Bang Bang Shrimp & Stuffed Chicken Chardonnay-Marsala

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After a restless few hours of sleep, I got up and walked across Hyde Park before hopping on a Tube to London’s Heathrow Airport. After 46 minutes since American Airlines Flight 46 had landed, I began to get worried. I thought the airline must’ve lost our backpack and that Jessie and I would living out of only one small backpack for the next 25 days! But then, finally, I saw hope—hope in the form of a very tired Jessie waddling out the arrivals terminal with both backpacks in tow. Soon we were in my apartment, repacking those bags with some of my clothes. We packed my remaining luggage in suitcases and made a tiring trek to my school to store them for the next month. We got our last shot of the Internet and headed back to the apartment. It was time for me too cook up the surprise I had been planning all semester. I had first asked Jessie what her favorite meal was back in January. She answered, “Bang Bang Shrimp”— an appetizer at the Bonefish Grill. I insisted that wasn’t a meal, so she said Stuffed Chicken Marsala— an entrée at Olive Garden. After pondering the possibility that we eat out way too much, I found myself looking up recipes for those dishes and practicing them this semester. It turned out to be two separate meals, as I made way too much of the appetizer and we were both too stuffed to even think about chicken entering our bodies. Eventually, the chicken came. Once we ate, we were ready to go to bed. My roommates had other plans, however. As they had spent their last night out on the town, they came back late, and all had their packing left to do. Jessie and I put some finishing touches on our own packing and she very triumphantly beat me at cribbage. Some sleep happened. But I was excited for Prague.

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