Big Girl Night Out!

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Jeremy blessed me with the chance to take Harper and my mom (Mimi) on a "big girl" night out!

The evening included getting dressed up, going to a fancy restaurant and going to the Oregon Symphony where they performed "A Night out with Disney".

There was so much anticipation leading up to it, especially on Harper's part.  Both Mimi and I had been talking to her about her "big girl" date night and how she would have to act especially grown up ;)  We talked about her using all her manners at the restaurant, about what a symphony is, how she would be staying up very late with all the grown up people and how it was very special for the girls to get to go on a date in general.

Harper did not disappoint!  She was on cloud nine the entire evening.  Her signature "Harper expressiveness" and dramatic reactions to everything kept us in complete stitches all night.  We even were able to drive right past the giant Christmas tree downtown to which she gasped with total conviction, "Oh my goodness!  It's the most beautiful thing I've seen in my whole life!"

Mimi and I laughed at how she was so excited she nearly forgot all of her manners with our waitress (thank goodness she didn't mind since Harper was the only three year old present ;).  Harper got to enjoy her first Shirley Temple with TWO cherries and even ate their gourmet mac n' cheese ;)  Mimi and I even got to talk a little at the restaurant while Harper danced and entertained herself right around our table... Cloud nine.

Harper's independence was impossible to miss as she marched around the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall all evening as if she literally owned the place... never glancing back to make sure we were there (my oh my!).  My mom and I both just melted after each song ended, as Harper would sit very straight and tall and clap her hands and grin with delight as if she had been going to the symphony for years and she needed to give her approval of their performance.

The evening was a blast as I adore hearing any sort of live music, especially orchestras.  But it also included clips from films, still photos and dramatic singers for various songs.  The crowd even got to sing along to songs from Mary Poppins and a few others, which Harper belted out.

My mom was sure Harper would fall asleep before it ended, but not Harper!  She went strong through the entire evening and thankfully waited until we reached the car to have any sort of melt down.

This evening was markedly special to me because it's the beginning of having a lifetime of big girl dates with my daughter.  And sharing this memory with Mimi is beyond special as my mom is my best girlfriend in the world.