Surprise Date

Sometime back in October, Jordan told me not to plan anything for November 17th because he'd planned a date. He made all the arrangements and I made the conscious decision not to think about it so as not to spoil the secret. Considering his tendency to give things away and mine to pick-up on too much, it truly is a small miracle that Jordan managed to keep me in the dark for so long.

Surprise the 1st:
For dinner, Jordan made a knock-off of one of my favorite restaurant dishes, Shanghai Wings. They were excellent. Much better than my own attempt a number of years ago. Being the ever thoughtful husband that he is, he also served Strawberry Onion salad without the onions as well as stuffed mushrooms. A menu meant for me to love and him to tolerate. A great big thank you to the founder of the feast, mushroom stuffer, and babysitter extraordinaire, Mom Johnsen.

Surprise the 2nd:
We drove into Salt Lake and found some great free parking near Abravanel Hall. I will admit, I had expected this much, but made every effort not to look at anything that might have listed their upcoming concerts. As we walked into the Ticket Office, Jordan on his crutch, someone opened the door for us and told Jordan that he needed to do less walking and play more video games. I didn't make the connection until someone dressed as Mario walked past the bench where we were sitting with . . .

Surprise the 3rd:
My very best High School friends! Well, most of them anyway. Melissa had flown back into town just in time to meet up for the performance. Lanae and Ryan were waiting on the bench near Will Call when we came in. Amelia and Keith had tickets in the row and seats just in front of us.

While the concert, Play! A Video Game Symphony, was entertaining (despite the fill-in conductor, technical glitches, and terrible derector/music reader on the orchestra camera) and the music beautifully performed, it was not the best part of the evening. The highlight was sitting in JB's long after closing (as the servers did their side jobs and sinlently wished we would hurry up and leave) with my dear husband and so many dear friends eating dessert and visiting. We do see these friends on a semi-regular basis, but it's been a long time since we got together without all the kids. As fun as it is to have our kids play together, it's an entirely different experience to talk and laugh with old friends stress free.

Thank you, Jordan, for a lovely night.