The Best Valentine's Day Ever

February 14 has come and gone, but it was the best February 14 I have ever had...

The place ... La Casa Mia in St. Albert
The time ... 6:30 pm
The dress ... casual

The plan was to arrive at Arrigo's house and we would go from there to this mysterious restaurant called "La Casa Mia" in St. Albert.  I arrived at 6:30 on the dot and was greeted by Arrigo, dressed in his Sunday finest.  What! I thought this was supposed to be a casual restaurant, and then to my surprise, I saw the dim lighting, the red heart-shaped balloons, candles everywhere and the small round dinner table, complete with wine and martini glasses, as well as a candelabra.  A hand-painted picture of Venice and soft music topped off the ambience.  One word ... WOW!!!!  Is this for real I asked myself.

Arrigo, being the gentleman he is, took my coat and escorted me to the table, where he pulled out my chair for me.  After he sat down, out comes the waiter, his 11-year-old son, Michael, with mango daiquiries in martini glasses.  He was so cute dressed up in a blue shirt.  He was taking the job so seriously and having fun with it.  Michael (I called him Mickail) suggested the bruschetta, and it was delicioso.  It was nice how Arrigo involved his son in our romantic evening.

While we were eating our Bruschetta, Arrigo presented me with a beautiful card, and inside were several romantic italian phrases he had written.  Of course, he had to translate some of them for me.  I'm getting to know some words, but I have a long way to go.  Oh, I can't forget the bottle of wine Arrigo brought to the table.  Inside the gift bag he gave me were some candles and a box from Ben Moss Jewellers.  Inside the box was a beautiful necklace with multi-coloured stones.  Colour - he knows me so well.  It is my favourite necklace and I wear it with pride.  Now that I have a new necklace (did I say it is my favourite necklace), I ditched the one I was wearing.  Arrigo took it and put it around his neck - no doubt, to look like a chain-weilding Italian.  I'm so glad that he isn't one of those guys.  I couldn't stand dating a guy who has more jewelry than I do.  Here is a picture of him at his best.

I gave him a triathlon outfit so he can look the part when we do his first triathlon together in May. 

After we finished our appetizer, Mickail popped round to our table again asking if we were ready for our main dish and suggested the chicken with rice and stuffed tomato.  We had a choice of teriaki or sun-dried tomato chicken.  I chose sun-dried tomato and it was delicious.  Mickail makes a mean sun-dried tomato chicken dish.

While we were eating our main dish, we played a card game that Arrigo gave me.  It was kind of like the Newlywed Game, testing how well we know each other.  Considering we have only been dating for a couple of months, we did pretty well.

Oh, out popped Mickail again, wanting to know if we would like dessert.  He suggested the Creme Brulee.  I had never had Creme Brulee, so I answered with an emphatic YES!  It was absolutely delicious.  Well done, Mickail.  I think he has a future as a head waiter in a fine Italian restaurant, and he deserved a big tip.

February 14, 2012 was the lovliest evening I have ever shared with anyone and I have Arrigo, amore mio, to thank for that.