367. Madison Trip, part one: Thursday Night Dinner.

I had the best time in Madison meeting bloggers that I knew, but did not know until last week.

Does that even make sense?

Thursday night I met bloggers Tom and Sara. Tom and his beautiful and charming wife Suzanne had Sara and I over for a special and delicious gluten free dinner. It was a yummy, spicy Moroccan chicken and chickpea dish served with a tasty spinach salad side.

We started the evening out in Tom and Suzanne's enclosed patio. At one point the conversation turned to our lives, our family, relationships and love. Tom and Suzanne's "How We Met" story will stay with me for years. It made me realize that even if we miss something the first time around, fate or coincidence or whatever you want to call it, sometimes intervenes to put us with that which we deeply want.

Tom and Suzanne are wonderful warm people and hosts. I almost forgot that I was meeting them for the first time, because their relaxed friendly way made me feel very welcomed. I also met their Adorable Offspring. (Tom once used this term to describe John and Julia, either in a post or in an e-mail. I'm guilty of overusing it, because it's fitting and so "Tom clever"--as if I needed another, it's an example of the reason why I like Tom's blog, he has a fun witty way with words.) John was somewhat shy around me. While the big kids (us adults) enjoyed our cheese, rice crackers, and wine, he played in an adjacent room. Every 5 minutes or so, he would appear at the doorway and throw his beach ball in my general direction. Then he would bounce in and retrieve it. It was very delightful and cute!

Sweet and lovely toddler Julia is already a promising cracker connoisseur. I was impressed that at the tender age of 2, she already knew that the best way to taste the most variety of crackers is to lick and move on. I was not shy to eat them after her wonderful review! She brought delight to my already happy heart.

Milo, an occasional guest cat on Tom's blog Marginal Utility, unbeknownst to me is a professional cheese reviewer! He jumped up onto a table, tested the cheese, and told me that if I didn't jump in too, he'd keep it all for himself. Well, I wouldn't hear of it! I rudely pushed him aside, picked out the pieces he didn't lick, and ate them before he could come back for more. I hope my behavior didn't put me on Tom and Suzanne's not-to-invite-back list! :)

Sara brought her wonderful witty smart self and Michael's frozen custard. (She brought three different yummy flavors! Mint, vanilla, and chocolate--none disappointed and I helped myself to seconds. Maybe thirds. Well, after the tenth serving I stopped counting. With all the right frozen custard fixings Sara also brought, who could resist? Not me! (Butterscotch, chocolate topping, whipped cream and bananas--delish!)

While Sara talked about a exciting language preservation project on which she worked (preservation via computer stuff that I don't understand well enough to explain!) I thought back to one of her posts about a flirty man at her local gym pool. She wrote something like--and I'm paraphrasing and going from memory here-- "I flashed him my goofiest smile." Well, if goofy means warm and lovely, which her smile is, then I'm sure that gym going man is smitten! (What happened with him, Sara?)

Tom and Sara wrote about the dinner, too! Please read their posts:
Here...

...here...

... and kinda sorta here.