date night

rupert planned a concert-outing for my birthday and our wedding anniversary ... without the kids. it was our first date in close to 9 months. we needed it!

we saw belle and sebastian at the hollywood bowl play with the los angeles philharmonic. it was an awesome show!

the shins were the opening act, and it was fun to catch up with friends while listening to live music in the background. we went with two other couples, our dear friends D+P and R+A. i love spending time with all four of them and i totally talked their ear off between the sets (because, you know, i don't get a lot of adult interaction lately!). [R+A were kind enough to pay for my ticket, and D+P paid for dinner and got me "the princess bride" dvd; can't wait to watch that with ian. :) thanks guys!]

then the sun set, a cool summer breeze picked up and belle and sebastian came on. i only know some of their songs, so i'm not like a huge fan or anything. but it was truly a fun, dynamic show. the lead singer, stuart murdoch, chatted up the audience between songs and his antics made the huge venue seem much more intimate (it's the largest natural outdoor amphitheater in the country). there was audience participation, stuart came out into the stands and the catwalk set up behind the super-deluxe box seats, and towards the end many fans jumped on to the stage to dance (and get chased by security).

i could've totally enjoyed the show just for that, but with the orchestra backing the band up it added another dimension to the music. at certain parts of the songs you could hear the extra depth the orchestral instruments added; it was both subtle and sweeping. at times i would just stare up into the night sky, lean on rupert and just take in the music. it was one of the best concerts i've been to -- relaxed, fun, great music and company, and not hot!

i hope rupert and i can get away sometimes to enjoy an evening with friends or alone. as much as i love the kids, i love my rupert! thanks for a wonderful evening, sweetie!

(and, of course, wouldn't you know, ian's tooth fell out while we were gone.)