Bonding time

Pizza Pirate is having a special February deal again. Last year it was their 35th anniversary, so they sold one topping 14" pizzas at the original 1972 price. This year they're doing a similar but not as good special--12" cheese or pepperoni pizza at the original 1972 price. Jim was all set for Taco Tuesday, but I reminded him of the Pizza Pirate deal, so he (grudgingly) agreed to do Pizza Pirate instead.

Since I had dinner plans with my dad, I went ahead and phoned in a takeout order for a cheese pizza and plan to pick it up straight from work. I was quite surprised when the guy said my 4:30 order would be ready at 6 o'clock! Undaunted, I headed home and picked Jim up so we could go there together. It was much better that way anyway.

It was a madhouse even in the parking lot. There were teenagers milling all over the place, older WASP couples grabbing takeout after work, and families congregating around the area. This year they were far more organized, having designated two lines outside of the restaurant, one for those who hadn't ordered and another for people who had already phoned in their orders. I was distracted by a booth full of free goodies. I got on the e-mail list, entered a drawing for 36 pizzas, and grabbed all of the things off the table: a t-shirt, pen, magnet, and plastic pizza cutter. See, Asian + free things = game on. Thankfully, my much more practical man was patiently waiting in line by the time I got done. I switched places with him so he could go get a t-shirt. I got mine for Sister J, since I don't wear t-shirts and she loves them. Unfortunately for Jim, they were out of XL t-shirts, so he was stuck with a large. I told him if it didn't fit, he could send his to TB so he and Sister J could match. Of course, he probably fits into a medium.

Anyway, we picked up our order and headed back to Jim's house. I couldn't wait to get home, so I strongly hinted to Jim about starting in immediately on the pizza. He was happy to oblige, and the first slice was halfway gone by the time we got out of the parking lot. I haven't had full-on cheese pizza in a while. Soo good.

My dad and I went to Ray's for dinner. Yes, I was the one who picked the restaurant. And I also picked what we ate. I was a little nervous about his reaction, since everything was my choice. I absolutely love Ray's, but then again, I absolutely love sushi. I could eat sushi every week. If my metabolism could handle it, I would primarily live off of pizza, pasta, sushi, and Mexican food, with regular trips to In-N-Out and weekly servings of creme brulee.

Ray's makes some of the best vegetarian sushi I've ever had, both in quality and variety. I ordered us 2 eggplant rolls, 2 Florida rolls, a Futo Maki, and a shiitake roll. The Florida roll is an asparagus roll topped with seaweed salad. The eggplant roll is also an asparagus roll topped with eggplant and a Ponzu-style sauce. The Futo Maki is different than the typical one in that it has cooked spinach among the usual veggies. And my dad loved it all!

We actually couldn't finish all of the food, so most of the Futo Maki and one piece of the shiitake roll got brought home. I was quite stuffed, and I actually ate slightly more than my dad. My dad said it was the first time he's ever really enjoyed sushi, so I was very, very happy. Besides having great food, it was great that he had a good dining experience, too.

Overall, I was pretty disappointed with the service. They just took way too long to bring out the food. That is my only complaint about the evening, because all in all it was nice to go out to dinner with my dad--we haven't done that in ages.