The Pizza Farm...Best Date Ever

So, it has happened. The best date ever is done and over with and will never be beat, but in case any of you want to replicate the awesomeness of the date, here's what I did:

First, I didn't let Mere know where we were going or what we'd be doing for the date. I sent her an invite as an email attachment. I told her we'd be driving an hour and a half to get there, she should wear something she wouldn't mind getting dirty and that we'd be eating something at some point during the date. That's all she knew for sure before we left Minneapolis.

Once we were on the outskirts of St. Paul, I had her fish a list out of the "inventory" bag. The list was scavengerhuntesque: someone biking, a red-winged black bird, an East coast license plate, a blue tractor, etc. For each thing she was able to cross off her scavenger hunt list, she was able to take a "clue" from an envelope. Clues like: "Though it would take them a long time to get here, TMNT would love this place" and "Mice aren't welcome in restaurants; it's a good thing this place has cats."

Periodically, she was able to take a "challenge" from another envelope. For each completed challenge, she was then able to ask a yes/no question to try to figure out where we're going or what we were doing. Most creative challenge: "For the next mile of the drive, your life is a musical. Sing-narrate your experience of the date thus far." Mere's impromptu sing-naration was brilliant and adorable and I wish I would have figured out a way to record her singing.

Eventually, she put all the clues together and discovered that we were going to a pizza farm. I described the farm a little more to her...it's a farm that makes pizzas in their outdoor brick pizza oven every Tuesday night during the summer. Everything on the pizza (except olives) is grown at the farm and every pie is made to order.

In case you don't know: farms + eating locally and organically = 2 things Mere is ALL about. I knew she'd absolutely love this date idea and sure enough, she had a blast. Getting there early is key. We were the 63rd person to order and we got there about a half an hour after they put the first pizza in the oven and when we left they were well on their way to two hundred pizzas. They don't offer plates, napkins, tables, chairs or beverages, but we were set with some iced tea and my picnic basket with plates and utensils. Others had rather elaborate spreads: tables, tablecloths, tealight candles, balloons (some people were celebrating birthdays), wine, beer, cheese spreads...

Before our pizza was finished, we took a little walk around the farm where we got to meet a few cows and some chickens. There was a bit of time when Mere walked down a row of some sort of produce and started taking pictures all around. During that time, I decided to have a little chat with the chickens: "I'm going to marry that girl some day."

We got the Italian sausage (#1) pizza. It. Was. SO. Good. I'm talking one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth, ever. If you ever get a chance to go: DO IT!

We walked our full tummies back to the car and I called my sister to let her know we were ready for the second bit of the epic date: Mere visiting (some of) my family. It took about an hour to get there. First we met Mom as she was pulling some weeds in the front yard. We walked around the house so Mere could see all the awesome landscaping Mom has done in the backyard and since Bonkers was outside, she got to meet him and see just why we call him the kitty cow.

We walked next door to see Gramma and Gramps. They showed Mere both of their gardens, explained what everything was and offered us some kohlrabi, romaine lettuce and the very first zucchini. When we went into the house, Gramps showed off some of his wooden bowls that he had been working on before his back surgery. He let Mere pick one out to keep. Jo and Carter came over and we got to play with him for awhile and Gramps shared some of his venison jerky with us. Before we left there we had our hands full with more jerky, homemade donuts, rhubarb wine, and a few other goodies. Hugs were exchanged and we headed back to Mom's

Mere got to see one of my baby pictures, had a short tour of the house, and chatted a tiny bit more with my mom before we decided that it was time for us to head back to the Cities (since we both had to work the next day). Everyone was really happy that they were able to meet Mere and I was really happy that Mere didn't freak out on me for not warning her that she was going to be meeting my family.

I Like Dating

It must have been about two years ago when I decided to take myself out on a date once a month. I don't really know where the idea came from necessarily, I wouldn't be surprised if I borrowed it from a book, play or film, but from wherever the inspiration came, I have thoroughly enjoyed treating myself each month. It's a practice of self-esteem and confidence boosting and it gets me out of the house.

Sometimes I plan my date nights in advance, but that's usually only if there's an event that I'd like to go to. Typically I find myself with extra time in a week and then plan to take myself out. About ten minutes before the end of my shift yesterday, my boss asked me what special plans I had for the rest of the day. I admitted that I have a library fine that I have to take care of and once that's done I wasn't quite sure what I'd do. I honestly had no other plans, but as I passed the Edina Cinema on my way home, I thought about taking myself out to the movies.

I took a nice nap on the bus and woke-up just before my stop at the downtown library. Walking into the building, I braced myself for what I feared a tremendous fine and a heavy dose of embarrassment. What I was met with was a terribly long line and only two people working behind the counter. Though I had the patience to wait in the line, I wasn't quite sure how patient everyone else behind me would be when I'd have to go through the process of not only paying my fine but also getting a new library card since I haven't the slightest idea where mine decided to hide in my room. Needless to say, I didn't even step foot into the line.

Instead, Gatsby* and I got cozy in the cafe. I sipped my chai tea latte while I researched showtimes at nearby theaters and I also jotted down a few upcoming concerts I'd like to see. Since I was uncertain if I should see "The Ghost Writer" with Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan or Colin Firth's "A Single Man," I asked Tumblr what I should do. It seemed pretty unanimous.

At home I gussied-up, ate a tuna sandwich and tried to soothe my pre-date jitters. I honestly don't know what it is, but I still get all giddy about taking myself out. Though I thought I had timed my bus ride perfectly, the 7 was just leaving the stop as I left my house. Thankfully I had plenty of time to walk to Lake Street to catch the bus to Uptown without a problem. Even though it was drizzly and a bit chilly, I didn't wear my hat as a hathair preventative. That was probably a dumb idea, but I'd do the same thing if I were going out on a date with another lovely lady, so I didn't mind it too much.

I, a single woman on a date with herself, bought a ticket to see "A Single Man." I didn't get anything from concessions for three reasons:
1) I worked at a movie theatre in high school and cannot stand eating popcorn
2) Everything is overpriced
3) I smuggled in Cadbury Mini Eggs, Reese's Easter Eggs, and Caramel deLite Girl Scout cookies

The film was incredible. I especially enjoyed the cinematographer's choice of fading and/or intensifying color depending on the scenario taking place. Though he's a good actor, before seeing this film, I never would have called Colin Firth a brilliant actor, but that's how I'll refer to him from now on. And Julianne Moore! Let's take a moment to reflect on how stunning she is...yes, completely and utterly stunning. Matthew Goode without his English dialect? At first I was put-off by this, but then I fell in love with him again and was almost convinced that he was indeed American. Then I remembered that doesn't make any sense at all because he's on my list of English men I adore. Colin Firth is on the list too. Why did I even question going to "The Ghost Writer" over this film? Oh yes, that's because of my undying love for Ewan McGregor.

Yes, so anyway, the film was wonderful and I came home with a smile on my face. Date night success. It was such a success that I decided to take myself to the MIA today before I go to work. The only problem with this plan is my laziness. It's such a dreary day and I'd much rather just stay curled-up until the very last minute before catching my bus. Tomorrow will be a much better day to go to the MIA anyway. I don't typically like doing something that keeps me on my feet for a few hours before being kept on my feet at work for six and a half hours.

I Didn't Kiss Her But I Had A Good Reason

For the past week I've been having difficulties breathing. I've had exercise endued asthma for ten years but that's not the persistent problem I've been suffering lately.

It started with heartburn-like symptoms. Sharp, unsettling chest pains that came on with little to no warning and had very little to do with what I had eaten or what I had been doing. These pains came and went.

Last night I had the start of a sore throat. This morning I woke up with a stronger sore throat and developed a cough in the afternoon.

Needless to say, though my date was pleasant and I really did want to kiss her, I don't want to spread whatever this crap is to her, especially because this all sounds a lot like what one of my co-workers had a couple weeks ago: an upper respiratory infection. She went to the doctor and is on antibiotics now.

Ugh.

And all I really want is some smoochy action.