Date Night

I am careful when talking about Damien on my blog because I don't want to constantly gag people with all the lovey dovey feelings I have for him. He is amazing, he is so fun, he really is my best friend (insert gagging sounds here). I don't know why I don't write more honestly about how much I love him because the truth is- I seriously love him more and more each day I am with him. I feel so lucky that I met him when we were so young and that we were able to start a family and a life with one another. I am so blessed to be married to someone who I can talk to about anything and everything and also spend countless days together without getting tired of him. I am lucky to have married someone who I (if we didn't keep having kids together) would apply for The Amazing Race with and kick some serious butt! I am lucky and so happy to have him and think I need to be less humble about the amazing relationship we have.

The other night- I glanced at the calendar and on Friday, February 20th a small note read, Date Night. Yeah, that's right. Date night. I immediately got excited and really couldn't wait to go out! Before we knew it- Friday was here and I was pumped to know that I didn't have to cook dinner or watch the kids that night. It was all about us! Damien took me to downtown San Jose where we had a delicious dinner at Bella Mia. We hadn't been there in years but it holds a special place in our hearts. When we were first dating in college, I told Damien one night that we should go out to dinner. I then suggested Bella Mia. Damien obliged but immediately began panicking because unbeknownst to me- he didn't have a lot of money at the time. When we went to dinner, I looked for something delicious while Damien searched the menu for the most inexpensive item. He ended up picking cheese ravioli and water which I now know that he loathes (the raviolis, not the water). Sweet guy. He tried to show me a night on the town while wiping sweat off his brow the whole night wondering if he had enough money to cover it! Bella Mia was really really good and we definitely did not order the ravioli this time!

After we ate, I was in a post-eating coma and really didn't pay attention to where Damien was driving. I was enjoying the conversation and relishing in the moment that I wasn't reaching in the backseat to hand Matthew his pluggie or helping Michael and Claire solve a disagreement. Then it dawned on me that there might be a Part B of the date and I realized we were headed to HP Pavillion and so were A LOT of other people. "Are we going to see a concert?" I asked. "Maybe", he said. Just then- I looked up and saw Celine Dion appear on the reader board and I was soooo happy! I absolutely love Celine. I love her music but I also love that she seems so real. Anytime I have seen her on television, she is doing good things for people. I also love that when she performs, you can tell she is totally into what she is singing. We have a condition in our family called 'Ugly McSinging Face'. This rare condition prevents you from looking the least bit attractive when you sing and involves a lot of eye squinting, face contorting, and sometimes tears from feeling the music so deeply. I believe Celine also has this rare condition and I LOVE her for it!

Celine Dion hasn't sung in San Jose for ten years and wouldn't you know I was lucky enough to have gone with Damien back then! Ten years ago we found out that Celine was going to be in San Jose that very same night. Because we were crazy (and childless) we hopped into the car and went downtown to see if we could buy some tickets from scalpers. We asked everyone- and no such luck. We were about to give up when I approached this man and asked if he had tickets. I must have looked desperate because he said to me, 'How bad do you want to see Celine?' I went into a mad speech about how much I love her music and that it would mean so much to me. It turns out- he was one of her managers and told us he would get us in . . . for free! He gave Damien his ticket and had me walk in with him as he showed the people at the ticket door his badge. Once we were all safely in- he told us to find some open seats and enjoy the show! IT WAS AWESOME!!!! When I was dating Damien, I listened to a lot of Celine songs as we fell in love. Sappy- yes. True- yes! Those same songs bring me back to one of the best times in my life.

The concert was just as wonderful as it was last time. She is really so talented and I enjoyed each and every song she sang in her two hour performance with no breaks (just costume changes). I left the concert so incredibly happy that I got to see Celine again, but also so happy that Damien thought enough to plan ahead and make an ordinary night extraordinary.