January is the busiest time of year for our family, so to celebrate our tenth anniversary, Dan and I were only able to go out for dinner.  (We've got big plans for later on this year.)  Now, I say "only", but I am so blessed by our dining experience.  First, we went to Epi's--known for their Basque food and named after a cook who emigrated to America from Spain in the 20's.  Second, we were served by the woman who will be catering our meal at the IDAhope Writer's Conference.  Bridget was bubbly and attentive.  As my husband put it: "She was the best thing about the meal."  Third, the whole dinner was paid for by the IDAhope treasurer.  Thank you, Carol!

Before I go on, I have to tell you about the food.  (I'm a stay at home mom, so usually the only time I don't have to cook is when my kids have a play date at Carl's Jr.)  We started with calimari, though I don't think we would have ordered an appetizer had we known that both soup and salad came with the entree--not to mention the bread.  (That's a whole meal at Olive Garden.)  Then the main dish came.  Shrimp stuffed fish in a cream sauce--I'll be finishing it for lunch tomorrow.  Last, Dan told Bridget to surprise us with a dessert to share.  And boy did she.  Green apple bread pudding made from croissants, with fresh whipped cream and Epi's homemade caramel sauce.  Wow!  This was especially cool because Dan and I love bread pudding.

Now back to our anniversary.  :-)  In the card Dan gave me, he said that the best thing he's ever done was walk into my dorm room on my first day of college.  Ahhh, how romantic, as my five-year-old daughter would say when Dan and I kiss and she's pretending that we're Troy and Gabriella from High School Musical.  The truth is that Dan walked into my dorm room looking for my roomate who he'd dated the year before, but that just adds the needed comedy to my romance.  In response to Dan's superb line, I simply quoted Jeremy Piven from Gross Point Blank.  "Ten years!  Ten years, man!"