To spice things up I asked Dianna to plan our anniversary date. This was a big step for us because it meant stepping out of both of our comfort zones. Dianna doesn’t like to make decisions like where we go on dates, and I, well… do. Plus a five-year celebration… that is a big one! Sadly, with my work schedule and [insert lame excuse #2-n], our dates are habitually homogenous and lackluster. In comes Dianna to the rescue!
First of all, the anticipation for this epic evening solidified its greatness. It was kept from me all week where we were going, despite my efforts to coerce details out of Dianna. All the babysitting was pre-arranged, reservations were made, and a great amount of thought went into guiding our conversations and reminiscing about our marriage. I managed to do my part, which was simple but historically difficult to execute: get home from work.
We left the house on time for our 6:00 PM reservation at none other than: Fogo de Chao. Now, if you are not familiar with this place, I don’t blame you. Even to me, one who loves Brazil and food, it’s existence bordered on mythical. It is an uber-lavish Brazilian Churrascaria (Steakhouse). From the complimentary valet, to the vertically rotating racks of beef ribs in the front window glass fireplace, to the southern-Brazilian artwork hanging on the walls, to the mural engraved silverware, to the probably 3:1 waiter-to-guest ratio, it was as over-the-top as anything I’ve seen… and that was before we ate the food!
They had most of the traditional Brazilian foods out on the buffet, and what they didn’t have out, we asked for and they brought to us (like farofa for me and grilled pineapple for Dianna). Their meats were all prime, perfectly grilled on a spear over open flame, and the variety included lamb, filet mignon, ribeye, and others. It was like nothing else I’ve had. Folks… I was so inspired I could have written a poem. We savored every bite… all of them… and there were lots and lots and lots.
For our dinner conversation Dianna and I revisited the last five years through stories and pictures. Here are two that Dianna brought to the restaurant:
Boy, those pictures speak a thousand words, do they not? I realized that if this evening was with anyone else or for any other reason, it wouldn’t have meant to me what it did because I was celebrating five years of marriage with Dianna.
As if our evening needed to get any better, we overheard our waiter explain to the table next to us that it was “Restaurant Week” in Dallas (for one week every year, normally out-of-reach restaurants, like the one we were in, bring down their prices for the average diner). So our bill ended up a fraction of what it would have been normally. What an unbelievable surprise to us!
After a little more than two hours, we stepped into our car and let the valets graciously close the car doors for us. We probably couldn’t have managed that on our own. We decided we better incorporate some kind of movement in the remaining 90 minutes of babysitter time we had, so we walked around the mall and talked. As we wrapped up our date I thought of how great a job Dianna did. It really was a perfect five-year celebration.
