perfect weekend; our Christmas gift from my mom

Going out is a new thing for us... in NY baby sitting fees prevented it (I still shiver at a thought of paying $15 an hour) and there is only so many places one can dare to go with a baby. That is why having my mom just an hour away is such a blessing. Plus she loves spending time with Sonia.

Last Friday we enjoyed dinner with my mom at our new home. It was quite an experience because our dinning table is not here yet. We do have chairs so we sort of perched onto them and held plates in our laps.

We said good byes and drove to Salt Lake City. I thought of all good places to have a desert in NYC and Jeremy was pondering a desert question as well. We walked out and stumbled onto a Melting Pot place. Stopping there was a must. They seemed busy, reservation only, but they eventually found a place for us at a bar. A dark chocolate fondue reminded me of Chocolate Room in Brooklyn. Restaurants in NY operate differently; they easily could have accommodated four times as many tables and people in the place of that size. It almost felt spooky sitting in such a spacious place because it was way too quiet and isolated. It did have its own charm.

It was getting late; we hurried to a Abravanel Hall. I have never heard Utah symphony before and I have to say I enjoyed that night, especially Jean Sibelius ~ Symphony No. 1. His music brought vivid pictures of history, Finland and echoed some Russian influence of the late nineteen century.

I loved the rectangular brass ladened concert hall better than the Lincoln Center in NY. These beaus looked liked big butterflies in the air. In fact they are suspended from the ceiling six 16 x 16 foot brass chandeliers with 18,000 hand cut beads and prisms of Bohemian crystals imported from Austria and Czechoslovakia.

More than 12,000 square feet of 24-karat gold leaf creates a feeling of light and brings special warmth.

I couldn't pass this column with inferno flames by... It signifies 2002 Winter Olympics Games but to me it is a sign of passion and love that might have gone wild.

Thank you, mom, for such a wonderful outing and for great tickets. The seats were excellent. We could see Gunilla Gussmann play each note on the piano and note every expression of her Norwegian style.