Date Night in Provo - February 9, 2013

Brandon and I have always put a lot of emphasis on date nights - with just one child who is potty trained and fairly easy overall, it is easy to find a babysitter and not terribly expensive. We really tried to get out on a date about once a week (sometimes twice a week if we were feeling especially indulgent or just had a lot of plans). And we obviously knew dates would be a little more challenging with a newborn so we were trying to enjoy them as much as possible before he came.

But our dates usually consisted of either going out to eat or going to a movie or the occasional get-together with friends. However, every once in a while, we will go to a concert. This particular show we were going to was actually for a band that Brandon's co-worker (Sebastien Gallego) at Avalanche was part of called Searching for Celia. The show was down in Provo which is not my favorite place to go but worth it to support a friend and listen to some fun, new music.

Brandon is kinda obsessed with public transportation and while I think that it is fun to ride, it's not always very convenient. So we weren't planning on taking the recently opened Frontrunner train down to Provo but after passing over the freeway and seeing the traffic from the terrible weather, we decided to be spontaneous and take the train. It did cut into our dinner plans in Salt Lake City since we were at the mercy of the train schedule but we figured we could grab some food to eat before the show down in Provo.

It ended up being quite the adventure once we arrived in Provo. We had to walk almost a mile to get to the venue. I'm not a total wuss and wouldn't usually complain about walking a mile but the only problem was that it was a blizzard outside! And I was 9 months pregnant! Not to mention that because I initially thought we would be driving down to Provo, I wasn't dressed as warm as I would have been if I had known beforehand that we would be taking the train and have to walk. We were also both starving but knew there were lots of restaurants on Center Street in Provo although it had been a while since we had eaten at any of them. We passed by a Japanese restaurant that I knew was good (Osaka) because we had eaten there before but wanted to try something new so ended up at Station 22 Cafe. I know it can be a crap shoot when trying something new but sometimes, it really pays off. This time though, it didn't.

The restaurant had so much potential! It had this cute decor and the servers were dressed all old-fashioned and vintage-y. And from the menu, it looked like they supported local produce and tried to put a new spin on classic recipes. But boy, was it disappointing. Our server was terrible! Not that she was rude or anything, but she was just super flaky. We were sitting for a long time before she even came to take our order and she readily admitted that she had forgotten about us. Really? There were like, two other tables being served. And though I appreciated her honesty, it just made her seem like a really bad server.

All the menu items that looked good were out so our selection was really limited (there were literally like, five things that weren't available on the menu and they looked like the best items on there). And then our actual food was just not very good. I ended up with the ratatouille and it was actually okay. But the tomato basil soup that came with it (and I was so looking forward to because I love tomato basil soup and we had just come in from some crazy snow) was disgusting. I don't know how you mess that up but it was too spicy and not very flavorful at all. Brandon's entire meal was entirely bad - he got a pot roast and the vegetables were all cooked unevenly - some potatoes were still hard and the onions were barely cooked at all - and mostly, it tasted salty. I can't remember what else he got but it obviously wasn't very memorable. We decided to skip out on dessert.

Our server never even came back to check up on us and see how our food was. The one thing that was really unique about this restaurant was the huge selection of craft sodas. But when Brandon ordered one, the server wasn't sure if they were out or not which was fine because it is not her fault if the restaurant runs out of something. But she said that she would check to see if it was available and if it wasn't, come back to let him know so that he could order something else. But she never came back until she came to bring us the check and when we asked her about the soda, she was just like, "Oh, I totally forgot to even check on that for you!" She could have at least lied at that point and just told us that it was out but that she forgot to come back and tell us but to admit that she didn't even bother checking - what an idiot! You would think that this restaurant could find some more competent servers in a college town like Provo where BYU is located.  Okay - so this might be a bit of a venting post - but seriously, I waitressed at Macaroni Grill and I know it can be challenging when things are busy but it's not exactly rocket science here. Anyway, she didn't get a very good tip and I felt completely justified about it (we probably left 15% instead of our usual 20% which considering how cheap I have heard Provo is, was probably actually a good tip for her).

So after being completely underwhelmed by our dining experience, we trudged back out into the snow to try to find the concert venue. Unfortunately, Brandon's iPhone ran out of batteries so we weren't exactly sure where it was. After walking in what we thought was the direction, I needed to pee very badly and I was freezing and it wasn't where we thought it was so I suggested we go into a nearby Smith's grocery store so I could use the bathroom and Brandon could ask someone for directions or to borrow their phone or something. As I was in the bathroom doing my business, the epiphany hit me that the address of the venue would be on the tickets which were in my purse! Duh!! And here I was judging out waitress for being so dumb. Ended up, the place we were looking for was one street over and actually right around the corner from the restaurant we were just eating at but we did a big circle around it. So there was our adventure just getting to the place.

Searching for Celia plays entirely instrumental music and the highlight of it is the strings duo made up of a violinist and cellist. It was a fun show and we were glad to be supporting Sebastien. City Weekly wrote a little article about them HERE. I got just a couple of pictures from the show but the pictures can never really do justice in displaying the fun energy of the place (it was quite packed).

But our date night adventure didn't end after the show! The show started much later than we thought it would and the train only left hourly so we were on a time limit on getting back. I had told my babysitter that we would be back sometime after 11 pm but because the show started late and we had to take the train (which is a little slower than driving), we got home much later. We also had to really hustle back to the train station to catch the last train - I think I was having contractions from hurrying so much! Fortunately, the sitter was very accommodating in staying later but it made for a very expensive date with the cost of the babysitter, the cost of show, the cost of the dinner, and the cost of the train tickets. And this all would have made me very grumpy in another life but as I have gotten older, I am learning it is just not worth stressing about these things and to just try to go with the flow and enjoy the ride...or the music...or the new experience at a crappy restaurant...or the snowy walk.