Free Man

My plan was for Patrick's birthday to be full of surprises, which required me to be very vague in conversation, keep a spotless text message inbox, and tell a few white lies over the last week. I had him convinced we were going to look at sunglasses when he got home from work, but instead had a set of going out clothes laying on the bed and scared the crap out of him when he walked through the door by having 4 people scream "Surprise!!!!"

What I didn't plan was for the 4 of us to be twinkies for the night!! I laughed so hard when my accidental mirror image arrived: crimped hair, index finger ring, little black dress, scarf, black boots. I laughed even harder when I realized I owned the exact dress Jess was wearing and showed her the proof in my closet........And then again when we realized how much the boys looked alike (they both even wore grey sweaters over their white shirts).

It's like we know each other really well or something........

We loaded into the car and headed to the next surprise, the almost forgotten streets of Deep Ellum, where exists a very cool place called The Free Man Cafe and Lounge. 

We arrived just before the crowd, picking out the perfect booth for people watching, fantastic Cajun food, and free live Jazz. I know nothing about trumpets.......but the lead horn guy had a hilarious technique of pushing all the valves down rapidly with his whole hand throughout every song. 

We, on the other hand, had our own techniques of playing mouth trumpets when it was solo time, which is always tons of fun. 

I'm pretty good about checking-in to Foursquare when we go new places to see people's tips on what to order.

The experienced don't lie. The wait staff was great and seriously.......best sweet potato fries. Ever. 

And what could I possibly add to the equation that Patrick might think was better than some of his favorite people, live music, and his wife in a little black dress????......You guessed it: sandwiches.
 The Voodoo Chicken Sandwich had so many delicious layers of flavor our taste buds didn't know what to do with it. Jess kept trying to pick hers apart in attempt to figure out what it was made of, but I think this is one entree better left to the experts. 

It was like pulling teeth to get these people to pose for a group shot outdoors. You'd think they were allergic to cold weather. 

Once back home instead of going to bed, we bundled up in our icebox of a living room to watch Ted and drink some warm apple cider, since Patrick was acting like a 5 year old on his first play date. 

"No, I'm not tired! I don't wanna go to sleep. Let's hang out longer!!"

As you can image, same as you might expect with a 5 year old, it wasn't too long after that he was fast asleep on the couch, and we were so thankful he finally gave in!

I guess having too much fun keeps you young at heart. 

Which do you prefer: hot chocolate or warm apple cider?