Arkansas in April, Part V (The Finale)

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

 

As I’ve mentioned before, Alex LOVES to cook so we decided that for my last night…we were going to go to one of their upscale grocery stores and get some really good ingredients and cook something…and that’s what we did!

We went to Fresh Market in Little Rock and it was amazing!  I’m no cook,  but this place certainly makes me wish I was…

and Alex said we could choose one of their desserts instead of trying to make something….

and that was only half of their dessert counter!  I had no idea where to even start!  (Side note:  I actually got in trouble for taking this picture…apparently they don’t allow photography in their store…who knew?) 

After we roamed around the store for a good 30 minutes or so and picked out all of the ingredients and did some taste testing (including making/trying our own olive salad from their olive bar!).  We headed back to Conway to grab a movie and start cooking.

Unfortunately by the time we got home, we weren’t really that hungry yet so Alex decided it was the perfect time to try out the beer he had been brewing for a few weeks.  I didn’t necessarily understand the excitement, but since he was so excited I decided to be supportive and photograph this monumental event.

 Yep, he’s a dork, but I love him anyway ;)

Finally, it was time to make dinner (well, for Alex to make dinner…I was working on my final paper)!

 

Our ingredients:  stuffed chicken breasts, spinach linguine, tomato sauce, our homemade olive salad (black and green olives, mozzarella, and sun-dried tomatoes) and cheddar rolls.

The finished product

Ready for dinner and a movie :)

    Our desserts:  fruit tart and a molten chocolate cake.  Surprisingly, I preferred the fruit tart…it had like a cheesecake/whipped cream type filling – Amazing!

I loved being able to relax and savor the last bit of time with Alex.  We even stayed up later than normal just because we didn’t want the night to end :(  The next morning, I packed up my things…

and choked back tears as Alex put my things in my car and we said our goodbyes.  I needed to get gas so Alex told me to follow him to the interstate and I could get gas there…he stopped with me (although he was late for work…purposefully because he wanted to spend more time with me :’(), paid for my gas and even pumped it for me.  I managed to hold back the tears while he kissed me, told me goodbye, and then followed me onto the interstate.  I was fine until I looked back and noticed him exiting off…then I lost it.

The trip home was fine…I felt like I was on autopilot most of the time because I was trying not to think about how long it would be before I saw him again.   I made it home in one piece, took the rental car back and went to class.  I never thought I’d say this, but from the moment I got home, I wished I was in Arkansas.  I’m hoping it is just because Alex is there, because otherwise, I’d be a little worried ;)

Thanks for reliving my journey with me!! I know it was long, but since I use this blog to help me remember things…I wanted to share all the little details so I wouldn’t forget! :)  Hopefully I will have another trip to share again soon! :)