Date Night!

Friday day, I have to say, I was a little stressed out about our lack of dinner plans. We knew that we weren’t going to be breaking the bank, hah as if our personal finances could even refer to the bank anymore, but I still wanted to wrap my mind around what we were going to do! Are we the only ones who can manage to almost get into a disagreement while trying to be romantic and plan something special? Tony was just so complacent about every idea that I came up with, it grew to be rather frustrating. Finally I threw it out to Facebook for suggestions and as they rolled in I perused my friend Erin’s restaurant review blog, We Got Served. If you live in the Twin Cities area and haven’t visited her site, you’re missing out! Both Facebook and WGS created a huge dilemma though . . . everyone was suggesting places we hadn’t tried, which was both a great and terrible problem. It meant they were all on a level playing field and we had no way of choosing. Enter Missy. Man, do I love this girl. She’s my friend Aaron’s girlfriend, which is funny since I’ve actually known her since Kindergarten. I actually wanted her to marry my brother, she was the kid sister I never had. And then we grew up and changed schools and all sorts of random things, including her Mom’s tragic death, and all of the sudden we’re reunited again when she started dating one of my best friend’s. Crazy. Anywhoo. We seem to appreciate food to the same degree, just as my kindred souls understand the depths of those words. Let’s just say there’s good reason why Minnesota women don’t waste away in the winter months, we love our food! She recommended that we try Brasa in St. Paul on Grand Avenue and if just her suggesting it to me made her mouth water at the thought . . . well that was good enough for me!

Tony was able to come home earlier than 7:00, which was a welcomed change, but before we set out for St. Paul we took the opportunity for some pictures. Over the years I have perfected our couple shot to the point of actually providing pointers to friends on how to eliminate cutting someone's head off or the like. Unfortunately all of those rules go out the window when doing a couple shot with a DSLR, but we gave it a go. Being all cute and kissy faced with each other before our date really set the mood and eased us into an evening of just us!


I'm loving Tony's longer hair. He used to grow it out every winter, but the past two years it hasn't happened. Now that he doesn't have a desk job he doesn't seem as intent on cutting it regularly, which is just fine by me . . . if only he would still shave weekly though!


Love this man!


And we're off to St. Paul!


Pulling up to Brasa we were immediately in love with the building. It's completely open and any thoughts about being disappointed we weren't going to get a patio table dissipated. Check it out, this is the walk up hostess/take-out/bar area.


And this is where we were seated.


And after Tony thoroughly surveyed the location he shared . . .

Just kidding, he didn't share anything of importance, but doesn't he look paranoid?

We started with Bell's Oberon Ale and some Corn Muffin's with Honey Butter.


Brasa is 100 % natural, locally produced and organic and has 4 different meats, which can either be had in 1/4 lb, 1/2 lb, full order, served in a sandwich or salad or by plate with 1-3 meats plus sides, of which there are 12-15 options. Tony and I always like to maximize our variety so we each went with a 2 meat plate choosing to sample all 4 meats and shared our 4 sides, which were: Creamed Spinach with Jalapeno, Romaine & Mozzarella Salad, Yellow Rice & Black Beans, and Homemade Chips & Guacamole.

IT WAS SOOOO GOOD! We both loved, well everything, nothing was a let down, well I guess we were both a little underwhelmed by the corn muffins, but otherwise everything was a highlight!

We had great conversation and amazingly kept our talk regarding Isaac to a minimum. We didn't even have to have a "Let's not talk about Isaac talk," either which I completely expected! It was a great evening to reconnect with this guy. The picture on the left was taken on our honeymoon, almost 4 years ago. It's one of my favorite pictures of Tony. I had to take a similar picture on Friday. Don't worry, I'm well aware that he's just getting better with time. :)


After our dinner, not that we had room, we went down to Grand Ole Creamery and got ourselves a couple of cones after watching a parade of families strolling by with the goodness. They make their waffle cones right in the front of the store window. It's literally a hole in the wall, but it's a hole in the wall with history plus it's great!


Tony enjoyed his waffle cone, even though they didn't have Rocky Road. He did get a kick out of their S'mores though. He just loves marshmallows in ice cream!


Cheers to a great evening and ice cream!


The literally icing on the cake was returning to my Mom's to pick up Isaac. He was completely passed out since he fought off his afternoon nap. He normally goes to sleep with me at any time from 9:30-10:00, but went down at my Mom's at 8:00!


He clearly didn't miss us, but I loved the opportunity to snuggle with him a bit.


He continued to sleep so soundly when we got home that for the first time ever, he slept in his crib! Let me repeat that, Isaac slept in his crib for the first time! It was amazing and traumatizing at the same time. I turned the baby monitor up and clearly had no gauge for how loud his crying was, because as soon as I heard a peep I flew down the stairs and he was barely crying . . . he definitely could have fallen back asleep by himself, but neither Tony or I were sleeping well without him. Due to this, I scooped my baby up around 12:30 when he woke and we all slept well.

It could not have been a better night.