I had been looking forward to it all day.  Kamran and I had finally planned a little date night, right in the middle of the week.  And it was my favorite kind of date night.  A Separation, an Iranian film that won this year’s Oscar for “Best Foreign Language Film”, was having a special screening at the Gene Siskel Film Center followed by a panel discussion.  Perfect!

We got some work done throughout the day, and I slipped out in the afternoon to take a short walk.  We showered, got dressed up (a big deal when you work from home!), and headed out the door to fight rush hour traffic downtown.

I dropped Kamran off to buy tickets while I parked the car in a nearby ramp, and eventually made my way to the theatre, only to find that the screening had sold out and Kam had forgotten his phone to call me.

I was so bummed.  We decided not to stay downtown and made our way back to the north side, not quite sure what we would do.  We didn’t really want to go home, but our level of anticipation had plummeted.

We parked the car in Old Town and started walking.

And then, out of an open doorway, a delicious aroma caught our attention.  We turned to see where it was coming from, and discovered the The Spice House, a charming local store featuring custom spice blends and exotic specialties.  We lost track of time reading the delightful descriptions of their blends and smelling every unique combination.

It was then, in the delightful encounter of the unexpected, that our date night found its way again.

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that we missed the film screening, we could rent it later anyway.

It is the shared moments, favorite spaces, and new discoveries that make a marriage.

And now for the good stuff.  I couldn’t resist picking up a Father’s Day gift for my Dad – a devoted fisherman and family chef.  For ourselves, of course I had to get the Lake Shore Drive Seasoning Mix!

The Spice House has locations in Milwaukee, Evanston and Geneva, as well, so stop by or check out their online catalog.