Valentine's Day 2012, he took me out on a surprise date to the Valentine's Day Dinner Dance on the Gateway Clipper in Pittsburgh. I was completely in the dark about this beforehand, and was even more confused when we got off-track due to GPS and Pittsburgh difficulties (if anyone knows driving in Pittsburgh is ridiculous, you understand) and I said he could just call someone to tell them we were running late. He replied that no, he definitely couldn't call anyone. I couldn't figure out why until we arrived! I suppose they wouldn't hold a ferry boat for one out of over 200 couples. We forgot a camera, so we don't have many pictures, but we did snap a few of each other on my phone before dinner.
This is Mr. Anthony with PNC Park in the background. At this point we hadn't figured out that we needed to use the night vision feature on my phone, but the stadium probably came out better this way. Dinner was delicious. They had steak and chicken and a bunch of side items. I thought that some cucumbers marinating in sauce would work for salad dressing...turns out that was not their purpose and I then had oriental-seasoned cucumber salad.
I thought taking a shot of him looking out the window, which was quickly fogging up, would be cool, but this took a few shots to perfect - well, as good as I could manage. This sounds incredibly cheesy, but at one point I just looked at him and it really hit me how great I think he is. I was getting butterflies just like I did on our first date before we were an official couple, and I don't think I stopped smiling all night. We went out on the top deck for about a minute at one point to see the view of the city, but I was freezing so we quickly came inside.
Finally getting the flash to work, this lovely picture was taken mid-conversation. I had him read a note I wrote for him an anxious three weeks prior to the event. That afternoon he met me outside my classroom wearing a suit with a bouquet of tulips and the sweetest card ever, but he had to go acquire a vehicle for the evening while I changed, so I didn't get to give him the note until now.
Oh, by the way, he picked out my dress for me, too. I guess I trust him a lot to let him tell me what to wear to an event unknown to me. As you can see, I was incredibly happy. It sounds weird, but my dream date has always been to just go to a classy place where they play old music and I can dance and be around old people who appreciate that, and BINGO! I've never felt so much like a princess. I also got to slow dance for the first time since high school, and with someone who means so much to me. At one point the band started singing "Get Down On It" while Anthony and I were taking a break, and then the guy came over and sang to us, telling us to "get your back up off the wall."
When the evening was over, more surprises were yet to come. Following another difficulty that was the GPS not charging properly, Anthony told me he was taking me home for the night to my house, and did I know how to get home from there? SO, I got to go home and see my family and my dogs, and I was overjoyed! We fell asleep watching Monsters, Inc. and then went to bed. I got up at 6 a.m. to make us breakfast and then we had to leave for him to make his 10:30 a.m. class. Hopefully he doesn't get sick of me telling him how amazing he is.
I guess he kinda likes me a little, huh?
<3
