Valentine's Day & the Beatles

Happy Belated Valentine's Day! We had to work yesterday, which was not so fun, but we did have a V-Day lunch at Sesame Grill - home of the best bread in the world:

Fresh-baked bread - it doesn't get any better!

Of all the times I've eaten at Sesame Grill, I've only strayed from my normal order once, and I regretted it. So yesterday it was back to basics, and I ordered my usual: a crab cake salad that comes all adorned with cute little pansy flowers:

Crab Cake Salad - One of my Faves!

Now that Joe is vegetarian he went for a different dish - some kind of cheesy, veggie pasta concoction:

After slogging through a few more tedious work hours it was time for some fun on the town. First stop was Clancy's, where we managed to find a booth even though we didn't have reservations. Lobster bisque and salad for me, shrimp scampi and salad for Joe. Plus, of course, a few Clancy rolls - the second best bread in the world. Their rolls are somewhere between a donut hole and a dinner roll, served with slightly sweet butter. (Yes, I'm a bread connoisseur.)

Even though we just had an amazingly romantic vacation in Kaua'i, Joe still splurged on V-Day tickets to Backbeat at the Ahmanson Theater - aww, Joemance! Backbeat is the story of the 5th Beatle and their two year period playing in seedy Hamburg nightclubs. Joe got us amazing seats with all kinds of leg room in the middle front row of the balcony:

The show was so interesting. I never knew about the fifth Beatle and I really liked the actress who played Astrid. Stuart and Astrid had such a sad, short love story. Joe Googled her later and she is still alive and still says Stuart was the love of her life. The script had a lot of humor and the John Lennon actor was really good too. And, of course, all the songs were amazing. After the play was over, they did a mini concert with all of the actors dancing onstage.

The only thing about the show that wasn't good was the $4 cupcake we bought at intermission. They need to seriously rethink their packaging, because I could not get through the paper to the cupcake. If I can't get to a cupcake, you know there's a problem, because I definitely put some effort into it. We were left with two options: 1 - eat around the strait-jacket-wrapped cupcake (aka - eat only the frosting) or 2 - throw the $4 cupcake away. We took a few bites then went with option 2. Cupcake fail.

Outside the Ahmanson Theater

Backbeat - A Must-See!

I hope everyone else's day was just as lovely, food-filled, and romantic.