Yesterday was our nine-year dating anniversary. On that day, in 2002, Brett asked me to go out for ice cream after a Campus Christians event, and I replied yes, if we could take along my friend Lydia. I knew at this point that this guy could be The One, and I wanted official friend approval before actually dating him. Being the great guy that he is, he was not thrown off by a third wheel on our first date (though I was a little afraid he’d prefer the cute blonde over me).

Once we’d eaten our ice cream and made small talk, Lydia gave me the official okay and pretended she had to go study or something. So Brett and I walked around Potter’s Lake for a couple hours and talked about life. July 23, 2002.

It may be silly to celebrate our dating anniversary, but it’s a bigger number than our wedding anniversary, so it makes me feel like we’ve “accomplished” more. And our wedding anniversary is a week after Christmas and a day after my birthday – a festive time but somewhat squeezed in between other celebrations. Our dating anniversary falls nowhere near any other holidays, so it’s fun to have an excuse to plan something special.

For dinner, we stocked up at the farmer’s market and made a roasted vegetable lasagna. I roasted eggplant, zucchinis and onions (all locally grown), mixed with sauce and layered with cheese, ricotta, and those easy no-cook lasagna noodles. I prefer the texture of traditionally cooked noodles over the no-cook variety, but for this I choose convenience.

I don’t know who could look at this and say that incorporating seasonal, local food requires some sort of sacrifice and deprivation. Add some garlic bread and there’s dinner. Hannah loved it. Yes, our daughter eats roasted eggplant. And hummus, but that’s another post for another day.

Dessert was a basic cupcake from a dark chocolate cake mix with pecans sprinkled on top. However, we “kicked it up a notch” with a drizzle of dulce du leche that my brother and sister-in-law brought from their trip to Argentina.

This was Brett’s, hence the generous drizzle. Earlier, he ran a quick trip to the store to pick out a complementary wine for our anniversary meal. Apparently, this one was on sale, so he grabbed it. I love the label.

We mutually agreed this is not our favorite Pinot Noir, but the label was perfect for the occasion. From our first date, sitting in a park and discussing the future, to now, we’ve had a good simple life.

Here’s to nine years of being Brett’s girl. :)