We Celebrated.

We set our table.


We made filet mignon with creamy bleu cheese sauce, sauteed mushrooms, and crispy cornmeal onion rings. Plus, we made a pink cocktail that involved pomegranate, vodka, and a splash of Champagne.


We made raspberry curd meringue tart with a dark chocolate crust. Isn't meringue beautiful? You don't want to know that the raspberry curd didn't set and oozed out like a straight up sauce. Carter even remarked that "it looks like lava," when I cut into it. Nevertheless, it tasted just fine when I shoveled a disgustingly large portion down my gullet. Nothing makes one feel sexy like a stomach distended from inordinate amounts of sugar. And chocolate. And steak.


I also made dark chocolate balsamic truffles. This is the box I put them in. I can't take pictures of the truffles because they're gone. Earlier that day, Carter saw some in a magazine and tried to talk me into making them, but I said no, that I wanted something nicer for our special dessert, but actually I had already made them and stowed them away. Surprise!



I wanted to get him a set of Table Topics for Couples cards like Erin of Elements of Style suggested, but I figured that I could make them just as easily. I did a little research and found a suitable list of about a hundred probing questions, and made our own little stack. Things like "Where do you go for advice?" and "Did you take your lunch or eat school lunch?" and "Do you believe there's one soul mate for each person?" and "Who was your worst boss?" I thought they were fun and would make a nice little tradition for after dinner.

Carter was work, work, working away on something Saturday. He made me a scavenger hunt around our house! He put so much thought into it, and I laughed so hard at his thoughtful and witty clues. Each of the ten clues included a sweet compliment, and each of hiding places hinged on things I do throughout the day. We finished up at the scrapbook I keep of our momentos, so we got to look through that, too, plus an extra outpouring of nice things he had to say.

In sum, good things to eat and lots of laughing and declarations about my greatness. What's not to love about that?