A Night to Remember

They just left. My niece Shelley and her friend Tracy came to spend some time with my mom yesterday then the night with us. They loved mom's apartment and we took them to a beautiful restaurant called TOWN where we ate outside. It was perfect. Mom so enjoyed being with them and the conversation never paused for a moment.

The traffic over the pass to our house was as miserable as predicted and it took over an hour to get home. Pumpkins. All because of pumpkins! Once home, we threw out the plan to eat dinner at a restaurant at the top of the pass. No way were we going to sit in traffic again! We sat in the garden and they had champagne and some white wine before we headed north for dinner. It was all Michael's idea. He is to blame.

He has a friend who owns a restaurant inches from the ocean. It is the same restaurant where we went to their anniversary party a couple of months ago. It is in a time warp. Very 1950s and the people there were often still dressed in clothing of long ago eras: velour shirts on some women, 60s go-go boots, long hair and weird facial hair on some of the men, old fashioned hair styles...you get the point. Well, they loved it. They loved the bar, they loved the people, they REALLY loved the food, they loved the live band. Michael and I highly encouraged them to dance and they were off! We have photos! They were having a ball. We ordered some appetizers and a champagne cocktail for them, Angel's Envy for Michael and water for me. Guess who was driving home? They are known for their crab sandwich on sour dough bread. It is the best we have ever had. They split one, had some very tender strips of steak and hot goat cheese with sun-dried tomatoes, olives, roasted garlic. We also order their garlic bread. I think Michael ate most of it! But, he didn't eat much else....a big mistake.

We arrived around 6:00 and left around 10:00. They were picked up on the dance floor by a gay woman who wanted to dance with them, so they did! Tracy slow danced and was even dipped! Shelley was twirled. She wanted to buy us all another round of drink. Nope. We were done and out the door.

After we got home, I put out a bit of food, a bottle of wine and music. We stayed up talking until midnight. Everyone had a brilliant fun time.

Except Michael. It began around 3AM. Sick. 5AM. Sick. 7AM Sick...you get the idea. It is now 1:30PM and he wanted some McDonald's and a real coke. He is keeping it down. I think he drank three drinks on an empty stomach. Not smart.

So, the girls just left for home over two hours away. It will be a night that will be talked about for ages. I really enjoyed myself.

Today at 3:00, there is a string concert in town featuring some of the orchestra members. I love one of the kids who is heading to college next semester. He is a brilliant violinist and was part of the other group of young violin students I played with during the holidays. He is performing the Bach Double Violin Concerto. A great piece of music. I really want to be there for it.

It was so fun to get out of our routine and spend some time with Shelley who is terrific and smart and funny and so confident. And a good dancer! What a night!