Double Blind Birthday Date

Our love of blind dates (well, technically blind-folded dates) is no secret. So, we were happily surprised to hear that my sister had cleverly planned a double blind date to celebrate both of our birthdays. Yes, both Brandon and I have birthdays in July. July is definitely a superb month for birthdays. 

The first destination for the blind date was to be revealed via mail, so we headed to my parents house to pick up our mail and see what was in store for us. After sorting through several envelopes we found a gift card to Marie Catrib's for dinner that night. Hurrah! Marie Catrib's is my favorite restaurant in the entire world. And, Brandon, while not giving it "entire world" status appreciates their delicious fare as well (aka they have tacos for him). 

Holding our Marie Catrib's gift card with our eyes closed

We were instructed that we had to be done with dinner at Marie Catrib's by 7:15 pm and would be given instructions via text on what our after dinner entertainment would be. 

We arrived plenty early to Marie Catrib's to avoid the dinner rush and make sure we met our 7:15 pm deadline. While we waited for our food, we played around with the table decorations to make different shapes. 

Brandon built a rocket ship

My parents had taken us to Marie Catrib's the week before to celebrate our birthdays together. I feel pretty spoiled to have gotten to go there twice already in July. There are so many great dishes on the menu that it wasn't hard to find something different from the last time. As always the food was spectacularly delicious. 

Me with my giant "We Got the Beet" sandwich

Brandon with his Ancho Lentil Tacos

Since we were celebrating birthdays and had a gift card we splurged. Brandon also got an order of the seasoned potatoes, which are so amazing and addicting that he has renamed them "crack potatoes". He saved most of the potatoes to nibble on throughout the next couple days, because we also decided to split the homemade chocolate pudding. The chocolate pudding is pure, thick, rich, chocolate-y deliciousness decadently topped with real whipped cream. So good. 

Best chocolate pudding ever

While finishing up our meal we received a text from my sister saying that the next stop on our birthday blind date was a Grand Rapids Football Club game. She also texted us tickets to get into the game. We had been to their game the week before and had a lot of fun, so it was a great surprise to be able to go to another one this week. 

Dinner had gone smoothly and quickly, so we had some time to kill. The weather was cool, so we took a nice, after-dinner walk around the neighborhood. When it was time for the game to start we made our way to Houseman field to see GRFC play Lansing United. 

The game was a lot of fun to watch and pretty dramatic. Both teams got a red card in the 12th minute, so the rest of the game was 10 on 10. GRFC ended up winning 3:1. The third goal was dramatically scored during stoppage time right before the official end of the game. GRFC has an enthusiastic fan base making the game even more exciting to watch. 

GRFC vs. Lansing United

Watching the game and enjoying our birthday blind date. 

And that was the end of our double blind birthday blind date. Many thanks to my sister for planning an awesome evening for us. It was also a much needed distraction for me, since I'd come down with a nasty, week-long, upper respiratory virus. Yes, I try to eat well and exercise and take care of my body. Yes, it's the middle of summer. Yes, I've been incredibly irritated to be sick. This blind date evening was a bright spot in a week of sickness.