Fully Alive…Ready to Smile

posted by erin on Apr 25

I just realized what a kinky sounding title that is, hee, hee. Anyway, I’ve decided to award myself the “Wife of the Year Award” or at the very least the “Wife of the Week Award.” Last night I sat through the entire 3 hours of the first “Lord of the Rings” sitting on a folding chair! And I paid $80 for that bum numbing experience. $80 per ticket to watch a movie that I’ve see 2 times already (once in the extended version because 3 hours of science fiction is just never enough, not to mention we own ALL THREE in the extended edition which if added up comes out to something retarded like 12 hours of movie). The reason we paid so much was because we were attending a special event. The movie was played on a 700 sq ft screen accompanied by a live orchestra and 100 piece choir. All the music was removed from the film itself and replaced with the live music. Actually quite impressive. I can’t imagine how the conductor bobbed his arms up and down for THREE HOURS!!! And let me tell you how hideous an already hideous Orc is in 700 sq ft high definition!

We decided to drive in and have supper with some friends of ours who were attending the concert/movie. They suggested a wonderful bistro in one of the hotels and what a culinary experience that was! I love trying new restaurants and this was no disappointment. The atmosphere was lovely and cozy, all done in dark colors with beautiful paintings and a fireplace. Our server was really friendly and helpful, attentive and accommodating. I’ve been on my cleanse now for 4 weeks and even though I did do some cheating last weekend while Rachelle was here, I’ve tried to remain on course the rest of the time. The diet is quite bland which means when you finally do eat something rich and flavorful it is like music in your mouth.

To start our server told us the wine special which sounded quite lovely, but alcohol is a big no no on my cleanse. Our friends ordered a glass each and the server asks if either Jer or I would be interested.

“No, thank you, I’ll just have water.”

“Are you sure? It’s a really a very nice wine.”

“No, really, I’ll save any major cheating if we have time for dessert.”

“Alright, but it really is good.” (Maybe he gets paid extra for getting customers to drink, I don’t know).

So he brings out their wine and glances at me when I mutter “Mmm, that really does look good.”

“It’s not too late, I can bring you a glass.”

“No, no, really, I’m good.”

“Okay if you change your mind let me know.”

I take a sip of Lisa’s just to see if it really was as good as he seemed to think it was and I let out a little “Mmm”

Mr. Wine-pushing Waiter is by my side “So a glass for you, Miss?”

“Oh, fine.”

“Very good.”

Well let’s just say that I enjoyed THAT dinner more than most : ) I’m not a cheap drunk by any means, but you go and clean out all bad stuff out of your body and have a glass of wine before dinner and tell me how you feel…it hit me right between the eyes in about 3 minutes flat. And then I got this lovely floaty feeling. I REALLY enjoyed myself.

We started out with a basket of warm bread with our choice of a whipped flavored cream cheese or these cute little butter blossoms (I love when food is pretty). Next we ordered Cheese and Roasted Garlic Ravioli which MUST be eaten with a sliver of roasted garlic and wilted arugula on each bite. It was a little flavor explosion in my mouth. We also started with a piping hot skillet of garlicky mushrooms and asiago cheese. I don’t know if the flavors and experience were all enhanced by my slight state of intoxication (and I mean very slight), but sweet heavens, I was ready to take them home to meet my parents!

Jer ordered a steaming bowl of French Onion Soup which I would totally order for myself if it came sans onions. It would work! I always swipe bites off of him minus the onions and personally, I find nothing lacking. I don’t know what they would call it, though…French Non-Onion Soup? French Soup? Yummy Rich Broth with Bread Chunks and Cheese Soup? I guess naming menu items won’t be in my near future for a career.

For dinner I ordered the Sicilian Chicken which was sauted in a Marsala wine reduction and served with spinach, tomatoes and pearl onions. There was this cute little twice baked potato swirl which actually had a fancy name, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it was called (possibly because I didn’t understand a word in the description or because of the wine tickling my brain), whatever the case it was yummy. There was also beautifully done asparagus on the side.

We managed to escape without dessert, which is probably a very good thing as there wasn’t much that I put in my mouth that I should actually have eaten. We were late in arriving for the concert, which I hate, mostly because of the awkward fumbling in the dark as you try and hunch down and sneak into your seats, which are inevitably in the middle of the row right in front. “Excuse me, sorry, pardon me, sorry.” Yeah, yeah, I know, be on time.

I suppose I can’t complain too heavily about sitting through the movie because I HAVE dragged Jer to Michael Buble and Josh Groban concerts and he was very accommodating! So other than the tingly derriere, it was all quite good and Jer was so excited. Granted he didn’t go out and buy new shoes for the event and then proceed to name them (since Hobbits don’t wear shoes, I’m not sure who he’d name them after, but that’s besides the point).

For the grand finale of the evening we stopped at Tim Horton’s and once again life was good.

Chocolate Brownie Iced Capp Supreme…I’m in love.

Gosh, it seems I love food, since my longish post was mostly about dinner and not about the concert…just don’t tell Jer : )