Dedicated to H

A lot of people will tell you they married their best friend. I don't know if that's exactly true in my case, but I will say that one of my best friends is just like the man I married.

We'll start with the basics, Thatboy and H were born on the same day. Not the same exact date, because Thatboy is ancient and H is only near ancient.

For a while I thought H was similar to me, being that we were both married to men who worked for "the man" while we were crazy liberal free thinkers. Then H got a job working for "the man." Suddenly conversations with her became strangely similar to conversations with Thatboy. Especially when she started working in a similar to unit to where he was working. All of a sudden, our couples dinners turned into discussions where I sat quietly while the other three had in depth discussions about the penal code.

And then H got Thatboy a job working with her - albeit in a different department. But still, coworkers. All of a sudden it was as though they were the same person.

Then, 2 weeks ago, H got a job offer for a job that is almost exactly what she wants to do. YAY! She found out the same week we already had a dinner planned, so it turned into a celebration extravaganza.

H picked out the restaurant, one of her favorites - Tiramisu. Shortly after we were sat, but before the wandering violinist spotted us to serenade, H asked if I had brought my camera, so I could blog about the dinner. I instantly imagined H posing with each dish that came to our table, but turns out she got shy when it came to being in the pictures herself. I'm not sure why, since she looked beautiful (we both showed up in the same outfit - black tank and jeans).


We began by splitting the insalate di spinachi (okay, we began with a couple glasses of wine, but the food is always more important, right?).

Spinach, Italian bacon, caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, and a warm balsamic vinaigrette. I don't which I loved more, the giant pieces of parmesan, the sweet onions, or the juicy bacon. I tried to get some in each bite.




H told me she tends to get the same pizza over and over again because she loves it so much. The Pizza Quattro Stagioni. It reminded me of something I'd seen at the "pizza on every corner" stands in Vienna. Except without the corn. What is it with Europeans and corn on their pizza? This one had ham, mozzarella, mushrooms, artichokes, olives, and tomato sauce.



As for me, I am nothing if not predictable, so I went with the gnocchi. Have I mentioned how much I love salt? These gnocchi were perfectly salty! Maybe it was the tomato sauce, or the cheese, or just adding the right amount of salt into the gnocchi dough.

And then came dessert. How can you NOT get tiramisu at a place called Tiramisu? I talked H into the chocolate tiramisu because it reminded me of the tiramisu I make myself.



And it was definitely worth it! Even though I don't love chocolate, there's something so perfectly balancing about a layer of chocolate cream/cheese between drenched lady fingers.

And to bring this post full circle, now that H is leaving the office, you'll never guess who is taking over her position.....that's right! Thatboy! Crazy circular world, right? And H starts her new job tomorrow, so GOOD LUCK H!