Expensive wine, expensive meals

This post has NOTHING to do with running...

...because I want to remember my weekend in full :) Forewarning: this is long. I'll break it up into a post about Friday and then later on a post about Saturday/Sunday.

First let me be clear about one thing. We don't do nice dinners. Ever. And by "we don't do nice dinners", I mean we never, ever get dressed up and go out. The last time we went to Carabba's, I was in work out clothes (classy, I know). I complained to Sean about never going on dates anymore and so Friday he texted me to tell me we had reservations at 7:30 "somewhere". 

I left work early, came home, had a glass of wine with the hubs, and then we got ready... This told me very clearly how long it's been since I've worn heels because I came wobbling unsteadily out into the living room wearing the heels I bought for my bachelorette party (actually, the whole outfit, thanks, White House Black Market for making me feel rich). I'm very lucky because I don't have to wear heels every day to work. In fact, the majority of the time I'm wearing these bad boys:

Like I said, classy. 

Anyhow, we ended up at Mark's. (Let me pause to just tell you my hubs = awesome.)

Never been? It's ridiculously out of our league. Anyone who gets their initial stamped into the butter they give out must be rich. (Oh and sorry for the crappy picture quality but I turned the flash off so people wouldn't realize I was taking pictures of everything) I'm pretty sure we were the youngest people there and if it had been possible I would've taken the tablecloth home with me just to get my money's worth. 

Mark's is set in an old church, and they really played into all of the details that the church offered - everything was beautiful.

While looking at the wine menu, the wine director cornered us (ok, we were sitting down, she just stopped by our table) and started asking us a million questions about what kind of wine we like, what country/region we like our wine to be from, how dry or fruity we like our wine (is now appropriate to say that we buy 1. wine on clearance at Target and 2. boxed wine from HEB?).

We ended up with a $100+ bottle of wine. You had better believe that when you normally buy wine "because that label is SO cool" or "it's on clearance, let's try it...", $100 for a bottle means that we are drinking every.last.drop.

It was really good, though. She was right on when she described the flavors and it had a nice, smooth, slightly peppery taste afterwards that set well. However Sean's comment was "I can't tell the difference between this stuff and what we had on the way over here..." (Should we have told her that we are SO classy that we drank wine in plastic cups on the way to dinner?)

One of the cool thing's about Mark's is that the menu changes every day. We started out by splitting a salmon sampler that had different types of sashimi salmon with some sort of salad that was to die for. Seriously, one of the best appetizers I've ever had. For the main course, I had seared ahi tuna with risotto and Asian slaw. It was easily one of the best meals I've ever tasted. I tried to eat every bite on my plate but I was so full that I had to leave some of the tuna. 

The whole reason that we went to Mark's in the first place was based on a recommendation from one of Sean's friends. So when we were finishing up our meal and about to grab our check, the GM came out to talk to us and ask us what we wanted for dessert. We both said we were way too full for dessert and he (very politely) told us to pick something, otherwise he would pick for us, and that it was on the house because Sean's friend had called in ahead of time to say we were coming. :) THAT made me feel special. (And let's be honest, you don't really have to twist my arm about having dessert...)

Oh and just to try and redeem myself for re-posting the picture of Sean pointing out the double chin:

We ended up with a raspberry tart with pistachio ice cream that was divine.

Oh yeah, and a candle and a piece of white chocolate that said "Happy Birthday" (I guess now is a good time to mention we were out for my birthday).

If anyone is ever in Houston looking for a really nice (and expensive) place to go to dinner, this is the place, seriously. Actually, the pricing wasn't even that bad, we spent the same amount on a bottle of wine that we did on our appetizer and two dinner plates. 

Oh and if you're wondering, my hubs is seriously the best ever.

Gone on any fancy dates lately? Like I said, we never go on fancy dates. It was fun to get dressed up :) 


Anyone else have the wine problem? I guess we're just really cheap...