My Birthday

This year I had one of the best birthdays I have ever had. It was so simple but so lovely! I got to sleep in because it was on a Sunday. The minute I woke up Ryan gave me my birthday present. He made me homemade Cookies and Cream Ice Cream. It is my favorite of all ice creams, but I always tell him never to buy it because I could eat a whole gallon in one sitting. This ice cream was the best ice cream I have ever eaten! It tasted so fresh and creamy. So, so good!

The afternoon of my birthday we went to see Cirque du Soleil's Quidam. It was one of the best Cirque shows I have seen. Not my favorite. That still belongs to Love followed by Ovo. It was an awesome show, though. It was definitely worth the price.

Finally, we ended the day by having dinner together at Kenny's Burger Joint. This is one of my favorite little places to eat, but we haven't eaten there in over a year. It is way fattening and awful for your health, if you eat the stuff that tastes good that is. What is even worse is that it was both Happy Hour and $1 rib night!  Bad for our arteries, but perfect for my birthday! We shared onion rings and a few ribs. Ryan had the Ahi Tuna Sandwich and I had the BBQ burger. Everything tasted amazing!

A great birthday! I can't wait for the next one!

Show Review: Cirque du Soleil's Dralion

Cirque's official description of Dralion: Fusing the 3000 year-old tradition of Chinese acrobatic arts with the multidisciplinary approach of Cirque du Soleil, Dralion draws its inspiration from Eastern philosophy and its never-ending quest for harmony between humans and nature. The show’s name is derived from its two emblematic creatures: the dragon, symbolizing the East, and the lion, symbolizing the West.

In Dralion, the four elements that govern the natural order take on a human form. Thus embodied, each element is represented by its own evocative colour: air is blue; water is green; fire is red; earth is ochre. In the world of Dralion, cultures blend, Man and Nature are one, and balance is achieved.
 
My review: Cirque's Dralion was, as all of the Cirque shows I have seen, spectacular; something I call Cirquetastic. There will never be a Cirque show I attend that I will say is bad. They all have some amazing acrobatics, innovative tricks and fun characters. I had two favorite parts of this show. One was the amazing singing done by a very talented duo. The man's falsetto was incredible. And, the way the pair sang together was almost magical. I absolutely love that Cirque always has live music performers.
 
My second favorite part of the show had to have been the aerial ribbons performance. I loved the romantic love story that played out between the two characters both in the air and on the stage. I love watching the strength of the performers. Aerial acts are always my favorite and I absolutely love a good aerial ribbon performance.

This is the fifth cirque show that Ryan and I have seen. Their rankings for me are:

1. Love
2. Ovo
3. O
4. Dralion
5. La Nouba

Now even though I would place Dralion close to the end of my Cirque shows list, it is really hard to compare perfection to perfection. Love was the best simply because of the Beatles music and the story the show told. Ovo was excellent for much the same reason; the story of bug love was irresistible. O was spectacular because of the high diving and water aspects of the show. Dralion was great because of the acrobatic feats. And La Nouba? Well, my mom always said if you didn't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all.  There was a small troupe of five Chinese acrobats in the La Nouba show that was amazing. Other than that, not a La Nouba fan.

I can't wait for the next Cirque show to roll into town or to head to Las Vegas to see one again soon!

Surprise Date Night

So yesterday Ryan called and texted me a bazillion times at around 4:30pm. He was trying to get a hold of me to tell me that we were going on a surprise date. He told me to be ready to leave by no later than 6:30pm and dress like we were going to the symphony. He assured me we weren't really going to the symphony, but that actually sounded like fun to me, so I wouldn't have minded that.

I was ready to go by 6:15pm because I was super excited. Ryan has never taken me on a surprise date, so this must be an awesome event, I thought. We headed out in the car north towards Frisco. As we exited the highway, this is what I saw...



CIRQUE OVO? YES!!!

I was excited enough that we were getting to just go to Cirque. Then we got out of the car and promptly got ushered into the VIP Tapis Rouge tent. OMG! This included amazing dinner, alcohol, commemorative picture, Ovo program and excellent seats. The food was simply the best food I have had in a long, long time. Menu items included:

*Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish Mustard on Silver Dollar Rolls
*Crostini with Goat Cheese Dolop
*Edible Orchids Stuffed with Chicken Salad
*Baguette Sandwiches with Porcini Mushrooms
*Crab and Lobster Nachos
*Bloody Mary Shrimp Shooters
*Ahi Tuna Spoons with Red Pepper and Mandarin Orange
*Assorted Fruits and Cheeses with Hummus
*Asian Chicken Skewers with Spiced Cotton Candy (This was the best thing ever!)
*White and Red Wine, Champagne and Beer

After eating all of these absolutely wonderful things (yes, I had at least one of everything listed above except for the fruits and cheeses) and 2 glasses of champagne and a glass and a half of wine, it was time for the show. We had excellent seats and the show is amazing. The actors are all so into their characters. I love that about Cirque shows.




Intermission soon came and we were invited back into the VIP tent for more drinks and dessert. There were mini cupcakes, mini beneights, a chocolate fountain with dippers, a make your own cupcake bar and strawberry banana smoothie shooters. I am not a big chocolate fan, so I just had a mini beneight, three mini cupcakes and a strawberry banana smoothie shooter. Also, I found another couple glasses of champagne to drink. Yum! Also, during intermission we picked up our commemorative photo and free program.

After intermission, we went back in to watch the last half of the show. It is now my second favorite Cirque out of the four I have seen. Nothing yet has beaten the first Cirque Ryan ever took me to, LOVE in Las Vegas. Although I liked LOVE better than Ovo, the Ovo experience was the best date Ryan and I have ever had and I know I will never forget it!