As some of you might know, Josh and I celebrate three anniversaries. The first is obviously our wedding anniversary, May 17. The second is the anniversary of our first date, which was on Valentine’s Day. Traditionally, this was the anniversary we held in highest regard. Our third anniversary, however, which is one we’ve only recently started celebrating officially, is the day when Josh first asked me out, on February 10, 1998. Nine years later, February 10 was the date on which he proposed.
The reason we started celebrating our February 10 anniversary, aside from being sentimental fools, was actually due to logistics. Try getting a good restaurant reservation on Valentine’s Day! In addition to reservations being hard to come by, a lot of restaurants only serve special Valentine’s Day menus where the choices are limited and the prices are exorbitant. By celebrating on February 10, we basically had our pick of restaurants. Last year, we went to Daniel. This year, I was actually too focused on our new workout regiment to think about restaurant reservations.
Josh had told me he was going to Hartford today and wouldn’t be home until later at night. He left before me in the morning to get to Penn Station on time. This was a rare occurrence, as he’s usually still in bed when I leave for work. While I got ready to go, in my head I had already planned out most of my day. I wanted to go to the gym after work, take a pilates class, and then meet up with Josh for a late game of racquetball, since he told me he wouldn’t get back into the city until 7:30 pm. Then I figured we would just go somewhere in the neighborhood for dinner, a compromise between cooking at home and going out for an elaborate meal.
To my surprise, as I was heading out the door, there was an envelope stuck on top of the doorknob. I opened it up and found a beautiful card inside from Josh wishing me a happy anniversary, and a note saying to meet him at the Union Square Cafe at 7:30 for dinner. I was completely shocked and so excited at the same time, as the Union Square Cafe has been on our “must eat” list for quite a while. I also loved the fact that after 13 years together, Josh still manages to surprise and thrill me.
I felt a little bit guilty about skipping the gym but the Union Square Cafe was absolutely worth the calories. We had a great meal, and service was exactly what we expected from a Danny Meyer restaurant. I can understand now why this place consistently tops the most popular list in the Zagat guide. The food is tasty, not overly fussy, and the atmosphere is warm and inviting. What a lovely way to celebrate our lucky 13th anniversary!
Tags: Anniversary