When Ryan arrived home from work yesterday, he greeted me with two fabulous surprises.
Beautiful yellow tulips to congratulate me on passing my personal trainer certification exam…
And buttercream icing to celebrate a very sweet nine years together!
The buttercream icing may seem like an odd little gift (and it is), but Publix sells their incredibly delicious buttercream icing in their bakery and Ryan and I have always talked about how much we wanted to buy one and just eat it with a spoon. Classy!
Dragonfly Date Night
Last night Ryan planned a fun date night for us to celebrate our nine year dating anniversary.
I meant to save the top I ended up wearing on our date for Valentine’s Day because it’s red and festive and I’m a dork who wears red on Valentine’s Day (and green on St. Patrick’s Day), but I’ve wanted to try out the peplum look ever since my friend Ashley wore an adorable black peplum top during our trip to New York back in December. Last night was the night!
Once we were dressed and ready, we headed to Gainesville for sushi at Dragonfly!
Ever since we ate at Dragonfly with my family to celebrate my sister’s graduation from the University of Florida a couple of years ago, Ryan and I have talked about returning because the sushi was so delicious. We arrived in Gainesville a little early and walked around for a bit before sitting down and digging into some fantastic sushi!
We started with drinks and ginger salads.
Then it was time for a sushi feast!
My two favorite rolls were the Cobra Kai (red onion, tomato, krab delight, tempura flakes, salmon and lemon finished with a garlic-shiso pesto and berry balsamic) and the Dragonfly roll (tuna wrapped with seasonal fresh white fish, baked with spicy sauce and finished with scallions and eel sauce). So tasty!
I loved date night in Gainesville!
We passed on dessert at Dragonfly in favor of changing into pajamas and eating a few spoonfuls of buttercream icing on the couch when we got home.
Not a bad way to end date night!
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Ahh that is my absolute favorite sushi restaurant ever! I went to UF for undergrad and grad school, so I used to eat at Dragonfly all of the time. But then I moved away and I hadn’t eaten it in years until just a couple of months ago. I took my husband to a Gator game and then we had Dragonfly. It was still as good as I remembered it. 😉 Next time you have to get the Godzilla … it’s my favorite! Glad you had such a great time!
oooh! thanks for the tip! i’ll keep that in mind!
Buttercream fingers? Lol. It’s always classy to eat things right out of the container. No calories that way either so it’s a win-win! Plus no dishes or messy clean-up so you cannot go wrong!
Happy dating anniversary!
Mmm that drink looks tasty! What is it?
it was called the top knot! i don’t remember everything that was in it, but it honestly wasn’t anything to write home about. i’m not sure whether or not you’re close to gainesville, but i’ve had the cucumber compulsion drink at dragonfly before and would highly recommend that! it was fantastic.
how fun…I love eating icing straight from anything…lol Thats why I love cupcakes!
Awe. I love yellow flowers. And buttercream icing. And sushi! Sounds like a perfect night 🙂
Oh my gosh, grabbing my keys and off to publix for that icing. They seriously sell that? It can be considered running fuel, right? 😛
Yes they do! Sometimes they have it tinted various colors at the Publix I frequent regularly.
Those flowers are so pretty! Congrats on passing your exam AND 9 years
Awww, what a sweetie you have!! You are one lucky girl! Those tulips are absolutely gorgeous.
P.s. Your red shirt is fabulous and it looks great on you! 🙂
Awe how sweet! Congrats again on passing, that is awesome! I felt a little motivated to start getting my teacher training started for pilates, after hearing you passed. Even though those things are totally different ha;) You look gorgeous in red! Great colour on you! And sounds like a great, fun night!
I love the flowers and frosting! Pj’s and frosting sounds like a great end to a fun night out. Did Sadie get to try any of the frosting?
That looks like so much fun! The food looks incredible…I love anniversary celebrations!
What a perfect date night! And you rocked that outfit 🙂
Congrats on such happy happenings!!
A tub of buttercream frosting sounds like heaven- congratulations!
Love your outfit! Super cute! And butter cream by the spoonful, yes please! 🙂
Such a cute outfit, and I love that icing gift – so sweet (pun intended). 😉
I’m tempted to grab a spoon of my own and dig right into that frosting. Wow. Just wondering what kinda drink you’re sipping on in the above picture, it looks yummy!
Happy nine years together! I love love love Dragonfly, yum!
Ahh everything about this post is cute – the tulips, the frosting, the date night, and your outfit! Happy 9-year dating anniversary!
My roommate in college and I used to get the containers of icing and eat them over a few days, loved it! And my freshman year of a college a few friends of mine and I bought a sheet cake and had them write happy birthday on it! I think that was our weird way of expressing our freedom? HA.
Love the frosting with a spoon!!
I’d use buttercream icing to celebrate my 9 year anniversary. Storing that away for when I find thy special someone! Loveeeee your top!
Outfit is gorgeous! Looks and sounds like the perfect night! Happy Anniversary again!
LOVE that peplum top!! It is such a great trend and looks awesome on you. What brand is the top?!
I love that shirt! My husband and I always talk about how much we miss Publix since moving from Birmingham 🙂
It looks like I’m going to have to spend more time in the bakery section at Publix next time to see what other kinds of hidden treasures that are there. I live kinda far from Gainesville here in Melbourne, FL but when I’m in that area, I’m going to keep that in mind. Again– if Ryan has any single brothers, hook a sister up 😉 what a sweet date night, glad y’all had fun and y’all are adorable!
First off, congrats on passing your test!!!! I remember when I took mine, it was a 3 hour test and I was so nervous to click on the “submit” button but when I saw that I passed I was ready to do cartwheels all the way home:)
Second, everything at Dragonfly is amazing!! I live in St augustine but a bunch of friends live in or are from Gainesville and I love to go back with them.
And finally, spoonfuls of icing are amazing, especially after you stick it in the freezer for a few hours!
Dragonfly is DELICIOUS! My husband is from Gainesville and one of his friends works there. That was my first sushi experience, and I must say, it was phenomenal! I don’t know what the roll was called (Joe’s friend just made it and handed it to us), but we had a salmon roll that I couldn’t get enough of!
My husband and I celebrate our dating anniversary too! And we have every year for 25 years now! It’s a fun tradition. I also love the little things that are special to just the two of you (like the buttercream frosting). These are the things that make a marriage special and unique. You can imagine the list of those special silly things just gets longer with time. Enjoy them! 🙂
So cute! Our first date anniversary is coming too…. and you have inspired me to make a real date happen. Not easy with 3 kids under age 5…. but need to do it for the hubs!
dahhhhh that sushhhiiii! I really want some now, pretty bad 😛 And your top looks gorgeous~I love the lacy look as well as the bright color
What a perfect date night! Congrats on passing your exam!
That frosting looks DELISH! I totally get it, don’t worry =) Also, cute outfit… Congrats on 9 years!
What a fun date night! And I love your top, so cute!! Congratulations again on passing your test! Definitely buttercream frosting worthy 🙂
Congrats on passing. Smart girl in a cute outfit with a great blog 🙂 I always enjoy it. Great job again, you definitely earned it.
Sounds like you had a great time! And the gift of icing isn’t weird. My husband never gets a cake for his birthday. He only wants German chocolate icing.
Your outfit is so cute!
Love eating icing from the container! Sugary buttercream is the best
Oh my goodness! I love their icing:) We put it on between their chocolate chip cookies, and make our own yoyos! Best family tradition ever. And I love that you are so normal and eat icing!
The frosting is SO cute!
I hadn’t realized you and Ryan had dated so long! I’m getting married in May and by that point my fiance and I will have been together for nearly 8 years. Glad we’re not the only crazy ones 🙂
I looooove your outfit and peplum top! I don’t understand when people don’t wear red/pink on valentine’s day.
Love icing! What a sweet way to end the evening!
Love your outfit- good call on pulling it out last night :)!
How fun! Y’all are definitely on the right track with the icing by the spoonful…best way to go!
Very cute outfit. Where did you get the top?
Congrats on your test! Your top is so cute!! Glad you guys had a great time! 🙂
Whoa! Congrats on passing your exam AND your anniversary.
That is such a gorgeous outfit. Love, love, love the top!
Love the outfit!!! And eating buttercream icing by the spoonfull is pretty normal by my standards.
That’s funny that they sell the icing by itself! I’m the person who eats the cake and not the icing, but I’m sure the people who do the opposite would be happy just to buy the icing!
I’ve glad to hear the hopeful news that they may have gotten all of Sadie’s cancer. I’ve been thinking about her, checking back here intermittently for updates. Isn’t the Internet weird?? total strangers you’ve never even met or heard of worrying about your dog. It’s pretty cool, though.
I’m going to be at a Montessori Teachers conference in Tampa later this month. I know you don’t live in Tampa, but I was wondering if maybe you’re familiar with the area and might have some recommendations? Restaurants, bookstores, shops, anything we simply must check out or do? There won’t be much down time, but I want to make the most of it!
Fun fact: my marketing professor last semester actually used to work for the company (HC Brill) which distributed icing to Publix and pretty much every grocery store bakery on the east coast. He kept promising to bring samples into class but never did.