9 Make it a Date 01/12: January

Josh was so sweet the morning of our January date (aka 01/12 in our Year of Dates). He woke me up that day already dressed up in a tie and everything! I think he was excited ;)

This month's surprise date packet:

"The Wild (Egyptian) Cow"

Our first surprise date packet took us into Downtown Nashville. We hit up The Turnip Truck for some fresh juice - Josh got The Marilyn Monroe and I got The Mr. Rogers! I thought that each juice being named after a celebrity was a cute detail. It made picking out our juices more exciting (At least for me! Though I think if Josh saw "strawberry," "banana," and "coconut" in the description, he'd order that smoothie even if it were called the Mitt Romney, haha). My drink was as good for you as you'd expect a juice named after Mr. Rogers to be, made with fresh carrots, apples, oranges, and celery. Sidenote, why do things taste so much better when you're not the one making them?!

Next we went to The Frist to see the Brooklyn Museum's traveling Egypt Exhibit. Josh loves Ancient Egypt, so when one of our best friends told me about the exhibit, I knew it had to be our first secret date. BONUS, this same friend gave us money for the tickets as a Christmas gift. What a blessing! Even though the tickets weren't THAT expensive, putting a whole year of dates together can add up quick. So I really appreciated her contribution - it was very sweet of her.

The exhibit was so cool. The mummies were fascinating! The patterns and hieroglyphs on the sarcophagi were so intricate and detailed.. I'm just amazed at how much work they put into a dead body. They had so many specific rules about when and how to remove organs, preserve and wrap the body, build the sarcophagus, and decorate their final resting place so they'd get into the afterlife. It just blows my mind. And as for the paintings, I can't imagine how long it would take to cover those surfaces. Their primitive paints and paintbrushes couldn't've been easy to work with! Can you imagine making a mistake? Or running out of paint?! It wasn't as easy as a quick trip to Hobby Lobby. But they were so artistic and intricate. It was just really cool. 

We rounded out the evening with a trip to our favorite vegetarian restaurant, The Wild Cow. We shared the vegan queso and chips appetizer, and agreed that we both like "real" cheese better. Josh got a Philly with a side of corn chips, and I got the Prince Fielder with a side of carrot hummus. It was delicious! I've enjoyed everything I ever gotten from TWC. They take good care of their vegetarians. We had such a good time dreaming, goofing off, and just being together. Josh kept throwing chips at me though. LIKE A CHILD. Don't worry, I flirted right back. ;) 

As we left Nashville, the interstate was packed so we took the long way home, leading us right past our favorite thrift store, Southern Thrift! This wasn't part of the original plan, but Josh suggested we go in for funsies. We found two super cheap board games for less than $5 total! You KNOW Josh was all over that. ;)

All in all, I'd say Date 01/12 was a success. It was just perfect. I'm so excited about the eleven additional surprise dates we have for the rest of the year; Josh is going to love them! 

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Next week, I'll share how we celebrated the 7th anniversary of when we met!