  Last night we arranged Yolanda to watch the kids, and went out for a few hours. We were going to try this new restaurant in the Heights, Onion something, but then we forgot we still wanted to vote (John mainly, I was in a they're both jerks so why bother mood). And so I found myself voting on my datenight. How romantic. Actually, I love our voting precinct. I've blogged that before. We still vote at the Forth Ward community center in the middle of a large, predominantly African American assisted housing complex off Allen Parkway. Without fail, each time we've ever been the people working the booths were polite and enjoyable. When I have the kids, and I always have before so they asked where my kids were this time and I had to explain we were voting on our date, someone always comes up to hold them and entertain them.
When I was pregnant, they'd run for a chair so I didn't have to stand long. I always leave feeling like I've encountered the nicest people in the world. Last night when we left they all hollered after us to have a great time on our date. After we voted we ended up at Mo Mong since we were already close to Montrose. Technically, we shouldn't have gone because we're trying to break out of our 10 Restaurant Rut, and Mo Mong tops that list, but then we rationalized that one should support the staples of a rapidly changing culture like Montrose.
It's great to be recognized at the door and talked to familiarly. The owner asked about our kids and why we haven't been in a while. This is a big reason we can't leave the rut, we love this part. Still, since we'd betrayed our desires to break from normal in the venue, we imposed a mandate on ourselves to order things we'd never had or even tried.
It was so much fun! We had a fantastic appetizer that I can only describe as the Vietnamese answer to the frittata. It was egg whites and tofu filled with sprouts, snap peas, onions, mushrooms, and other vegetables. John ordered a Sake Martini that he's still talking about! I can't say I liked it, but it was the most aesthetically erotic and beautiful drink I've ever seen. The cucumber and ginger floated under the liquor like a submerged Georgia O'Keefe flower. I ordered a rather plain, but still delicious blue (safire) martini with a twist instead of an olive. For our meal, I had Pho Ga soup, a delicious chicken and tofu broth with sprouts, rice noodles, and jalapenos. John ordered Seafood Pad Thai with shrimp, calamari, and fish in rice noodles. We were so satisfied. Next to us a heterosexual couple argued on the cellphone with someone who wasn't coming to some mystery event they were attending after dinner, which incensed them because that person was their only way in.
A homosexual couple of men sat on the other side and discussed whether one should be supporting his son in college or not. I'm such a voyeur. After dinner we still had 45 minutes of sitter scheduled so we decided to go for tea. I wanted to show John the Craftsmen Brothers Bakery I've been frequenting on my Yolanda Tuesdays, but they were closed so instead we went for bubble tea on Milam.
I had a fun conversation with a couple and their 11 month old, and we hurried home since it made me miss my kids so bad. The woman in that couple said she hated being apart from her son, even when she was in bed and I told her I never wanted to sleep without my kids either so I kept them with me. She said she'd been told that was bad and would cause attachment anxiety problems and I told her that was absolutely wrong and how my son who always had slept with me before his sister sleeps perfectly on his own now. I recommended she read Elise Eliot's book which highlights the physiologic benefits of cosleeping. I hope it helped. We went home and Yolanda left and we popped in the movie I'd gotten a few days before. Keeping with my sexy energy theme of the week, I'd specifically sought out the sexiest looking foreign film I could find.
I picked an Italian movie called Malena, which was summed to be a tale of an irresistibly beautiful woman who gets into trouble for her beauty in a small villa during WWII. All the men want her and all the women hate her for her beauty. The film was subtitled and the ratings warned of nudity. I was pretty disappointed regarding the sexual content in the film, nothing much more than a young boy's fantasies was ever shown and seeing a beautiful woman prance around a young kid just doesn't do it for me. But the plot was nice and the writing was witty so I'll still recommend the movie as long as your really after plot and witty writing.
This morning the kids were just crazy. Still, we had a fun time going to Criossant Brioche for breakfast and spent the rest of the day watching football and hanging Christmas lights. I loved watching the New England/Miami game for no other reason than the piles and piles of snow. Snow games just attract me like even the best match-up couldn't. The fans sat amid piles of snow left by the two-foot storm and threw snowballs every big call. The whole stadium would get white all at once! 
