November 18, 2010

It's hard to believe that we have been dating for six years! I guess that saying, "time flies when you're having fun," is true. 

We started our anniversary celebration one day early with dinner at Frida restaurant. Not your average Mexican food restaurant. It was a little more upscale, with beautiful artwork on the walls. However, it was a 30 minute drive. Not totally worth it considering we have at least three of our favorite Mexican restaurants within 5 miles of us.  

Thursday morning, I purposely got to work early (6:15am). I needed as much time possible to prepare dinner. First, I arranged a special delivery to Gabe's work. Gabe has a major sweet tooth, so it seemed fitting to send my sweetheart a bucket full of Mrs. Field's goodies. However, I didn't know when the package would be delivered, only between working hours. Gabe has a pretty flexible work schedule. If there isn't anything urgent, he is out of there as soon as he works his 8 hours that day. I asked one of Gabe's friends/co-workers to check up on him to ensure Gabe had to work until 5pm. The package arrived around lunch time. Gabe was in a staff meeting but received it right after the meeting was over. He liked it, but was embarrassed. Ha ha.   

I wanted to prepare a full meal, instead of our normal weekly quick dinners. I asked Gabe earlier in the week what he would like me to cook. He mentioned that I hadn't made Chicken Cordon Bleu in a while. So I said I would make it. 

I rushed out of work at 2:45pm to head to Target to pick up groceries. Big mistake. Target now has fresh groceries. I ended up spending an hour at the store just browsing, hoping not to forget anything. I finally made it home around 4pm. 

Knowing the dessert would need to be refrigerated for at least three hours, I made that first. Strawberry cheesecake, yum! I am not as talented or patient enough to make much of anything from scratch, especially dessert. I always follow a recipe. The last couple times I tried to experiment ended in salty disaster and mush. I followed a no bake recipe but instead of a pie dish, I used the cupcake tray and made 12 mini cheesecakes. Cut minimum refrigeration time to one hour!  

After placing the cheesecakes in the refrigerator, I whipped out my Paula Deen "Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta" recipe that bestie emailed me and started mixing ingredients. Technically I was still making Chicken Cordon Bleu, but this time not the normal chicken wrapping way. Gabe was home by 5:15pm. Dinner was no where near ready. We ended up making dinner together. He helped by measuring all the ingredients while I pounded the chicken and worked the stove.  Dinner turned out amazing! All Gabe could say was wow, wow, wow! He has another favorite meal now. Dessert was just as tasty. Light and not too rich. The mini cheesecakes were the perfect size (Gabe had two).  

We spent the rest of the night relaxing and cuddling on the couch while watching a movie. To top things off, Gabe treated me to the new Shakira perfume. It was a great anniversary!