victory and marinara

today is a big day folks. i got to eat lunch at demos'. perhaps you are thinking..."what's so special about that?" or "who cares?" well my skeptical and perhaps somewhat unenlightened friends... demos' is the place my husband refuses to go. i don't know exactly what he has against the most buttery, perfectly thin spaghetti on the planet, or why he has a problem with hot, parmesean-covered rolls dripping with butter, nor am i sure what the best browned butter and garlic or the creamiest alfredo sauce i've ever had ever did to him...but whatever his irrational beliefs, he typically stomps his little foot and simply will not go. today was different. today he said yes. perhaps it was my pouty bottom lip that did the trick, or my repetition of the sentence "we ARE going to Demos' for lunch" that won him over. it might also have been the withering stare i gave him from the passenger side of our car when he said, "i really don't want to go there" that made him realize i needed pasta in a bad way. whatever the reason for his sudden change of heart, i found myself spending my lunch hour with a much-too-large plate of spaghetti (of which i ate enough to make myself sick) covered in not one, not two, but three different delightful sauces (meat sauce, alfredo, and the browned butter and garlic if you must know), two baskets of the aforementioned rolls, and a salad (my attempt at something healthy...does lettuce actually have any nutritive value??). our waitress was perfectly pleasant and we only had to wait five minutes for a table in the midst of the after-church rush. it was, by all accounts, the best lunch ever. of course, my favorite part of the meal was when he looked at me and said (begrudgingly, with clenched teeth and a smile), "this is actually pretty good. next time i think i'll ask for more marinara."  next time, you say???!!!!! next time!!!!! oh bliss! oh joy! oh yes...there WILL be a next time!