I have been waiting my whole life to take my girls to the Nutcracker.

Friday night was finally our date with destiny.

We went to the Arts Center where Ballet Etudes put on the Nutcracker and it was gloriously fun to be all-dressed-up and out-on-the-town with my two girls.

We had a dinner at a "fancy" restaurant where Olivia said with complete incredulity, "Wow, Mom, this is better than McDonald's." As if she could hardly believe that was possible. (Our cultural experiences are, apparently, sadly lacking.) They even served sorbet between courses...the girls were in complete astonishment...sherbet before dinner!?

We only get about three times a year where it actually rains and Friday night just happened to be one of those nights. And it was coming down! Of course we don't even own an umbrella, so we were pretty wet (deluged!) by the time we made it to the Nutcracker. I actually had to take off my heels, hike up my floor-length skirt and run for it. The girls found this delightfully improper.

The ballet was beautiful, Tchaikovsky's music incredible, and my girls we're completely mesmerized by the story and costumes and amazing dancing. I loved sitting in the dark performance hall, watching the expressions on my girls' faces as the ballet unfolded before them, and I found this night with my girls as magical as Clara must have found hers.