Cheap Date: LACMA

Many people know that my husband I met at a flea market because that's a pretty odd way to meet and most people remember that funny factoid. Few people know that our first date was to the L.A. County Museum (LACMA) though. Matt had learned that I liked art, and photography in particular, so when he found out that LACMA was having a special Ansel Adams exhibit, he wasted no time in inviting me to join him to go check it out. We laugh now because he says, at the time, he thought I wasn't into him at all because I kind of took to the museum as if I had arrived by myself. I didn't walk with him from piece to piece examining each one and sharing my thoughts with him or asking for his. I just kind of wandered here and there, absorbing things and being drawn in different directions, . . . just not always necessarily in whatever direction he happened to be going. Yup, that's me. I can get kind of wrapped up when I'm looking at art.

It's five years later and I still like to get lost in museums by myself, . . . even when I'm technically with other people. Yes, not much has changed. Well, except that Matt definitely knows I'm into him now - and has the marriage license to prove it. We've prolonged our wedding celebrating and newlywed-ing by spacing out our after-party receptions, traveling, and little romantic outings throughout the year. Just last weekend, we belatedly celebrated the one-year anniversary of our engagement (which was actually July 23rd) by . . . why, going back to LACMA, of course!

The difference between experiencing LACMA as a first date and experiencing LACMA as a married couple? When we went as a first date, Matt, ever chivalrous, took every opportunity to offer to pay, and I, ever feminist, took every opportunity to insist on paying for myself. Now, the money pool is his/mine/ours and Matt's very thankful he met the kind of girl who likes to troll flea markets and not the kind of girl who likes to gaze with ardor at shiny things in the shopfront window of Tiffany's. Not that the two activities need to be mutually exclusive; I just genuinely enjoy being thrifty. It's not uncommon for me to be heard saying proudly and excitedly, "This? T.J. Maxx, $10!" after being complimented on an outfit, just as thrilled with what a bargain it was as with how flattering it is.

On this visit to LACMA, we were visiting on Bank of America's dime. If you haven't heard, you can get free admission all year long to over 70 museums nationwide the first weekend of every month with your Bank of America Card. Go ahead, embrace your inner cheap date.

More on what we saw at LACMA on this recent visit to come . . .