Date Night: Def Leopard

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I am younger than my husband by four and a half years. Those four and a half years are not much except you need to add in the sequestered life I led on an isolated bee farm to understand that essentially my husband and I did not grow up in the same decade. I grew up listening to “The Oldies” on my mother’s radio. My dad had the television at night and so I never saw a single episode of “Beverly Hills 90210” or “Melrose Place.” I would nod my head when other kids my age would talk about “New Kids On The Block,” but the only time I ever heard their songs were at school dances. My sister and I would rewatch “Anne of Green Gables” during the day and read books at night.

When I heard that Def Leopard would be performing near us, I knew my husband would want to go see them. And honestly, it seemed like a good time.

So I purchased the tickets, made reservations at our favorite restaurant in town, and waited for the concert with nervous excitement.

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The day arrived and you will not believe this, but I did not get an outfit picture. We were rushing because my husband got home from work and we immediately had to leave for our dinner reservations. But I did get a picture of my shoes. They are the coolest pink. When I went to Anthropologie and did some reviews, I walked into the sale room and a woman was holding a pair of these shoes in her hand. “What size are those?” I breathlessly asked. Well, they were two sizes too small for both myself and her, and the only ones in the store. I tracked them down during an extra percentage off sale and scooped them up. I love a happy shoe story ending, don’t you?

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Okay. So, I said I really went to the concert for my husband. And that is true, but it is also true that I went for the food. The food. I adore the steakhouse on the premise of where Def Leopard performed. And the only time we splurge and eat there is when we go to a performance (such as when we saw Cyndi Lauper last year). It did not disappoint. I have eaten steak at some of those restaurants that are known for steak in New York, San Francisco and Las Vegas. I have never had steak as good as this steak anywhere else. The chef gives you a complimentary amuse-bouche when you are seated. He also sends out his handmade truffles and candy gummies with the bill. It is expensive but worth it.

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We finished our meal and headed to the venue. There was a man sitting next to me on my left that had been going to see Def Leopard every year, by himself, since 1987. Oddly enough he left right before the concert was over. He sang every song. I knew one of them. One. Yep. “Pour Some Sugar On Me.” My husband knew them all. And he recalled listening to them perform when he was in fifth grade on a fence in his backyard as the sound carried from the concert to his house. I loved that he finally got to see them live in concert on this evening.

There was a woman in her early fifties sitting by herself on our right. She confessed that she had been to their concert the night before in a different city. So, of course I said to her, “Wow. You must really like the band.”

She shook her head, “no.” She admitted that she had never listened to Def Leopard before until the day before. Someone had bought her the tickets to the two venues as a gift. I thought that was an interesting gift.

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I am a sitter.

Period.

So, I was stressed that the people in front of me would stand up, and gasp!, dance during the concert. This would give me the task of standing up myself. Well, the people who purchased the seats in front of us never showed up. So, I could have sat but we actually stood and swayed (I would surely hesitate to call clapping your hands to music as dancing) to the music.

But the only thing that kept running through my head during the show was, “I should have studied these songs before the concert.”

Yes, what I was thinking during a rock concert is that I really should have studied.

Poser.

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It ended up being a fun night. I will look back upon it and smile. Have you been to any concerts this year? Do you like the dinner or the event itself better? I think that is why I am so fond of dinner theater. You get the best of both worlds… And you don’t need to stand… Or study.

An Antique & Artsy Date Night

A week ago, my husband and I ventured out on a date. We are always hungry early, and so like the old folks that we are, we decided to leave our house at 5:00. Being the procrastinator that I am, I had not changed clothes for the date. It was 4:45 and I was still in my pajamas…

From my closet, I yelled over my shoulder to my husband, “I have nothing to wear!”

To which I heard a grumbled, “Seriously?”

And then my muffled response, as I choked and gagged on my gluttonous amount of clothes, “I’m just kidding!”

And his muttered-under-his-breath-but-consciously-loud-enough-for-me-to-hear-from-the-bedroom-to-the-closet reply, “No you’re not.”

And he was kinda right. I never know what to wear on a date. I love free-flowing bohemian maxis. My husband likes short fitted dresses.

Never the two shall meet.

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I ended up picking this Modcloth dress (similar here) from last year that I had purchased when I went and saw Cindy Lauper (post here and here). It was a good choice, because my husband really liked it.

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It was his choice as to where we would eat that night and he picked a trendy little hipster restaurant in the old part of our town. That part of town is now filled with antique stores and gourmet restaurants. My husband loves the hamburgers there. I love the decor.

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Look at this chandelier made from honey bear jars. Wicked cool right?

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I can’t believe I just said, “wicked cool.” Next thing you know, I’ll be saying “uber”. If that happens, just hang me up with those bears, okay?

Let’s pretend that never happened.

I took pictures of the art on the walls, whilst unbeknownst to me also attracting the attention of the chefs.

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I pored over the menu, even though I always get the same thing.

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The hamburger.

I had to include the funny picture, because I hate pictures of me eating. Don’t you?

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It was a beautiful evening and we planned on just heading home and watching a movie.

Oh! But before I move on, I have to talk about dessert! We had amazing homemade cheesecake. Or restaurant-made cheesecake. All I know is that it was good and made on the premises. I do not like going to restaurants that serve desserts they have ordered from other companies.

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We decided to walk down to my favorite antique store. Thankfully, my husband likes antiques as much as I do. Although on this night, he was antsy.

Look at the cool letters with my husband’s and my initials. I want them. Desperately. I think it is kismet that they happen to be our initials. I also love the colors. But they are very expensive. So, I am holding out.

Maybe one day…

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Other antiques we liked: an old door. Oh! The colors on this door (but I all ready have this one). Another want. An old toy horse. A really cool tractor part that had the prettiest patina.

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Then we made our way outside where unbeknownst to us, there was an art festival going on that had started mere minutes before. The artists were setting up booths and some were doing sidewalk chalk art. The picture above is the beginning of an art piece by my children’s art teacher, Lisa Owen Lynch, setting up her awesome Star War’s Princess Leia drawing. We randomly ran into her and it was neat to see her at work.

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Look at her shoes! She is the coolest!

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And we left her just as the hair was coming together. She is so talented. My kids are very lucky to get to learn from her.

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I ended up purchasing a small bird painting for $30 from one of the artists there. It looks like a strange bird at first, but it is actually two birds. Because of that, I thought it was weird and neat enough for a place in our home. Plus, the colors are great. The artist was super sweet, too.

I love that what started out as a simple dinner turned into a fun antique browse and art walk. There is something romantic about spontaneity. And I treasure when an evening turns out better than planned.

Where have you gone on a date recently? Do you always decide the restaurant or do you trade off with your partner?

I Learned Something New

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I went on a date night with my husband a bit ago and I learned something new. Not about him, of course. Although, there are still moments when I do and those are pieces of information I savor. No, I learned about a new species.

I went on a date night and discovered a new species!

How and when does that ever happen?

Perhaps my great to the trillionth grandfather was Christopher Columbus. Or perhaps I need to get out more. Or read more. Or…

Let’s just skip the possibilities, they are too endless.

We’ll get to what I discovered, but first and much more importantly, what did I wear?

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I wore jeans. I wanted to get dressed up, but I didn’t have it in me that night. So, I just wore what I had worn all day. The dress is the Free People Mamounia Dress. I purchased mine from Nordstrom Rack for $50 (the link goes to a different store). I broke my rule for one piece of jewelry by piling on a bunch of bracelets and necklaces. I was exhausted on this day and nothing keeps one awake quite like the jingling of jewelry on one’s wrists.

Or gives one quite as big of a headache.

I ate a granola bar before we left. ‘Cause I was starving. I knew I would turn into a beast if I did not eat something before we left.

The Jenni Beast was not the new species I discovered. Besides, she was discovered long ago. You can tame her with food. Compliments. And clothes. This is important information to have if you ever see her in the wild. She is quite destructive.

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We went to my favorite restaurant. It is outdoors and has beautiful views. The price is right (we split a bottle of wine, an appetizer, a pizza and two desserts for $63 before tip). There was live music playing in the restaurant. The food is fabulous. My favorite in town.

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We ordered our beloved fries for an appetizer. They take the chef three days to make in a secret recipe.

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We sat in the garden. On the beautiful landscaped slope next to me, a poppy plant was being tugged on by its roots. It scared me at first, but then it was comical as we realized it was probably a gopher having dinner. It must have been a rebel gopher, because it is illegal here in California to hurt the state flower. We can’t pick it. I assume you probably can’t eat it either. But could the gopher have gotten high from the roots? Would it be like opium? These were the questions we asked each other over dinner.

Okay, those are the questions I asked my husband. To which he replied, “No.”

Darn. I had imagined a happy, plump little gopher in his hole kicking back and deciphering the patterns of the dirt in his tunnel.

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He took pictures of me happy after wine.

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And contemplating a gopher high on drugs.

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I did not take a picture of our barbecue chicken pizza, but it was yummy. My husband and I had a handshake over our deal when we both discovered we hate red onions on our pizza. So we shook on never ordering them on it again.

And it was heavenly.

But we did get pictures of our two pretty desserts we ordered.

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Here is where I introduce a new species. You thought it was a Druggie Gopher, didn’t you?

Nope. It was indeed a Hummingbird Moth!

A Hummingbird Moth!

Now, when I took these pictures, I assumed this was a baby hummingbird. At first I thought it was some kind of bee, but it moved too fast and was not shaped like one. We determined it was the smallest hummingbird we had ever seen. Even the masculine guy at the table next to me locked eyes with me and made a pinching motion with his two fingers to indicate how tiny and adorable the cute little hummingbird was.

Or he wanted to crush my head with his fingertips. One can never be sure.

Our side of the restaurant was enthralled with the little guy. He zipped by my head and hovered in front of me for the briefest second.

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As we were leaving, we saw a colony of what we thought were miniature hummingbirds flitting in and out of the flowers. They were adorable. I even got a picture of one.

It turns out hummingbirds do not like to gather nectar together. Hummingbird Moths do. I discovered these little facts here and here after I searched for “Tiny Hummingbird” on the internet. It turns out if you think you see the tiniest hummingbird you have ever seen or even a baby hummingbird (baby hummingbirds cannot fly), you are actually observing a Hummingbird Moth. There are twelve hundred varieties of the Hummingbird Moth and they live all over the world! The one in the Western half of the United States (and the one I saw) is the Snowberry Clearwing (isn’t that a lovely name?) and the Eastern side of the United Stares typically hosts the Hummingbird Clearwing. The Hummingbird Moth is also less skittish than the hummingbird and will let you get close to it.

What a cool, fascinating little creature.

I never knew these existed. Did you?

Also, I am curious. Where did you go on your last date night? Do you dress up? Or do you wear jeans?

Outfit Source List: Free People Mamounia Dress, Anthropologie Pilcro Flares (old), Bracelets from H & M (old, similar here), Anthropologie layering necklaces (old, similar here), and Lucky Brand Emmie Silver Flats.

I can’t… I Just Can’t… Lace Study Dress

Something happened to me a few months ago. Something amazing. I have come to the realization that I can’t pay full price. I just cannot do it. It drives me crazy. It seems I no sooner buy something full price, then it goes on sale. Then I feel betrayed. By that piece of clothing. And I rarely wear it.

So without a gift card, I pretty much only purchase on sale. And it has to be a good sale, too. At least 50% off…

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Wait! Oh! My! Gosh! Did you see that? Did. You. See. That? Did you see the new Byron Lars Lace Study Dress? Holy Wallet!

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CLUNK!

That was the sound of me falling on the floor after seeing that beauty.

CLUNK!

That was the sound of my husband hitting the floor after he saw the price tag.

CLUNK!

That was the sound of my pocket book being thrown down to scoop that beauty up for my husband’s birthday dinner and our anniversary trip to Las Vegas.

Now my pocket book sounds like this:

What you didn’t hear that? If you listen closely, you can very slightly hear the rustle of. The faint rumble. The breezy swooshing. Of…

Nothing.

Sob.

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Anyway, I have had two kids. I have a belly. Yes, I am totally going to blame my children for my protrusion and not my overeating or lack of exercise. It was the reason I had kids. Speaking of which, kids will take every sense of vanity from you. I remember very clearly my friend asking me at nineteen what my best body part was. I thought long and hard. Yes, this is when I had to actually think because there was more than one to choose from. Ahhh. Youth. Anyway, I chose my stomach. And the universe laughed at me. And my thighs clapped. Sigh.

My husband actually tells me he likes my stomach. Which is super sweet. And enabling.

My point being, that yes, even with a shaper underneath this dress, my body is not perfect. And that is okay. I still like the dress.

And I am okay with my belly. Shhh. Don’t tell it that. I don’t want it to think of it as a challenge.

But seriously, I did not have one piece of tight clothing in my closet besides pants before I purchased this dress. It filled a void in my wardrobe. It probably will be the only tight piece of clothing for a very long while.

My husband LOVES this dress. I mean loves. He wants me to wear it at every outing.

Enabler. ; )

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Anyway, what was I saying? Oh, yea. That I won’t pay full price. Yea. That’s right. Never again.

Wait! What’s that?…

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Do you have a strict “sale only” philosophy?

I am in love with the Lace Study Dress. It’s the stuff sounds are made of… Pocket books die for…

And bellies proudly salute.