Date Night

I had the best day yesterday.

We went to Pittsburgh for our post-Valentine dinner, but we left early so we could do a little shopping. We found Pittsburgh's first Trader Joe's (it just opened a few months ago) and it was a little hit or miss. I couldn't find the light cheddar cheese sticks that I had purchased at the Washington, D.C. TJ's in October, which was a bummer, because I'm out and they had a good calorie and fat count. I did find my Fage Greek yogurt, which is completely fat free but incredibly smooth and creamy. It's really quite amazing. I also stocked up on their super fibery muffins and found a new flavor -- cranberry and pomegranate -- and am going to try to freeze them. I also found some yummy-looking tri-layered hummus I'm going to dole out to myself with the new fiber-laden crackers I found earlier in the week. I'll admit I bought some snacking food for this weekend -- some artisan bread with cheese and chiles in it, some soy and flax seed veggie tortilla chips and a wee container of 5-layer Mexican dip -- but I'll split them with my mother.

Since we couldn't find everything we were looking for, we made another stop at Whole Foods. There I found my House Foods Shirataki noodles that are made from tofu and yam flour. Almost completely carb free, and a whole bag is only 40 calories. The things last forever, so I grabbed six bags!

The highlight of the night was dinner. The Thai restaurant was on the small side and we got a nice cozy table in the back. The food was great, and we got shared everything. Those exotic flavors send me over the edge -- coconut, lemongrass, ginger, curry, Thai basil. We had a wonderful time comparing dishes and figuring out how we could recreate it at home. It was a food fest, but definitely a high-quality one.

The best part was having an evening to ourselves -- no child, no parents, no friends. Just the two of us, which was normal when we were first dating but has become a rare occurrence lately. Walnut Street was a little slick with the snow, so it gave an excuse to hold hands. I mentioned to him that we hardly do that anymore, and his response was, "What's wrong with us?" I reminded him that our daughter has it in her head that if we kiss or even touch hands we're going to "make babies," and she does NOT want any babies in our house!

Yes, it was a food-centric day, but the most important parts were the talking, the sharing, the laughing, and the time together. We definitely need more of that.