JJ Plans Date Night

My wonderful husband surprised me this week by planning our Monday date night. I love going to NBA games (mostly just the Suns, but I am learning to love the Bobcats) so JJ got us tickets to the Bobcats/Spurs game. The Spurs are huge rivals for the Suns and it is nearly impossible to get tickets to those games, so JJ was shocked he could get such good seats at the last minute.

Turns out it was a good night to go to the game. Sadly, not because the Bobcats won (they lost in the final minutes) but because of who was at the game. Michael Jordan is the majority owner of the team so he is at most games, but surprisingly hard to find. About half way through the first quarter everyone in the arena spotted him after he argued a call with one of the refs...so much for keeping a low profile.

In addition to an MJ spotting, there were two other seemingly famous folks at the game. A few people were trying to take pictures with them so that drew attention. We were sitting a few rows behind them so we couldn't see who they were at first, and to make things more difficult they were both wearing sunglasses (a clear sign of true celebrity...wearing sunglasses inside...at night). Good thing JJ has such good eyesight. He ID'd the guy as St. Louis' own, Nelly. We had to google him to figure out who the girl was. Luckily the gossip websites were up-to-date and informed us that Nelly and Ashanti were attending that night's Bobcats game...but just as friends. The fact that they didn't actually talk to each other the whole night and were on their phones most of the game would confirm that statement. Good for them. Everyone needs more friends. Even the princess of R&B.

Not the best shot, TMZ won't be buying my pics anytime soon

I have to admit, I felt a little out of touch with celeb-reality because I had to google Ashanti to figure out what songs she sings. That's the only reason know she is referred to as the princess of R&B. Still cool to see them.

Way to go JJ, successful date night!

Day of Fun

Date night/day this week was an interesting experience. Unlike the last two weeks, I hadn't planned everything out so we were just winging it.

The day started out with me taking two Valiums...no it was wasn't because I was stressed or worried about spending an entire day with JJ, it was because I was panicking about my scheduled MRI. Not so much a fan of loud enclosed spaces for prolonged periods of time, call me crazy! (Update: Everything came back clear, but I thought I re-injured my shoulder when Barney pulled me down a flight of stairs chasing after another dog). So after coming out of the Valium haze, JJ took me to brunch at Terrace Cafe (my new favorite brunch place). I love brunch, it has to be one of the best things ever invented.

Next, JJ and I decided to visit the mall and pull the trigger on a purchases we had been debating over for about a month. We succumbed to peer pressure (the good kind) and bought an iPad. It is pretty awesome. For the longest time, I thought it was silly to have if you had a laptop, but I think its fun and I'm glad we got it. Now JJ and I won't be fighting over the Mac laptop either. Also, in an effort to entice fall to come faster, I bought a pair of Uggs. I usually buy the knock-of Target brand, so I will be interested to see if I can even tell a difference. I justified it because they weren't the standard ones, they have a split down the side fastened by a big button. Super cute.

We spent the rest of the day playing with our new toy, enjoying Thai take-out and watching all the season premiers on TV. Not a bad date day for not having anything planned!

Mary Poppins

This week we took date night in the opposite direction of the last one. Last week we enjoyed hiking in the great outdoors, this week we enjoyed an NYC-style dinner and a show in uptown Charlotte.

The Broadway show, Mary Poppins, has been in town for a few weeks and I kept hearing great things about it so I talked JJ into going with me. I know musicals aren't his first (or second, or third, or...) choice for entertainment, but I guess he knows how much I love them and he decided to humor me for the night. (This is also a benefit of being the planner, getting to decide on the activity.)

Knowing that we would be downtown for the show, we decided to finally use the gift card to Fleming's we had sitting around. The difficulty is the gift card was for $50 and sadly that isn't even enough for one person to have a whole meal. Luckily, I found out about their happy hour specials (6 different appetizers for $6 each) and burger (around $12 each) specials at the bar. We had an appetizer, two burgers, dessert, and two drinks for right around $50. Probably going to do that for date night again soon.

Loved dinner. Loved the show. Date night #2 = a huge success :)

Lake Norman

In an attempt to get out of our regular "dinner at the same old restaurants and/or a movie" routine JJ and I are getting creative. Once a week we are going to have a fun date to look forward to and we are going to take turns planing the excursions. Although, let's be honest, I will probably end up planning most of them because I tend to like to control things. :)

Last week, we (read: I) did some research on hiking around Charlotte and discovered Lake Norman State Park just up I-77. I found a trail that went right along the lack shore, and as a bonus, it was dog friendly! We packed up the car and started out on our big adventure. Sadly, even with all the research I did, I failed to take note of exactly how far up on I-77 it was. About an hour later we finally reached the park and found the trail head.

Like I said, the trail was right along the lake shore, so we thought this would be the perfect way to reintroduce Barney to the water. He refused to swim in our pool in Phoenix and panicked every time we tried to teach him. I really thought he would do much better if he was able to walk in instead of having to be carried/figure out the pool steps. Well, that didn't work. He refused to go anywhere near the water and even managed to slip out of the leash and try to run away.

The hike was a little over an hour and Barney was exhausted so we hopped back in the car and hit up the Subway in downtown Troutman, NC for lunch. A true metropolitan area if I've ever seen one.