a very strange thing
A very strange thing happened on Saturday morning: For the first time ever, my husband offered to go get breakfast.
Just in case you’re skimming this post (I don’t blame you!) and didn’t fully get that, allow me to repeat: My husband offered to get breakfast.
I approached this unique offer with doubt. Fear even. Was it a trick? Reverse psychology?
I was so hungry that I took a chance anyway. I asked for bagels and cream cheese. Smoked salmon and capers. A tomato. I even threw caution to the wind and specified wild salmon with no added color.
And just for $hit$ and giggles? I threw in a request for fresh squeezed orange juice.
I even broke out a “good glass” for the occasion. For myself anyway.
As my husband wrote these things down, jumped in the car, and headed to Bristol Farms, I surveyed our empty fridge to determine what Plan B would be when he inevitably came back missing a critical item on the list. Like the bagels.
But here’s the crazy thing: Ali got everything on the list. He even took the initiative to purchase some fruit from the deli and had them slice my tomato too.
(That costs $0.40 in case you are wondering. And no, I didn’t know they’ll slice a tomato for you at the deli either. And yes, I’m wondering what they thought of that request too.)
A decent breakfast = good moods all around.
So the three of us had breakfast. Together.
And since Ali made such an effort I too decided to make an effort. This means I refrained from peppering the conversation with smart ass comments like, “For crying out loud Maya, did you learn to eat in a barn?” and “Placemats were invented for a reason, people.”
I think there are many lessons to learn here including the fact that I’m a much nicer person when I’m not hungry. And Ali? He’s a nicer person when he is.
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 
I guess now the question is – can you score a repeat of the situation?
PS – loving the Eiffel Tower image on your plate !
– Razwana
I doubt I can get an encore…I’ll just have to commit this to memory!
I am speechless I read this at least 3 times and then made my husband read it too. Do you know what he said? ‘Did he do something wrong?’ …. what?????? My reply ‘Just because you said that of Saint Ali -you are buying me breakfast today and yes YOU did do something wrong!’ 🙂
So funny…I love that you read this to your husband. Finally, Ali is a shinning example of what TO DO! 🙂
Ummm…where has this little slice (pun intended) of knowledge come from? I mean getting someone else to cut tomato? i hate cutting tomatoes. Seriously.
Agreed! Tomatoes are so hard to cut…I think it has something to do with my crappy knives though.
Kudos to Ali, one must give credit where credit is due. I expect the feeling of giddiness and heartfelt appreciation you are feeling will last a week at best ;0
A week seems like a healthy estimate….
ar first i thought he was going to ‘make’ all those things, silly me! but props to him!!!
Now let’s not get CRAZY here….
What would it mean to you if you could get him to repeat his performance?
It would be like my birthday and Christmas all rolled into one….
YAY Ali! And YAY Ameena’s hair – it looks fabulous!
Thank you for the compliment Parita! 🙂
Love it!!! ONE TIME Chad brought me coffee in the morning. He is not a morning person. I was amazed. I wrote it down.
“I wrote it down.” I’m laughing out loud right now. Sounds familiar!
Haha it must be a women thing cos I am a biatch when I’m hungry…and tired ;)! Looks like Ali did real good and a kudos is definitely in order :)!
I’m already kind of in a permanent bad mood but throw me being hungry into the mix and things can get … dangerous.
Was Ali perhaps running a fever? 😉 Glad your breakfast adventure worked out so well. Now, to figure out how to have him do that for you regularly!!
Yes, that is the question…how do I get this to happen again?
So I hope you enjoyed that breakfast. Do not ever expect a repeat performance. 😉
LOL…I know better than to expect a repeat. Unfortunately!
Aw……so sweet! Please don’t make a habit of this you two – not being mean, but perfectly sweet couples are………boring! (yawn!) LOL!
I know. If Ali starts being nice then I’ll have to blog less….
So there is hope! Now I too can hope that the day will come when my husband will offer to make me breakfast 🙂
I’m very cranky when I’m hungry, who wouldn’t right?
Now let’s not get crazy…Ali didn’t MAKE breakfast! He purchased it (which I’m not complaining about but still, there is a bit of a difference…)
Like this post, your husband really got it right this time!
He did!
What a fabulous surprise (and great post)!
Thanks Emily! 🙂
That’s so sweet! Ali delivered. Literally!! It goes to show you that when each partner puts in that extra effort it goes such a long way. He got breakfast, you cut the wisecracks, and it could really just go on and on. BTW-I’m following you on Instagram now. : )
Imagine…if we both put it a bit more effort I’d have nothing left to blog about… 🙂
So sweet of Ali 🙂 I am glad you guys had a great time and I have noticed that I am much nicer when my tummy is happy and full. your hair looks fabulous.
Thank you Dixya! So nice of you to say.
Yay, Ali! The last time I sent the hubster to the grocery store, he called 11 times with questions. From then on, I go to the store on my own. Maybe I’ll throw caution to the wind this weekend and let him go to the store 🙂
I expected a call or two (or 5 like usual) but this time I didn’t get even one! It was a miracle!
That is awesome, now the breakfast duty should be his… btw you are so lucky to be close to bristol farms I follow cookandbemerry blog and she is their official blogger the food is just amazing
I’ve never heard of cookandbemerry…will have to check her out.
Funny enough we rarely shop at Bristol because it is SO expensive. More than Whole Foods!
Yay Ali! Your look gorgeous in that pic, Ameena!
Thank you Priyanka! So nice of you to say so. 🙂
How sweet!!! Good job, Ali!!! Just when I am fretting about how unromantic my husband is, he comes up with surprises like movie tkts, taking me out for dinner and getting me some baking supplies..:)
Baking supplies…I love it. I bet Ali would love to get me those because it might mean I’d actually cook.
So many questions and curiosities. You don’t keep a tomatoes or bagels at home? What is Bristol Farms? A deli or a high-end grocery store? Do you realize how jealous I am?
A tomato? Bagels? I didn’t even have ketchup!
Bristol is a very nice grocery store but it’s really overpriced so we rarely shop there!
I am horrible when I am hungry, truly, not likable at all. Glenn would have for sure forgot something. I RARELY send him to the store because inevitably he gets something wrong. That and the fact that he’ll come home with cookies, donuts, gum, the works.
Obviously the kids love when Glenn does a little shopping.
On the rare occasion he goes to the store he usually buys something unnecessary like donuts, gum, cookies, etc. Maya loves it!
I feel your pain!
smoked salmon + capers is one of my faves! lol i had no idea they sliced tomatoes at the deli counter?! who knew? leave it to ali. my next question is…what does he want? ;p
I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop Melissa….
Good job, Ali. I’m not sure why husbands seem to have such a hard time with shopping lists, but I know mine does, so I’m pretty impressed the shopping was completed as requested.
This was the FIRST time the shopping was completed as requested. I hope that makes you feel better!
That is SO sweet! Men’s logic is the most puzzling thing in my world. Why would a person wake up and – for the first time in ever – think of such a wonderful thing? Though I would caution you on wishing for it to happen every day… there might be unexpected downsides to it. Once I complained to my husband that he never bought me any flowers (just for conversation sake), and then for 2 years he kept buying me flowers almost every week. It might sound sweet but I would rather these $20 be sent to some charity than spent on plants. I was able to persuade him to stop only when we moved to our first house and he could grow flowers himself
Oh my gosh…I can totally imagine Ali doing the same thing! And I like flowers, don’t love them, but I’d then feel bad complaining about getting them weekly.
It would be nice if they could do things in moderation…yes?
Oooh it’s like a Parisian meal at the Din family. I love bagels and cream cheese, there is this place near my sister’s in CA that has bagel any style. That’s really sweet of him, hopefully after a couple times, you can officially put him in charge of breakfast 1 day on the weekends. it’s a start. 🙂 Ameena, your daughter is 7 or 8, and I can only imagine how much you did to raise her right.. that’s amazing.
1 day on the weekend? I think 1 day a year sounds a bit more realistic around here…
And thanks for the compliment my friend. Missing you and NYC!
Fantastic! Now, the trick is to make sure you’ve had a “secret bite” to stave off hunger long enough for Ali to always volunteer!
In theory that sounds like a plan but you don’t know Ali well enough! He won’t volunteer anytime soon. 🙂
I can’t believe he tipped his hand and displaced that he was able to do all of that….did he want something in return? So skeptical.
I’m still skeptical…don’t blame you Lauren!
Shoot, now I want some smoked salmon. Want to rent Ali out? 😉
I will say that Bristol has some great smoked salmon! Better than Trader Joe’s (where I usually get it).
Ali aint such a bad dude after all :))) Xx
He has his moments. 🙂
That is awesome! A good breakfast as well 😛
Thanks Natalie!
That sounds really nice! I love breakfast 🙂
Thanks Jolene…me too.
I wonder how Ali is feeling. I mean after reading this post. You’ve written nothing but praise for him. A happy wife = happy blog posts 🙂
He seems to be in disbelief that I actually said something nice about him. 🙂
Goodness, I was trying to think of some sort of smart alecky thing to comment about Ali getting you breakfast. But I’m totally flummoxed. I can’t think of anything to say but “Wow. Hope you guys enjoyed the lovely breakfast.” I think this is a first for me, nothing sarcastic, nothing smarmy to say.
…Where’s the old Ali? Bring him back, otherwise this blog may get too boring!!!!
Me too! Nothing sarcastic to say. Hopefully Ali will bounce back to his usual self or I agree – this blog might get a bit dull. (Or duller than normal, depending on how you look at it!)
Wow, impressive! So maybe you should “accidentally” break everything in the kitchen and hand Ali the car keys next time you don’t want to cook?
Tempting Ellen…very tempting.
hahaha oh my I needed this laughter today and no better person to get it from than reading your blog. I am sure you had a great breakfast. lol @ plan B. Not surprised for you being cautious 😀
Thank you Eddie! I appreciate your nice words. 🙂
My favorite funny word I have heard lately is ‘HAngry’ the combo of hungry and angry. I am NOT nice when I am hungry! My husband needs to take some notes from yours.
I’m not nice in normal conditions…hunger just makes me an even worse person!
What a great ending. Loved this. And this would never ever ever happen at our house.
But you live in Paris! Who cares about having a bagel at home. 🙂
Good job Ali! Look at him go. 🙂
I love that he got an actual tomato slice too. That’s probably the best part.
Agreed. The most confusing / best part.
What a nice surprise! Maybe you should keep him afterall…
Maybe…
I never send my husband to the store. I guess just because I do the shopping. And if he does go shopping he comes back with so much junk! I see from a lot of your comments above that I am not alone here. Men are too much.
On that note, this time your husband came through and that is awesome!!
Love to you,
Shauna xoxox
So much junk is right. Or things he / we never eat. It’s very strange what ends up coming home with him!
good job, ali!! what a yummy breakfast. I love smoked salmon on a bagel.
Thanks Piya! It’s one of my favorite breakfasts.
That is SO sweet! And I would also request the same thing– smoked salmon w/ capers, tomato & cream cheese… on an Everything bagel, because that would be the cherry on top! 🙂
I don’t know what an Everything bagel is but now I really want to find out!
YES! Do try out an everything bagel. BUT make sure you are in a situ when/where you will be able to check in between your teeth in a mirror after the meal. Everything also means there is a possibility everything will be stuck in your teeth. (Speaking from personal experience…)
Thanks for the tip. 🙂
I have learned the true way to find happiness is to lower expectations. In fact, if you expect none, you won’t be disappointed by none. 😉
Smart way to look at things! I need to adapt this and I too will be happier I think. 🙂
Hunger brings out the cranky in me. So I totally get that. ANd the breakfast looks delicious.
Thanks for relating SAW…glad I’m not the only one!
Wow, he did a great job! He’s a keeper 🙂
Yes, he is. 🙂 Thanks for the comment Jamie!
Delicious breakfast spread — and I was waiting for Ali to screw it all up. Sorry 😀
So funny Kiran!
I wonder how on Earth Ali figured out the deli would slice a tomato for him? I have never heard of ugh a thing… What else might they slice, I wonder…
I think they’ll slice just about anything if you pay them for it! It’s worth a shot, right?
Ah, when you look back on the days that matter, may this one come to mind
I hope so! I really need to document it…. 🙂
That’s really sweet, Ameena! Your breakfast table looks delicious. And husbands…they can surprise every once in a while, can’t they? :p
Once in a while…just when you want to throw in the towel. LOL