Love Blossoms in the Snow

Here's an update on our built-in love days in the winter! My birthday and Valentine's Day!

For my birthday, Jon took me out to Famous Dave's: my favorite restaurant. I love BBQ sauce!

This was our favorite sign. We will have one hanging in our home.

I ordered ribs - my favorite food!!

Stop looking at me, swan!!

Then we went ice skating at Centennial Lakes in Edina. Best ice skating ever! Cheap rentals and you skate on the lake with all the beautiful lights AND you're outside! The warming house has delicious cocoa and wood burning fire places, too!

Here's a view of only part of the lake. It's actually about 3 or 4 lakes all connected by canals, so you can skate all of them! And they're super smooth!

Jon shows me his amazing skills.

I pretend I'm awesome.

I'm coming to get you!!

Valentine's Day found us at a Persian restaurant called Shiraz just down the block from us on Nicollet Ave. We found their food to be very authentic and very affordable! AND VERY DELICIOUS!!!

Jon cuts into his kabob. Mmm...meat!! EAT MEAT! (In the foreground you can see a little bowl of Oliviya salad which I had eaten many times in Uzbekistan. It brought me right back!)

The decor was fabulous. Over our table hung a Persian rug, but each table and booth had a different Persian centerpiece to admire.

A belly dancer weaved through the tables all night. She was very graceful and talented.

Here's our dessert: Jon ordered icecream flavored with rose water, pistachio, and saffron. I had the bakhlava, a persian/turkish pastry with honey.

At some point during the night, a big group (like 30 or more!) of Iranians came in speaking Farsi. It was so neat to be eating amongst them as they sipped their tea and yogurt drink, embraced, and cheered on the belly dancer. Jon and I felt like we were in another country without the hassel of visas and expensive plane tickets! It was a wonderful Valentine's Day experience and we highly recommend the restaurant!