Something miraculous happened the other night. Something that has never happened before and feels like maybe it will never happen again. But the stars aligned and both of our children were at birthday sleepovers for the night.

My first reaction, upon hearing the news, was to run around the house making guttural victory noises and dancing with joy. I told my husband, “What do you want to do for the night? We have the whole house to ourselves!”

To which he crushed my dreams in one swift instance, by saying, “Ugh, do we have to do anything? I have to get up early for work the next day.”

Feeling deflated, but refusing to be disswayed. I pronounced that he could just take me to dinner.

The day of our date, I spent as much time with my lovely children as I possibly could. They were being such angels and I was so depressed at the thought of them leaving for the night…

Or rather, they fought like animals. My headache was pounding in my ears making me want to burst into tears. I sent them to their rooms for an hour. Then I forgot to make them lunch until three o’clock. I did make chocolate chip cookies. And thus, everything was well again.

I wanted to dress up, but not be too fancy. I wore my new Anthropologie Rippled Manali dress by Vineet Bahl. I bought it during a rare 20% off promotion. I love it! It has an eyelet detail at the bottom. The back is so sexy. I paired it with my Anthropologie wedges.

My husband started the night off with major points when he brought me home flowers after a long day at his work. Yes, he is a keeper. I do love him so.

We went to a little Italian restaurant in town. The candlesticks drip down and make the most gorgeous patterns. Very reminiscent of the very pattern I was wearing on my dress. The doomsday creature in me is always searching out the quickest exit in case of a fire. But the lighting is romantic and quite pretty. We were both craving fish and so we ordered the Chilean Sea Bass that was the special of the night. I also had a glass of wine and a French martini. Have you had one of these? They make them so good here. Just a tad bubbly and frothy. An adult drink with childlike charm. Here is a link to the recipe. Add a splash of champagne to it at the end. That is what our restaurant did. Perfection!

We came home and went into the hot tub. We watched the stars. And then we crawled into bed and… played video games. So much fun!

Marriage is hard. I think nights like these are so important in keeping the romance alive in our marriage. I still get a thrill when we go out together. Sometimes I get so excited, I can barely breathe. I find myself unable to speak in the happiness of the moment.

"Watchin' in slow motion as you turn my way and say

Take my breath away
My love, take my breath away". – Berlin

And after all these years… he still does.