Since the deal was on all day, the insanity was at its peak upon our arrival at 5pm. Julie had told me (after hearing the news from a parent at school) about the following rules: can't stay at a table longer than 1.5 hours, must order an entree. I knew they were bound to have some specifics. Needless to say, when we got there is was a madhouse and everyone else thought we should bail and just go somewhere else. Not me. Nor siree! I stomped right up to the hostess desk with Bridget and discovered a quote of 3 hours for the wait. Without blinking an eye, I added our name to the list :). We were instructed to return in an hour for a buzzer since they were all out. What did we do? Head across the parking lot to a new place called Casa Rita's. It was delicious and they were happy to hook us up with a happy hour margarita to try and some yummy queso and chips. Great start!
Upon our return, we got our buzzer (and overheard the hostess quote 5 hours of waiting to a new arrival) and proceeded to wait. Were we correct in thinking their 3 hour quote was just a ploy to scare drinkers away and that we wouldn't have to wait more than 30 more minutes? Or were we doomed to see a cranky toddler soon, as Jonathan predicted?
Thankfully, the Frisco location has some great longhorn statues out front as well as a pond with a fountain and a grassy lawn for toddler scampering. Whee!
Did you notice the crowd in the background?? Scary!!
It was a breezy, beautiful evening and after about 25 minutes of play....our buzzer announced our table was ready! Score! And to top it all off, we'd scored a cozy spot right near the pond on the patio. Perfect. Even crabby Jonathan was amazing and pleased (did I mention I'd already conned him into taking B home early to let me stay and hang out baby-free??).
Bridget has started to become more of a handful at restaurants (and we're talking about one good kiddo when it comes to going out!), a plight we knew was around the corner. She's not too fussy, well, compared to others...but she requires constant entertainment these days. Enter Gloria's black beans, a straw, a blank canvas (aka plate), a bib, and a big napkin for Mommy's white pants (of course, within straw reach). She was happy as a clam!
Can you see the excitement on my face?! I couldn't believe our good fortune. The margarita goddesses certainly were looking down on our happy hour group last week :).
About an hour after we sat down, Julie arrived and got to meet everyone. So much fun to introduce her to our crew! Oh, and the restaurant was so overrun at this point that they completely shut the doors to anyone not already seated. This meant that we could stay at our table as long as we wanted at that point (no more 1.5 hour rule). Again, score!!!
We had a wonderful time being silly and carefree, though all the while having the welcome reminder that none of us are kids anymore (well, except Bridget). All of us had to be home at a reasonable hour in order to get up for work the next day, bright-eyed and bushy tailed. Though I love me some Gloria's frozen house margarita, I think my favorite part of the whole event was the planning and successful execution! Great memories with great friends :). And didn't Bridget's festive wear look ah-dorable?!?!?!
Ahhh....this made me want a margarita even more than I already did!! ;)
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