V-day date

Dustin and I don't always do something big for Valentine's day (which I'm perfectly ok with)...but if he offers, I certainly won't turn it down. So when he asked if I wanted to do something this year, the answer was "Of course!" And when he asked if I wanted it to be a surprise, the answer was "Of COURSE!" (and here's where I'm tempted to type, "Who doesn't love surprises?" But plenty of people don't, and that's just not the point. The point is I love surprises. And my husband loves me. Yay!)

So early last week, he told me we had dinner reservations for Friday at eight, at a place neither of us have been. Sounded good to me! Then Thursday night he warned me that I would need to "look nice" (as if I don't always...oh wait, he's seen my winter weekend uniform...sweatpants were apparently not going to cut it.) And oh yeah, I would need to be ready to leave from work. For eight-o-clock reservations? I mean, I work hard, but c'mon! Where was he taking me, Ohio?

But I deferred questioning in the interest of not spoiling the surprise, and was ready promptly after the quitting bell (I wish we had such a thing!) sounded. Turned out, Dus had extra-secret plans for us and we weren't going straight to dinner after all. Instead we were going to Phipps Conservatory for a Valentine's special. A self-guided tour (read: we could do whatever we wanted, and not get in trouble for tasting the vanilla orchids...not that we would) of the whole place, plus an alcoholic beverage of our choice, and a selection of fondue. Yum!

I had never been to the conservatory before, and have always wanted to visit, so it was the perfect surprise. Unfortunately I forgot my camera (that's what happens when you don't know you're going somewhere awesome!) so I don't have pics, but it was probably for the best: we needed to leave for dinner in a little over an hour....and once I get snapping, it's hard to stop. So we captured some "mind-photos" and vowed to return when we have more time, and an empty SD card.

I did manage to get a cell-phone pic of the feast....


I'm not ashamed to say I drank that entire glass of wine (to the brim) and that entire bowl of chocolate (to the brim!) And THEN we went to dinner. My kind of evening.

Dinner was at a swanky little place in the South Hills, Bistro 19. My drink, salad and dinner were superb, but I demurred when it came to dessert. Such a lady (a lady with a belly full of chocolate). We had a wonderful time, talking about past Valentine's days (of which we could remember almost nothing) and dreaming about the future. Dus even confessed that he had researched puppies as one of my possible gifts. Sure, that melted my heart, but I think I'd chose food over responsibility any day.

Well done, husband. I <3 you.