Nine years ago yesterday, Mal and I had our second first date. (We dated in high school, but broke up when I went off to college.) The Wednesday before Thanksgiving 2003, Mal IM-ed me (G-chat wasn’t around yet) to see if I wanted to hang out when he was home from college for break. I already had plans to go bowling with some friends, so I invited him along. We ended up having the best time bowling and we’ve been together ever since!
We actually didn’t realize it was our 9-year anniversary until later in the day, but we both agreed it was a fabulous way to spend it because we did so many of our favorite things together.
After breakfast, we met some CrossFit friends for a friendly game of flag football.
I’m terrible at catching things, so running + catching things is a disaster, so I basically ran around like an idiot. It was still a lot of fun, and I learned some new things about football, like what a blitz is all about.
Lunch
We ended up playing flag football for almost 2 hours, so I was starving by the time we got home. Thankfully, we had some leftover pot roast in the refrigerator, so I reheated it for lunch.
After lunch, I wanted something more to eat, so I finished off a jar of Nikki’s Coconut Butter.
Once Mal and I had a chance to eat lunch and shower, we cleaned the house and then broke out the Christmas decorations.
Out with the oldāĀ¦
In with the new! (Murphy wasn’t sure what to think about his holiday placemat.)
While we cleaned and put out decorations, we listened to Christmas music and drank apple cider, which are both allowed before December 1, according to Mal’s holiday rules.
Snack
A few hours later, Mal and I got ready to go into Boston to see Ray LaMontange. I ate a late lunch, so I wasn’t really hungry for dinner, but I knew I should eat something because I’d probably be hungry later, so I ate a sliced banana with peanut butter.
Around this time, Mal and I realized it was the anniversary of our second first date, so we decided to head into the city a little early to have a celebratory drink together.
We ended up at 6B.
Mal introduced me to dirty martinis on one of our first dates (he said he was trying to impress me), so I ordered one last night. I only ended up drinking about half of it (I’m still feeling things out with my stomach), but it was fun to reminisce about old times and some of our first dates.
Mal was hungry, so he ordered some fried calamari. I had a couple of bites.
Then, it was time to see Ray at the Orpheum!
Ray LaMontagne is one of our favorite musicians (we’ve seen him a number of times in concert), so Mal and I were psyched for his show.
As expected, Ray was amazing. His voice is incredible. He played a mix of his popular songs and songs that he especially liked, but never made it on one of his an albums.
The best part about the show, however, was the stories that Ray told during it. At past concerts, he didn’t say more than a dozen wordsāāusually, just a couple of āthank yousāĀ and maybe a āthank you for comingāĀ at the end. This show though he talked quite a bit and actually went on a couple of mini rants. For instance, he told the crowd how he feels about the folks at Rolling Stone magazine. He called them āpricksāĀ and āthe shallowest music magazine on the rack.āĀ (He mentioned the Olsen twins on the cover.) He also said they don’t āgetāĀ his music and made reference to his song āMeg White,āĀ which he wrote not because there was something going on between him and Meg White (which is what someone from Rolling Stone asked him in an interview), but because he was watching āSeven Nation ArmyāĀ (by The White Stripes) in a bar and it inspired him to write the song. He actually said a lot of his songs come of his imagination and not so much from personal experience.
He also told a pretty amusing story about John Mayer. (Ray and John have the same manager, so they’ve met a number of times over the years.) John told Ray his song āTroubleāĀ wouldn’t be a hit because it didn’t repeat the chorus at the end. Ray explained he thought that format was too predictable, but John said it was āsong writing 101.āĀ The song ended up being a huge success, so John was totally wrong (and perhaps a bit douchey for offering his unsolicited advice). It seemed like Ray wasn’t a fan of John, but he said he didn’t ādislikeāĀ him, but he can only take him in āsmall doses.āĀ Ha!
It was neat to see this side of Ray and learn a little more about him and his music. He’s definitely an interesting guy!
When we got home from the concert, I ate a handful of almonds and then headed straight to bed.
Fabulous 9th anniversary!
52 Comments
Looks like you guys had a perfect day to celebrate an anniversary – congrats on being together for so long!
Looks like it was a great day. We did some Christmas decorating too! I love this time of year! My dogs got a new holiday toy basket!
Sounds like a great night out to celebrate a special day!
Happy 9 yrs! We’re celebrating our 8 years soon! Hard to believe how quickly time passes. Looks like a great day! Our decorations are going up today too, heading out now for the tree! Have a great weekend Tina!
Congrats on your 9th anniversary! And I all for Christmas music right now, I actually started listening a week ago! I figure if you enjoy it, then why not?!
awww happy 2nd anniversary guys! š what a fun, chill day~And Ray sounds like such an honest guys, hah! VERY honest.
My hubby and I freaking love Ray!! He has such an amazing voice. I wish radio stations would play his songs! Him and Amos Lee are hidden gems.
Sounds like a great 9 year anniversary celebration. Congrats to the both of you š Cheers to many more years!
I love Ray LaMontange! so jealous you got to see him in concert!
I’m so jealous you got to see ray, he’s one of my favorites! I doubt he’ll be coming to Alaska any time soon though…
Love Ray LaMontagne! That’s great that he actually talked during the concert–it makes shows SO much better when you actually can get a sense for the musician’s personality!
I’m headed to the second show tonight! I can’t wait!
Enjoy! š
Happy belated anniversary! Such a cute story, clearly you were meant to be!
Happy anniversary! My husband and I love Ray. I went to see him years ago. I’d love to go again. Very jealous!
Happy anniversary! You guys are so cute š
Happy anniversary for yesterday! I love ‘Trouble’.
Happy Anniversary! Anniversary traditions are so fun! And Ray LaMontagne is amazing š
Happy 9 year anniversary, how wonderful!!
I love Ray LaMontange, never seen him in concert, but I really want to now! Glad you had a wonderful day together š
What a great way to celebrate! š
Congrats on 9 years! Ya’ll are too cute together!
Happy anniversary! My 6 year anniversary was yesterday too! And the concert sounds awesome, I love Ray LaMontagne!
Happy 9 years together! Sounds like a great day!
Happy anniversary!
That story about Ray LaMontagne and John Mayer is so funny – I like them both, so it’s interesting to hear what Ray thinks of John!
Congrats on 9 years…getting that far isn’t easy!
LOVE Ray LaMontagne! John Mayer moved to my old college town in MT and pops up every once in awhile at the bar scene. I’ve heard some good stories. š Congrats on 9/2 years!
Just went to check out those prom pics. They are awesome! I am still best friends with my hs boyfriend and was looking through old photo albums at my P’s this weekend. I found the funniest pictures and it was a fun walk down memory lane. I was actually looking for some old Xcountry picutres and I found those too from 6th grade. too funny! Can’t wiat to post them!
Happy anniversary! Sounds such a fun one! That’s an interesting story about R LaMontagne and John Mayer. I’m a big John Mayer fan, and he’s certainly been known for saying some douchey things but I wouldn’t say offering advice is one of them. I think it just proves that sometimes success comes when you breakaway from the rules.
I LOVE Ray! Did you know he’s from NH? Nashua I think!
Yep! So cool! š
I love the peanut butter/banana in a cup. I do the same with almond butter and walnut butter! very satisfying.
Congrats on 9 years!
So Mal allowed you to break his “no decorations before December 1” rule? What a nice guy! Surely it was his 9-year anniversary gift to you š
To you two congratulation for your 9 years and remain together it and obvious, for me 8 years
Congratulations! Looks like you had an awesome day!
Happy Anniversary! My husband and I actually went on our first date the day before Thanksgiving in 2002! We still celebrate that day even though the date changes every year…we think it’s more fun that way! š Congrats to your nine years!
Congrats on your 10 year! š
i’m going tomorrow night at Carnegie Hall in NY; our wedding song was you are the best thing, i love ray!
Congratulations on 9 years!!! That’s so amazing. And I love Ray LaMontagne! Sounds like you had a lovely anniversary!
Thank you! š
What a fabulous way to celebrate – Ray LaMontagne is so soulful, so amazing. I hope for your sake that he played Jolene š
Congrats on 9 years! You two fit so well together. š
COngrats Mal and Tina. This post made me smile.. definitely true love when you go back to your high school sweetheart. Very sweet story. Congratulations and many more to come. That fried calamari looks soooooooo good!
Saw you were in Mohegan Sun from Bianca’s post.. can’t wait to read all about it.
i love ray! i saw him in maine a couple summers ago and want to see him again. he has such an amazing voice.
Happy Anniversary! Looks like the concert was a lot fun!
Congrats on 9 years!! That’s so wonderful :). Haha, I love the pic of little perplexed Murphy and your description of your mad flag football skills. If I played flag football I’d also mostly “run around like an idiot.” lol. It makes me think of that Friends episode where Pheobe runs around Central Park like a complete goober. That’d be me. š
happy anniversary! and I’m so jealous you got to see Ray LaMontange!
what a cute anniversary celebration! I went to see Ray here in DC a few weeks ago too. It was a fun concert–my first time hearing him live!
Congrats to you guys! You have such a cute story.
Hi Tina,
Happy anniversary!! I absolutely love Murphy’s personalized dog food mat… can you please let me know where you bought it? it’d be a great chrstmas gift for my dog Barclay š
Thank you!
It’s from Frontgate.com! š