This weekend we went on our first date night out at a REAL restaurant in over a year. And it felt GREAT. The all caps are obnoxious and also required here. It was that amazing. Simply put, this weekend was much anticipated, and it rocked. No big message in this blog post, just joy, and love. What fun to dress up and enjoy a date night on the town again.
I ordered the champagne because it felt called for to celebrate. And honestly because the woman at the table nearby had a glass and the coupe it came in looked stunning and I needed that experience too.
The joy of Dressing up, and having somewhere to go
I’m playing Taylor Swift in the bathroom straightening my hair, Chris is downstairs ironing his shirt. I pick out a pair of earrings and run down the stairs to hop in the car, knowing we have a reservation to catch. We leave the house and follow the gps to a new restaurant. Such simple things in the “before” but wow they felt indulgent this time. I savored every part of this ritual, and took way longer than necessary getting ready. It’s not that we didn’t have places to go in the pandemic, it’s just they were much more unstructured and on no particular timeline. A date post-vaccines is different – you have a set reservation, you’re going to be around strangers, you’re dressed up, you’re doing this just for fun. There’s a romantic, lightness that I love.
Slow, Spacious Meal
Yes to appetizer. Yes to debating over the menu. Yes to asking the waitress what she recommends and blindly ordering that. Yes to dessert. Luckily the restaurant wasn’t too busy because we were in no rush to hurry through our meal. This was an experience we were present for every part of.
People Watching Magic
Sitting at a table in a restaurant you are sharing the space with so many others. There’s life you get to witness, feel the energy of, be somehow a part of. After a lonely year this felt magical. A mom and two adult daughters. A double date where I overhead one of the guys say to the other couple that he wants to raise their kids to be like close cousins. A family dinner of parents, their daughter and her significant other. The buzz of conversation in the air. Tuning my attention to the level 3 of the space (hey coaches you know what I mean) I was in awe.
Although this also came with the awkwardness of accidental eye contact. You know how when you’re just gazing around absentmindedly and suddenly realize someone else is doing the same and you accidentally catch eyes? And you weren’t actually looking at them, but now it looks like you were? Whatever I’ll take it! Part of being back in the world. 🙂
Exploring our new town
After dinner at Post House we meandered. The restaurant is in Old Village Mt Pleasant, nestled in quiet streets of beautiful old houses. We left the restaurant full of energy and not ready to head home so we went exploring. A street looked interesting, so we walked down it. We heard music down another street and meandered there. We ended up finding our way to the waterfront at angel hour, and took in the warm low sun across the harbor.
Quality Time, Just for Fun
This night was a celebration of being out in the world, enjoying time together amidst others in our new community.
I recognize that there are a multitude of ways people have gone through this pandemic, and various levels of comfort in socializing over the past year. Moving to South Carolina from California this spring initially was a bit of culture shock in terms of the differences in social distance practices. We’ve been incredibly careful and adherent to distancing and that was the right choice for us. So truly, getting our vaccines and giving ourselves permission to be more physically present with others was a true joy. I have so much gratitude for vaccine research, for this decision we made to move cross-country, and for the time Chris and I spent getting through this pandemic together.
Now bring on more hugs, in-person friendships and family, and making new friends in our new city! We are so ready.
