Valentine's Day with Mark

Friday night Mark and I celebrated Valentine's Day because we didn't see each other on the actual V-day date. We had reservations for 7:00 PM at Amore Victoria, a new Italian restaurant on Lake Street in Uptown. I had driven past it a few times and really wanted to try it.

Mark and I had decided to make this year a small Valentine's Day celebration. Dinner and quality time together was to be our gift to each other. And maybe a nice card. On the morning of Valentine's Day, I had left a nice card with some Twizzlers (his favorite candy) and just one red rose for him on the table to that when he got home from work he had a little surprise waiting. Nothing big, but a little something to make him feel special.

On my way home from work, Mark called and told me to call him when I got off of the elevator on our floor. I did, and he came out to meet me in the elevator lobby with a glass of wine and a kiss. Then he led me into the living room, where I was instructed to sit on the couch and not look around at all. I sat down on one couch and Mark sat on the other, holding his guitar. He started playing a song, and I didn't immediately know what song it was. But after a few chords I realized that it was True Companion, by Marc Cohn. He had spent all day Friday learning the song on the guitar, and played the whole song for me.




The funny, and very cute, part of this story is that I had heard this song last weekend during the car ride home from WI. When I got home to MN, I told Mark that he should learn that song and surprise me by playing it at our wedding (which, by the way, is in like 3 years). He laughed at the fact that I would tell him what surprise to do for me. So that fact that he quickly learned the song and played it for me as my gift was so sweet. After he finished the song, he gave me half a dozen red roses as well. It was the perfect gift.



After the song and flowers I quickly got ready and we headed out into the freezing air for dinner. The restaurant was very cute inside. The air and ambiance reminded me of a Tuscan villa renovated into a corner bistro. Ok, I've never actually been to Tuscany, so I've never actually seen a Tuscan villa. But hey, for all I know the place was EXACTLY like a Tuscan villa.

Moving on...

The food was good. I had Eggplant Florentina with a glass of Chianti Classico. The eggplant was good, although it was a bit rich. A thick layer of ricotta cheese was spread over the eggplant, which was then placed on a bed of pasta with spinach leaves. Mark had a pork tenderloin pasta dish that was so good. It had tenderloin with proscuitto in a white wine sauce. For dessert, we split a piece of decadent chocolate cake and a piece of tiramisu.

It was too cold to do anything else, so we came home and enjoyed a thrilling game of Yahtzee. It was a nice Valentine's Day evening with my sweetie.