date night

We went out on a date last night! It was our first date where Maple stayed with a babysitter. Sean planned the whole thing, which was so nice, because I had no idea what we were doing. He picked me up from work and we headed into Boston. We arrived in the North End around 7, and Sean dropped me off in front of the cutest, fanciest raw vegan restaurant I've ever seen, right in the middle of the old ornate buildings and tiny one-way streets of the North End. He drove away to find parking, and we didn't know there was some big basketball game in the city last night, so it took about 25 minutes for him to get back! But in true Sean form, he wasn't even remotely stressed out about it, and I had ordered us some appetizers, which came just as he was sitting down.

We each ordered a kombucha-based spritzer: mine was blackberry sage, and his was strawberry vanilla. Those were excellent -- I think his drink was the best drink I've ever had. Then we had a seaweed salad (apologies to all the carnivores who read this, I'm sure that sounds horrendous) and gnocchi with english peas. The gnocchi was amazing, and remember, it was all raw and vegan. I think it was made of (blended) cashews and pine nuts and other things. It was unbelievably good. The texture was perfect. For the main course, we had a vegetable Napoleon and tomato ravioli. Sean said it was the best dinner he's had yet in Boston, which is a pretty big statement considering some of the places we've eaten here. For dessert Sean had peaches and cream, and I had the best dessert I've ever had -- a fudge brownie with vanilla chip ice cream, chocolate Magic Shell-like hard topping, and some swirls of fruity syrupy stuff on the side. It was awesome. The whole experience was great, and Sean did an excellent job finding a restaurant and making the night very special. Leaving Maple with a sitter was a big deal for me. Luckily I stopped crying about it by the time we got to the restaurant.

When we got home, Maple was happy to see us. I know this because she hid her face as she always does, which is her way to pretend she's not there. And then we say "Where's Maple? I thought she was right here! That's so weird, she disappeared!" even though she is actually standing right there. Fernanda (the babysitter) told us that Maple did one of her favorite pretend game/scenarios with her. This is where she puts on a pair of my shoes and tells me (or Fernanda in this case) that she's going to work, and I should be sad and cry. So then I (or Fernanda) pretends to be sad and cry, and Maple leaves the room, and then comes back a few minutes later and says, "I'm back!" And everything is good.

PS: This makes me homesick for the Appalachian Trail.