all thaied up

When Jess and I went on our first date, he made me a little nervous initially as he didn't seem to have a plan. You know, you get in the car (another blind date), and they don't even have a destination. (Granted, I didn't give him time to think as the minute we got in the car I started babbling. I do that sometimes, you know, to fill potential empty air.) But Jess actually did have a plan. He suggested the "three and one game." One person picks three locations, the other chooses the one to eat at. I chose the three:

1. Lemongrass (my favorite Thai restaurant)
2. Costa Vida (gave him a Mexican, relatively inexpensive variety)
3. Rumbi (because I couldn't think of anything else that sounded good)

He chose correctly, and we found ourselves enjoying some of the best curry you'll ever eat. And then we spent a couple hours talking. Lemongrass is a perfect place for this - quiet, nice, pretty tinkling oriental music to calm first date nerves. In fact, I don't recall being nervous at all. Must've been the curry.

Eight months (and lots of long distance dating) later, Jess' family invited me to dinner at Lemongrass (Jess and I had since introduced the family to our favorite). Jess was scheduled to come home in a few days, and I had just talked to him that morning as he prepared for his last final. I didn't think anything of the big family dinner - that's the way Cheneys do things. All or nothin'. Especially when it involves free food. :)

We sat down, and I began recommending the dishes of the night. Somewhere in between "panang curry" and "pad see ew," I suddenly found myself being hugged from behind - it was all very confusing, especially when this someone tried to plant one on me.

When I got a good view of the redhead, I pushed him away, screamed, and jumped up to hug him. Once he got me settled down, he dropped down on one knee and opened a box with the prettiest ring I've ever seen.

Months later, we've found our North Carolinian curry. And it's almost as good as Lemongrass. In fact, the only thing it's missing is the tinkling oriental music (they play random favorites of the eighties). And a room fully of Cheneys. :)

(Thai Cafe - I know, they didn't waste time in name selection - made me a little carrot butterfly with my pad thai tonight. And for those who are wondering, I was very sad to see during a downtown SLC driveby in December that Lemongrass is closed. For demolition it appears. Good thing we got our memories in before we lost the best curry in Utah. :) )