December 2 Restaurant moment. Share the best restaurant experience you had this year. Who was there? What made it amazing? What taste stands out in your mind?
This a tough one for me. We eat out a lot, but it's not usually anything special. All the fancy meals I quickly thought of, aside from our wedding reception which wasn't at a restaurant, were actually last year. There was a candelit dinner on a pier on our honeymoon, but that meal was actually a bit disappointing. So....hrmm...aha! I just found an answer, and sorry, its going to be another cheesy newlywed dealie.
When M and I got engaged at the beginning of the year, I knew his dad reasonably well, having spent Thanksgiving at his house twice, one of which was just M, his dad, and me for 4 days, plus we'd met him a couple times when he was passing through town. But I'd only met his mother once or twice for a much shorter period of time. I knew his dad liked me, but I didn't feel like I'd really won her over yet; she's a lot more reserved and takes longer to get to know. So a couple weeks after the engagement, I took a trip down to the panhandle, where M's brother and mom both live. I stayed with his brother and sister in law, and had a good time, but I made sure to get a chance to have lunch with his mom to get to know each other better.
We went to a popular place in town, at least for the retiree set; I don't remember the name. It was good, nothing fabulous, and that's not why I remember it. What was important was the one on one time with his mom, getting to know each other and just as importantly, showing her that I care about getting her approval. I remember talking a lot about her church; she's Catholic though attending a Baptist church, and I call myself some weird mix of Episcopal and Jewish. We were married by a Unitarian Universalist. She asked me about my religious beliefs, and though I'm sure if it were up to her, I would have been more religious, but she seemed to accept my answers. We talked a lot about M, and our relationship. I think it was really important to make that showing to her that I wanted to be a part of the family, and get to know everyone. And it was really the beginning of she and I having our own relationship; after that, I would sometimes call her on the 6 hour drive between Tuscaloosa and Tallahassee (remember that I lived in Alabama while M was in Tally) and she would call me as well. It was the springboard to a lot of other discussions, even some where we disagreed, as well as making both of us more comfortable with one another when M isn't around. She's coming to town tomorrow and really wants to take me shopping; I'm not sure that without that initial step, to make sure I got a chance to go out to eat with her and get some one on one time, that this is something she'd be comfortable with.
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