Champagne & Chocolate Fondue

Our Valentine's tradition is that we celebrate it on February 12. This year Lyle said it was "one of the best things we've ever done." He is passionate about this for logical purposes (no waiting in long lines or in traffic). I second his motion because it makes it a more special day for a us, a day that no one shares with us. When we were dating, I realized that February 12 was a six month anniversary from our first date. So I said we should celebrate it then, because it would be like an anniversary celebration (which we had never before celebrated). I mean, what girl doesn't want her treats two days before everyone else right? Needless to say it stuck and we're proud of our tradition.

This year Lyle really surprised me, which he rarely does. It's not that he doesn't try, it's just that I am apparently hard to shop for and keep surprises from. Over the winter break when we were in California we were realizing how much we had missed See's Chocolates since they are impossible to get on the East Coast. Also, I discovered a love, nay a passion, for peanut brittle. My mother NEVER had treats like that in the house, much less made the homemade version, so I didn't grow up with it, but after one taste of the See's Candy Peanut Brittle I was hooked. After we got back, not another word was said about See's because, well, why get excited over something you can't have right? WRONG. Lyle surprised me with not only a box of See's Candy Peanut Brittle, but also a hand picked box of See's Candy chocolates. We have been indulging and rationing both boxes. He also remembered a shirt I had been wanting and surprised me with that as well. You did good Lyle! Keep up the good work!
I seem to get him more logical things he needs for Valentine's day, but he prefers it that way. He, also, is VERY picky about gifts and nice things he receives! One thing I know he can't resist is candy like myself. So sour patch kids and Lindt Lindor milk chocolate truffles are the way to go for Lyle. We kind of like candy. Good thing Lyle is going to be a dentist! We will need it!
As far as our dining plans for Vday went, they were MEMORABLE to say the least. At Christmas I received a gift card from a family that owns 3 restaurants in the City. They are formal bar type places. I decided to save the gift card for Vday. I made a reservation for the one that looked the most formal out of the three called the Volstead. I told Meera (the mother of the family) that I booked a reservation and she gave me a list with her favorite dishes and the manager who would be there that night. She said to make sure when we got there to let the manager know who we were and they would "take care of us". We got there not realizing it was a VERY HIP bar in midtown where all the business people go after work. I got stopped at the door and didn't have my ID (go figure). Lyle had his and had to vouch for me. I was getting grilled about what my horoscope was, when I graduated high school, etc. It was pretty funny. Then, we get inside and it is LOUD. I thought it was a more quiet, formal dining experience, but this was something we NEVER would have chosen on our own, so it was very cool to happen to be there. We tell the manager who we are and after we are seated in a small room away from the bar, we are served two very tall glasses of champagne. We were shocked, although I don't know why. We thankfully took the glasses and as soon as our super nice server left we had a ten minute conversation about how we were going to get rid of the champagne without looking ungrateful. It's a good thing it was loud in there because our conversation would have sounded ridiculous to anyone listening. We were going to walk to the bar and try to leave it there, leave it in the bathroom, put it on another table, ask others if they wanted it, and finally a busboy came by our table to take away our appetizer dishes and I quickly handed them over to him explaining that we didn't drink. He was very nice about it. We then ordered our dinner, and asked for the check. Our server then surprised us with chocolate fondue with all the fixins! When we got the bill, we noticed we weren't charged for our drinks or the dessert, and we only paid $30 including tip with all the food we ordered. We really got the VIP treatment and have nothing but good things to say about the place. We're so glad we had the gift card because we never would have picked the place off a list or from walking by it. We can't wait to bring our more "daring" friends out to the loud bar to have a true New York after work bar experience. Sorry guys, no champagne for you...only us VIPs (ha).