First: when did the whole 2K1_ become a thing? I like it. I’m just wondering.
Now, to the main point: A few years(!) ago, I went on my first official date with R. And we had a lovely time…we felt so adult, so fancy, and so close. And it was the last time I remember being “truly” “happy” before the whole Stuck Between A Rock and A Hard Place thing happened. It was nice and cozy and beautiful. And the next day I had a breakdown walking to my grandmother’s for meatloaf and scraped up my knuckles on brick and didn’t want to eat ever again.
This Valentine’s Day was our first date since he got back from abroad…and it was so different. In the middle of a huge hateful relationship with a few very specific features of my body, I was preoccupied with that. And there’s no looking down at my skin and bones to feel better about anything.
But anyway.
The food was so good and halfway through the shrimp and chorizo R. asked me about how many shrimp I had and I said “I dunno” around some sausage that was in my mouth.
Then I looked at him and said “wow, that’s a huge answer.”
And we had a moment where we celebrated that. And it was lovely to go out, feel like adults, and actually look like adults– not some weirdly pre-pubescent girl-child. I felt comfortable and comforted.
And you guys? The FOOD.
We got: fried brussels sprouts with a beurre blanc (OMG they were so soft and crispy and buttery but still light… they just melted), lavender chicken (with the best curry sauce and banana bread…and it all worked together, even being able to taste a hint of lavender in the SUPER moist chicken), shrimp and chorizo (in some delicious sauce and that chorizo was the best chorizo I’ve ever had in my whole life), avocado/asparagus fried eggroll things (not a huge fan, tbh the avocado was kind of pointless, but the asparagus with the lightly fried batter around it in the sweet chili sauce was better all by its lonesome), and some Swedish meatballs (with lingonberry jam and mashed potatoes and some sweet pickles that were handmade and so deliciously home-styled I felt like I was back in Minnesota for a while).
And then some ice cream back home because it was Valentine’s Day and God understands holidays come during Lent sometimes.
Happy cuddle season. It’s a lot good.
A Lot Good 