A Year Ago Today

One year ago today, I walked into a coffee shop for what I thought would be a 1-2 hour date. Little did I know what an impact that day would have on my life. 4 plus hours later (with a second date on the books), I walked out thinking that something special might be in the works for me.

I remember the day before Thanksgiving, when Hank first showed up in my eHarmony daily email. I had only recently gotten back on the site, and was already discouraged by the choices being offered. Then his adorable bald head and big smile stuck out, and I decided I had to at least find out a little more about him. Long story short, we maybe set a record for completing all eHarmony communication steps in a ridiculously short time. We continued to email over the holiday, and then decided on meeting for coffee on Sunday morning.

As soon as I walked in the door and saw him sitting across the room in his handsome straight-off-the-Banana-Republic-mannequin outfit, I knew at the very least that I would enjoy looking at him across the table for a bit. But then the first hour flew by, and then the next, and the next thing I knew...I had completely missed all of the things I had planned to do that afternoon. We just had so much to talk about! I finally had to wrap things up, as the day was quickly ending and I really had things to do. Hank was smart enough to say that he wanted to see me again, and so plans for dinner the following Saturday were made.

It felt like the longest week ever, but the anticipation was half the fun. He picked me up and we ate at La Sombra and then had drinks next door at Apothecary afterwards. It was a great second, first date (because often the first ones are too nerve-racking to count). And the rest, as they say, is history.

To spare you all the gagging details, it has really been a wonderful year, and I expect that it will only continue to get better. Things have moved quickly, and maybe not in the usual order, but it has worked for us. As you all know, I had to deal with some family struggles surrounding the issue of me moving in. And in hindsight, it was actually a good thing. I have been going to counseling and had the chance to really deal with some things that should have been dealt with a long time ago. I know my parents love and care about me, and only want me to be happy. We're finding ways to move forward and this past Thanksgiving I couldn't have been more thankful to spend it with Hank AND my family. I appreciated how welcoming they were to him, and that we were all able to enjoy celebrating together.

My life was already pretty fantastic when he came into it, but I love that he has been able to bring even more good things to it. He makes me laugh, he gets concerned when I'm not taking good care of myself, he makes me coffee, and brings breakfast and the paper to me on Sunday mornings. He doesn't mind when I bring animals home to foster, and even looks for new ones on his own. He feeds my cats and scoops the litter box, and I never had to ask him to. He's my partner- he looks after me, has my back, would do just about anything for me. He makes me smile each and every day. And most importantly- he loves me exactly the way I am. In turn, I'd do anything for him. And I look forward to all the other things to add to my list as time goes on.

So tonight, we'll have fun celebrating at the restaurant where we had our second first date. It's now a different place, but the thought of going back just sounded too fun. I think it's important to celebrate all the little memories that have brought us to where we are, and I hope that we will always find fun ways to celebrate going forward.

Out and About: Hippie Date Night

On Saturday night, Hunk took me out on a "hippie date night". He's been getting a lot of flack for things like our plant-based diet and his new compost bin, but at least we can make fun of ourselves! So we decided to embrace it and visit a couple of local establishments that might be dubbed hipster/hippie.

We started the afternoon with a trip to Ikea. Not really hippie, but fun nonetheless. They are in the middle of an expansion, though I can't imagine it getting much bigger. I love looking at all the kitchen designs and cool drawers, but overall it's very overwhelming to me. The point of the trip was to get cheap storage containers for our pantries. I'm wishing I had grabbed more, but at least I got a good start on getting mine better organized.

Up next was a surprise stop at Black Star Co-Op, a cool member-owner brew pub off North Lamar. Hunk had mentioned it a few times before, and I'm glad we finally made our way over there. I'll admit, it was really hard smelling all the delicious, garlicky food coming out of that kitchen. I tried not to look, but I think I saw some cheese plates, yummy looking sandwiches, and definitely some french fries. <sigh> For the record, they do have a veggie burger, but we didn't want to spoil our appetites for dinner. At least we were able to enjoy some nice cold beer. The space was really cool, and the people watching was spectacular. We really saw a bit of everything, from families with young kids, to a much older couple out on a date themselves. It was a fun environment. I still don't fully understand the Co-Op part, but apparently for about $150, you can be a member-owner that entitles you to certain privileges. I think I'll just stick with going there for the beer.

Last stop was Mother's Cafe & Garden, a vegetarian restaurant in the funky Hyde Park neighborhood. Since we pretty much prepare 3 meals a day, I want to be sure that we can have at least one night where neither one of us is having to do any work. We're using that as an excuse to try some restaurants we might not otherwise go to. Mother's is classic Austin, so it's no surprise it was first on our list. Dinner was great! We had a ton of things to choose from, though we both went with enchiladas. I think I ordered best with my tofu mole enchiladas. They were really tasty and filling! We had to pass on the complimentary chips/salsa (since they're fried in oil), but ended up ordering a delicious guacamole salad to start. Again, you can't beat the people watching when you go to a place like this. Families, couples, friends....and I can't forget the stellar electronic xylophone player for entertainment. Hippie at it's finest!! We rounded out our date night with a vegan chocolate-peanut butter pie that was absolutely amazing. It was seriously hard to tell that it wasn't made with the usual ingredients.

Overall, it was a really fun night and I'm looking forward to whatever other quirky ideas we come up with. But if you love beer, and you're looking for something different to try, I definitely recommend Black Star!