birthday date

so my birthday was a couple of weeks ago, but we weren’t able to celebrate until this past wednesday.  phil managed to plan a little date night for us (hooray!) in the midst of his busy work schedule.  he even arranged babysitting so we could be kid-free (thanks esther for watching the kiddos!).

as always, phil managed to keep his plans a secret so i didn’t know where we were headed until we arrived in front of a steakhouse called “flemings”.  mmm, meat.

ok, so it could be because it’s been a while since we’ve eaten at a grown-up restaurant and been able to eat our food while it was still hot, but OH MY EVERYTHING WAS SOOOOOO GOOD!!!  seriously, everything from the initial toast/olive spread, appetizer, main course, sides, and two desserts was fabulous! 

in our hurry to get out the door, i forgot to take my camera.  but we took pictures of the food with phil’s cell phone.  the quality of the pics aren’t great, but i still want to post them to remember this wonderful date.

we ordered the smoked norwegian salmon bruschetta with dill cream cheese and sun-dried tomato relish for our appetizer.

i ordered the chef’s mixed grill which was one of the specials of the evening:  two bacon-wrapped filet mignon, chilean sea bass topped with proscuitto, and two petite lobster tails deep-fried and topped with a honey sauce.  mmm!
 

happy me!

phil ordered the prime rib.  we also ordered parmesan-peppercorn mashed potatoes and creamed spinach for sides.  here he is sipping a mojito!

we were stuffed, but couldn’t resist ordering the chocolate lava cake for dessert.  it had to be ordered twenty minutes in advance and was quite probably the BEST dessert i’ve ever had!  i would totally go back there just to order this dessert again.  it was that good.  but!  before the lava cake came out, the waiter said a little birdie told him it was my birthday and so we got to enjoy complimentary creme brulee as well.

and then came the chocolate lava cake– rich chocolate cake with a molten chocolate center, served with vanilla ice cream and chopped pistachios, and fresh whipped cream on the side.

i’m still drooling over all this food!  phil sure picked a winner.  as good as the food was, the company was even better.    it was so nice to have a whole evening to ourselves to enjoy our food, enjoy each other’s company, and to finish sentences without interruption.  on the drive home, i commented to phil how it felt just like old times- just thoroughly enjoying being together.  “when we were dating or after we got married?” queried phil.  i simply answered, “before we had kids!” 

still, i gotta say, it was also sweet to return home back to the cheery faces and hugs from our munchkins.  i am indeed blessed far beyond what i deserve.