Date Night

On Saturday, my husband and I went out on a date. Because of how tight money has been for the past year, the last real, dinner-and-a-movie-date we went on was for my birthday -- back in August.

My parents had given us some cash and an offer of free babysitting (woot!) for a date night as our Valentine's day gift. We also had a gift card to P. F. Chang's, one of the few Asian restaurants my husband actually likes (he's very particular about Eastern-style foods).

We ordered a "dinner for two" and the lights dimmed just as we got our appetizer. For once, we had an evening that was actually... romantic. (No... wait, yes, we are parents, and we had a romantic evening to ourselves... huh? Does. Not. Compute.) We enjoyed a four-course meal and headed over to the movie theatre to see Coraline in 3-D.

Usually we don't see too many movies in the theatres because of the exorbitant ticket prices, narrow seats with stationary arms (as opposed to the kind that flip up so you can cuddle), cheap-ass food for an arm and a leg and your first born... oh yeah, and did I mention that we saw a movie in 3-D? Which requires those plastic goggles for which they want TWO. EXTRA. DOLLARS. PER. TICKET. My good Lord.

But we had heard from some friends that if we wanted to see Coraline, we should splurge for the 3-D showing. Of course, last weekend was the last opportunity to do so, as the Jonas Brothers are kicking poor Coraline out this coming weekend. Hint: if you are considering shelling out the extra cash to see a flick in 3-D, do yourself a favor and sit in the middle. A seat on either side will do you no good, and, in fact, make you a little dizzy and disoriented.

Movie theatre problems aside, it was even better than I'd hoped. There were plenty of modern Alice in Wonderland parallels, but it also had a bit of a Wizard of Oz, "no place like home" vibe (then again, those two stories are pretty similar themselves) -- but the audience is left a bit unsure of whether Coraline was dreaming or actually awake.

I'd like to keep this fairly spoiler-free, so I'll just say that like both Alice and Dorothy, Coraline gets what she wishes for, realizes it's not really what she wants, and has to use her brain to get back home.

And if you're planning to see it and haven't yet, stay through the credits. The bit at the end is very cool.

It's so nice to get out of the house for once. Spending time alone together isn't too hard when Adam goes to bed before 8 PM, but actually getting out and having a good time is something everybody needs. It really has a way of rejuvenating you.