At one point, we went in to kiss each other, and Lloyd (from the backseat) stuck his head right between our lips at the last minute.  It was pretty funny.

What a perfect date night to commence our Year of Dates.