dinner + a movie

Things have been a little tense around our house lately.  Matt + I have both been going through some stuff that has left us out of sorts and in crappy moods.  Throw on top of that a baby who is not a big fan of eating solids – on her own or with one of us feeding her – leaving us all frustrated and worried, Matt + I were definitely in need of a mental health break.

Fortunately, we still needed to celebrate Mother’s Day as a couple and we also had another reason to celebrate that I will hopefully be able to explain more next week.  Part of Matt’s Mother’s Day gift to me was a date night of my choosing.  Originally, he had told me a “triple D” date – Dewey’s, drinks, and dessert – but I decided to change it to more of a “dinner + a movie” date.  However, Dewey’s was still involved.

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We started off with some much needed drinks:  him with a Six Row Summer Lager and her with a Schlafly Summer Ale (both seasonal St. Louis offerings).

We ended up adding some lemon to our beers, giving them an even greater summer feel.  Although, I actually think they would both be better with orange than with lemon (says the lemon-hater).

We split a large pizza for dinner.  I went for my absolute favorite of their pizzas:  The Green Lantern.  Red sauce, mozzarella, goat cheese, pesto, artichoke hearts, and mushrooms.

Saucy and spicy, but the creaminess of the goat cheese is what really makes this pizza amazing.  Goat cheese should always be included on pizza!  Matt’s pizza involved sausage + black olives, so I was less than interested (it was the Bronx Bomber in case you’re interested).

After we stuffed ourselves silly with dinner (with leftovers to take home!), we headed next door to get some candy before heading out to our movie.  We made a slight detour before sitting down in our movie though.

Look closely…

For MacKenna, since she seems to be a huge fan of the Madagascar commercials, particularly of a certain zebra in his circus gear.  But, that wasn’t the movie we were there to see.  We had a babysitter so we were all about seeing an adult movie.  Or I should say I was all about seeing this movie…

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FINALLY!  I didn’t start reading the books until the movie came out (I literally read the first chapter the night the movie opened), but I honestly could not put the first one down.  I’m now almost finished with the last book (no spoilers please!) and was so excited to FINALLY see the movie.

I thought the movie was fairly true to the book.  There were a few changes in the story line and characters taken out, but I think they did a nice job taking a book written in first person and turning it into a movie.  Matt hasn’t read the books at all, and while I explained some of the storyline to him as I was reading it, he still went into the movie not knowing much but was able to follow the plot line pretty well.  In my opinion, I thought it would have been more difficult to follow had you not read the books, but I don’t necessarily think it’s a prerequisite to the movie – although, the book was better so I really recommend you read the books!

After walking out of the movie (and finding out that at 11 PM, MacKenna was still awake and had hardly eaten anything – solid or liquid, ugh), I felt like a completely different person.  My stress had melted away (well, part of the reason I was stressed was part of the reason why we were celebrating) and I felt more in love with my husband than ever.  We needed that time away from MacKenna, away from our worries, away from the stresses of life.  I need to remember how important it is to take that time for each other.  We need it and deserve it!

Have you see or read The Hunger Games?  Do you make time for regular date nights?