Where Bloggers Live 02.2025: Great Date

Morning glories, welcome to today’s post, Where Bloggers Live 02.2025: Great Date. This morning, PC and I took a stroll down Memory Lane, thinking about some of the great dates we have enjoyed in our 22 years together. Starting with our first date. I was smitten with PC from the first moment he contacted me on Match.com. He could write a complete sentence with proper grammar and punctuation AND he was very easy on the eyes!! How could THIS guy be reaching out to ME?

Our First Date

We met up on a Thursday night at Applebee’s for dinner, just a couple of days after his first message to me on the Match.com app. A glass and a half of wine into our dinner, and I decided I was going to be me. I wasn’t going to try to sugarcoat my life at that point, or sweep my failed relationships and struggles with my teenaged daughters under the rug. Doing so served me well. Neither one of us was in the mood or in a place in our lives where we wanted to pussyfoot around with someone who wasn’t a good fit. So we both kind of put it all out there and 2 days later, we had a second date.

After that first date at Applebee’s, we had 5 years of ups and downs, mostly ups but some tough downs, too. A long about year 4, we both decided we wanted to get married but took us another year to get the courage to make that happen. And to build our ‘dream’ house, blend our 2 families, and our 7 pets.

Believe it or not, that’s not the great date I want to write about, though!! Ha!! Could have fooled you, I bet!! Please read on.

Where Bloggers Live Series

 

One great date that both PC and I remembered fondly was what I called “Hurray for Paul Day,” which we celebrated on 03.05.2011. It was kind of a belated birthday bash, I think, as Paul’s birthday is 02.28. Wanted to do something different to make him feel special so I put together a little overnight getaway.

The Prep

The popular ’80s rock band Foreigner was playing at the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero, New Mexico resort and casino about 90 miles from El Paso. I bought tickets for the concert, then made reservations for a ‘room at the inn.’ Ha!! Planned to take PC to Cattle Baron for dinner beforehand.

I wanted the whole thing to be a surprise so didn’t let PC in on any of my plans. He had a softball game that Saturday morning. While he was at the game, I packed an overnight bag for both of us. Bought a gift card to Cattle Baron and put it inside an I love you greeting card along with some cash for gambling at the casino. Bought a few very flashy and borderline obnoxious mylar balloons on my way over to the ballpark.

Paul was busy playing softball so didn’t notice that I had arrived. I parked beside his Honda, tied the helium-filled balloons to a ring of heavy metal skeleton keys and looped the whole thing around his side-view mirror. The balloons bobbed happily above his car and made me smile. Unlocked the car and put the overnight bag in the driver’s seat with the card propped on the steering wheel. Then I had a seat on the bleachers and watched the remainder of the game.

Successfully Surprised

When the game was over, Paul walked with me back toward the parking lot. As we neared the cars, he saw the balloons and got the cutest look on his face. He was really surprised. I think at this point, he asked me what was going, what the balloons were all about.

And I told him to open the car door and read the card on the steering wheel.

He read the card, then asked me when we were going to Ruidoso. I pointed out the overnight bag sitting on his car seat and I said right now.

There was only one hiccup. We now had 2 cars at the ballpark. Plus, Paul was hot and sweaty from his ball game. I decided we could run by home so he could shower and leave his car.

The Date

We arrived at the Village of Ruidoso late in the afternoon, checked into our hotel room. I showered and changed clothes for our date night.

We enjoyed dinner and drinks at Cattle Baron, then returned to the inn to play the penny slot machines in the casino. We had another drink seated near the big fireplace in the bar overlooking the lake. Finally it was time for the main event - the Foreigner concert.

The concert venue was a smallish hall which made it more intimate and fun. Most of the other concert goers were middle-aged Baby Boomers just like us, reliving their younger days. And Foreigner helped us do just that.

 

It was a great concert with an extravagant light show. They played all of their hits and the audience was transported back to our younger years. Everyone swayed and sang to the music for close to 2 hours.

Mission Accomplished

 

We slept late the next morning, checked out of the hotel and went to our favorite restaurant in the village, Log Cabin, for brunch. They do a land office business and this Sunday morning was no exception. But the food is worth the wait. With our tummies full, we drove back into town and walked up and down the main drag, stopping in at all of our favorite shops. By early afternoon, we were on our way back down the mountain toward home. A whirlwind 24 hour date and getaway. I think PC was surprised and felt loved and special. Mission accomplished.

Your Turn

 

PC’s birthday is approaching and I’ve got nothing. He says that our Alaskan cruise is his birthday and my birthday this year. And that works for me but he always winds up doing something for me even after he says things like that. Had hoped maybe we could run off to Phoenix for a couple of Reds spring training games. But we just spent $2200 getting our sprinklers fixed and the valves moved above ground where Paul can more easily work on them himself. Think we better work on building our savings accounts back in the next couple of months.

Do you have a great date story to share? Please tell me all about it in a comment below. I am always looking for date night inspiration and ideas. I have a Pinterest board dedicated to just that. You can check it out, here. Which reminds me, we have a Goodwill date night we need to pull off in the next few weeks. Stay tuned.

Hope whatever you have planned for Valentine’s Day and the long weekend following, you have fun with those you love best. Thank you for spending a few minutes of your day here with me. Happy Valentine’s Day, friend.

Hugs and kisses,