Double Date Night

The DC area got to temperatures in the 70s again today - for the third day in a row - unprecedented weather. If I had not been sick earlier in the week, I might have "caught" something that would have kept me home today. As it is, Mrs. BA and I are in the midst of an unprecedented two-night event of our own. It's Double Date Night! Two Date Nights and Double Dates with two different couples!

Yesterday evening, our friend (Ed in Pittsburgh) and his lovely wife came for a visit. He had some meetings to attend to today and his wife took the opportunity to come along and visit with an old friend. They came without their children. When the plan developed, I immediately saw an opportunity for a date night. As you may know, it's Pizza / Movie night at the Launchpad and we asked one of our frequent attendees (and good friend) to think about looking after LBA and SoBA for the evening. She readily agreed - so Mr. and Mrs. BA are getting out to dinner tonight with Ed and Mrs. Ed. We have made a plan to go here for dinner. It is always good to see them and we are having a great time with them as we usually do (we went away for an anniversary weekend with them a few years ago, which was also a lot of fun.

Thursday also marked the birthday of Mrs. OSG and it was her desire to go out for a grown-up meal. Her hope was to go somewhere that did not have mac and cheese or hot dogs on the menu - and perhaps a place where people would bring us food - and somewhere where we might even be able to drink a little. Who were we to deny this birthday wish?! My [very kind] MIL gave Mrs. BA and I a gift card for dinner out at Christmas, with the added bonus of her being willing to babysit when we wanted to cash in. So we are doing just that. Our destination for Saturday night is this restaurant, where I have my eyes on the Coffee-cured Filet Mignon. I am pretty sure that Mrs. BA and Mr. OSG will be diving into an appetizer plate of the "Mountain of Blue Cheese Chips."

We have not been to Stoney River before and are certainly looking forward to it. As I have said before, I would go out all the time if my wallet and waistline could take it. And there is no lack of new places to go here in the DC area:

• All Your 2011 Restaurant Openings to Look Forward To (Part 1)
• All Your 2011 Restaurant Openings to Look Forward To (Part 2)
• Who We Missed: More Restaurants Opening in 2011
  

But wait there's more! Here's the bonus. My [extremely kind] MIL is in fact, babysitting, and is taking the boys to her house for Saturday night. So our second date night will allow us to have the house to ourselves. Although LBA does have a birthday party on Sunday so Mrs. BA will head out to get them in time for that. I need to go to the grocery store - and I would love to find a store that has one of these installed. As the post notes, there are plans to bring them to the US within the year.