With the Boyfriend, of course.

Here is my advice for men who are looking to plan a great date and score some major bonus points with the little lady: plan a date around her interests. It’s incredibly flattering to know that you’re paying attention and it guarantees she will have a good time. And unless you’re dating, I don’t know, Lady Gaga or some other wackadoo, chances are she likes some pretty cool stuff and you’ll both end up enjoying yourselves.

Personally, my interests include wine and old movies. The Boyfriend planned accordingly.

We started the evening at the Palace theater in Albany to see a screening of To Kill A Mockingbird. I love watching old movies at the Palace. It’s this grand old theater and I imagine this is what it was like to go to the movie theater when the movies first started. It’s just such a fun, classy atmosphere. I also have to give major props to the ticket people. Upon arriving we discovered the “cash only” rule and could only scrounge eight bucks between the two of us, which left us each a dollar short for a ticket. The ticket people took pity on us and charged us the senior ticket price of four dollars each, thus scoring some major karma for themselves.

I read the book in high school but never got around to seeing the movie. However, I loved the story, wanted to be Scout, and I have a secret crush on Gregory Peck, so the film was on my must-see list. The movie was incredible. The Boyfriend seemed to enjoy it, too, and I always give props to people who are open to watching old black and white movies. I was raised on Bringing Up Baby and Notorious, but I realize this is unusual. There was no Quentin Tarrantino or Michael Bay in the 40s or 50s.

When we were in college a friend of mine had the idea to re-read all the books they forced him to read in high school. While you’ll never get me near Lord of the Flies again and though I’ll be good without re-reading Ellen Foster, generally this turned out to be a good idea. To Kill A Mockingbird was one of the books he read for a second time and he quite enjoyed it. In truth high schoolers are way too busy freaking out about EVERYTHING to bother with understanding books anyway. Not that I blame them; I was the same way. But nowadays, rather than bemoaning the fact that I’m a nerd, I accept it. Nerds read books. Point me to the nearest copy of Harper Lee’s classic.

As we were walking out of the theater, The Boyfriend turned to me and said, “I imagine you exactly like Scout when you were little.” Scrappy and opinionated? I’d say he might be onto something…

The second half of the date centered around another interest of mine: booze. We went to the Wine Bar and Bistro on Lark, which I have been dying to get to. Without knowing it, we picked the perfect date spot! The Wine Bar is located in a warm and romantic brick-covered basement, accented with fireplaces, candles, and local artwork.

They also have a little something called Wine After Work (yes, please).

“You Know You Need It!!”

Since we went on a Monday night, we enjoyed $5 glasses of wine. I tried a Vouvray which is now a new favorite of mine.

A little sweet, but quite crisp and incredibly fresh. The Boyfriend ordered a glass of Chardonnay, but we both agreed that my wine choice was the winner of the evening. We weren’t planning on eating, but before I knew it I found myself ordering butternut squash ravioli with pancetta. I mean, come on.

The Boyfriend got a stew with chicken confit, bacon, sausage, and white beans, all with a side of garlic crostini. This was absolutely incredible.

As soon as the server set down the bowl he said, “Baby, you better take a picture FAST because this isn’t gonna last long!”

They also brought us a carafe of water right away, which is awesome since I drink water like a beast when I go out to eat. I definitely judge a restaurant by how much water they give you.

My blurry Valentine

With its intimate layout, the Wine Bar is decidedly ideal for couples, but I foresee a girls night out with my lady friends there soon. You can’t beat the $20 bottle Wine After Work deal, and the food is good, too. The glasses of wine are plentiful and the hassle of the workweek seem far away.

It was heavenly to slurp soup, sip wine, and chat with my love. I spied a little on the only other couple in the dining room who were clearly on a second date. They knew each other, but they were asking basic questions: Where are you from, What’s your family like, What do you do for a living? I was suddenly very thankful to be sitting across from someone who has known me for years, someone who has seen me cry and makes me laugh, someone who cheered me on at my college graduation and knows my friends. Someone my mother likes. Someone with whom I have a song and a dog and a common obsession with Criminal Minds.

First dates are nice. Anniversaries are pleasant. But a random Monday night out with your sweetheart is something to cherish.

The two apartment couples spent a night in on Saturday. We watched Spanglish and ate copious amounts of cheese. The Roommie and I decided early on that we wanted cheese, wine, and crusty French Bread for dinner.

Counterclockwise from the orange cheese: smoked Cheddar (if you have not tried it, you MUST!), Brie, herbed goat cheese, and smoked Gouda.

In addition to olives and bread we had grapes and an apple.

Sometimes I think it might be nice to lose five pounds, but with so much cheese in the world, is it worth it?

NO.

With our cheese we shared a bottle of Malbec.

I don’t know anything about wine, but I like Malbecs as far as red wine goes. Later we popped a bottle of Mondoro, which is sweet sparkling wine.

Jack and Lola were happy to chill with us in the living room (and wait for pieces of cheese to hit the floor). We wore the younger pup out — Jack fell asleep on my shoulder halfway through the evening.

But Lola was ready to hang out!

Lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lola. (Do you know that song by the Kinks? I’ve been singing it all week.)

I ate more cheese last night than I’d care to admit. Despite the large block of dairy digesting in my stomach currently, I’m thinking sometime in the future this apartment needs to have a wine and cheese party. Ever hosted/been to one??

I’m watching L.A. Story which is one of my all-time favorite movies.

It’s hilarious and the ending is so sweet. It’s a feel-good movie that’s not too sappy. It means even more to me know because The Boyfriend gave me a copy for Christmas. I used to have a VHS copy but then my old VCR ate it (oh yeah, I still use my VCR!) and I was crushed. So The Boyf tracked down a copy for me! He’s so thoughtful!

Jack is looking bored. It’s so sunny out but the wind is a-roaring, which makes for very cold Albany weather. I want to take the monster to the dog park but that wind is making it difficult.

Pleeeease?

He’s so social and loves hanging out with his buddies. I’ll layer up in a bit and make the trek out into the arctic temperatures.

If my morning looked stressful, check out my afternoon: dog park, grocery store and meal planning for the week, and baking (?!). Phew.

The two of us spent about a week with his family between Christmas and New Years.  On Monday we planned a date day in Manhattan which commenced with a very necessary trip to Rockefeller Center so I could pretend to be Liz Lemon.

30 Rock is my absolute favorite show. I have been telling people since season 1 to watch and, thank goodness, they are starting to listen to my good advice.

The tree was pretty cool, I guess.  The Boyfriend finally dragged me away from the 30 Rock sign for a festive couples shot in front of the tree.

Next we scooted over to MOMA.  Did you know that if you are (or, cough, were) a SUNY student, you can get into MOMA and other NYC museums for free?? Just show your student ID card at information.  It’s pretty sweet.

We wanted to see the Tim Burton exhibit there, but it was sold out for the day.  Boo! So instead we strolled the floors.  And then made some art of our own using my camera, a MOMA window, and city lights:

We had plans to see Avatar in 3-D after the MOMA trip.  Before the movie we stopped for dinner at an Italian restaurant near Union Square.

We were hungry so we started with garlic bread and salads.

I ordered the arugula salad as I have been craving arugula since Mom’s Christmas dinner.  The thing is, I sort of expected there might be more to the “Arugula Salad” than just lettuce.  I was wrong in my assumptions.  The salad was okay, but that was it.  I did eat it all, though, because I do love me some leafy greens.

While we waited for dinner I played with the settings on my camera and had a photoshoot with my wine glass.

I’m such a little kid.  I need something to keep my wandering mind busy when I’m sitting still.

Dinner arrived on huge platters and there was much rejoicing.  The Boyfriend got chicken parmesan and it was amazing.

I had one of the specials which was chicken with mushrooms, artichokes, red peppers, and olives with a marsala wine sauce.

Plus a side of pasta.  This is my favorite part about Italian restaurants.

Two clean plates and one stop at a bar for martinis later, we headed over to the theater for Avatar. The animation in that movie was insane! Your brain gets tricked into forgetting that you’re not watching live action for most of the movie. Plus you get these sweet 3-D glasses.

New fashion trend for 2010? I think so.

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