dating adventures

Jason and I recently celebrated our eighth anniversary!!
I can't believe it's been that long. A few years ago, Jason did the math and we have officially known each for more than a quarter of my life. Pretty cool, huh?
To celebrate, we went out on the fanciest date we have ever been on--to Ruth's Chris!! Jason's parents gave us a gift card for Christmas and we had been saving it for our anniversary.
Now, for those of you who have kids, you know what a big deal date night is. We made a reservation, invited my brother and his wife, scheduled a babysitter, got all dressed up (I even did my hair!), drove into the city early to walk around a bit, and paid for parking. It was a big deal.
We were so excited. We had both been looking at the menu online for months and couldn't wait to try it!
Finally, it was time for our reservation. We went in and gave our name. It was so fancy and nice! The hostess asked if we planned on using a gift card; yes, Jason said.
"I'm sorry, but our system is down and we can only take cash, check, or cards with raised numbers--no gift cards."
Jason and I had a quick conference; no way could we afford that dinner without our gift card. It looked like our fancy, long awaited date was canceled.
"Would you like me to reschedule you for tomorrow night?"
"We can't come tomorrow night!" I snapped. Yes, I was mad. I was also nearly in tears of frustration, anger, and disappointment. Didn't they understand what a big deal it was for us to go out on a date--a real date, with a babysitter and everything? We couldn't just come back any night they wanted us to!
We went outside to wait for Tyler and Erin and break the news to them. I was so disappointed. My sweet sister-in-law Erin took one look at me and gave me a huge hug and then she and Tyler saved the night. They offered to pay for dinner in exchange for our gift card, so they could come back another night and use it themselves. "Really? Are you sure?" we asked them about a hundred times. They insisted on saving our night so we went back in.
After all that drama, we finally sat down and decided what to get. We settled on the crab cakes and "spicy lobster" appetizers to share, and the sweet potato casserole as a side dish to share. Jason and Tyler got the cowboy ribeye (it was as big as Jason's face), I got a filet with blue cheese crust, and Erin got a salad (she's a vegetarian). 
Once all the food came out, all the frustration from earlier in the evening disappeared. It was so good! The steak was melt in your mouth, the blue cheese crust was so yummy, and the sweet potato casserole was like dessert--and I don't even like sweet potatoes! We also got two desserts to share--a molten chocolate cake with chocolate custard and a white chocolate caramelized banana cream pie. Both were delightful. Out of all the food, though, I think the spicy lobster was my favorite!
So, the night turned out to be so fun. And this is my big public thank-you to Tyler and Erin--THANK YOU! You guys are the best!