Okay, so 33

I turned 33 yesterday and had the most awesome weekend.  It was just fantastic and Daniel did a pretty good job of making sure it was special.  He planned the yummiest of dining with a French theme... 

I would enjoy one yummy thing and then before I knew it there was another something tasty to eat.  Between the crepes, coq au vin, wine from Saint Emilion, the good champagne (not the every day champagne - oh yeah, we have everyday champagne), the chocolate cake made with the high quality French chocolate and filled with Bonn Maman preserves... it was just incredibly good.  Oh and because we are that awesome- we had French music playing through Pandora while making dinner and hanging out.  Lovely day.

The weather was absolutely perfect.  Couldn't have asked for a more lovely couple of days.  We were sure to be out and enjoying it as much as possible with trips to the dog beach, the south side lakefront path and the farmers market... oh and a very pathetic run where the only thing that kept me going was burning calories so there would be room for a slice of that decadent cake.

33 is starting out pretty awesome.

By the way... we did not plan on going to the south side for walk this morning... we planned on going to the Botanical Gardens but the dogs threw a fit.  A big huge fit.  As we went to leave they were howling like crazy things... in Dan's words "you know those picture of wolves howling? that was our dogs."  They were pretty please with themselves when they got to go.

The Third Year

We had such a good time during this past year of marriage.  So many fun moments, dinners, little getaways, major travels, lots of laughs.  I can't wait to see where this next year takes us.

3 years - 3 exclamation points!!!

3 years ago, we had an incredible wedding, and then an amazing honeymoon.  To celebrate our third year as husband and wife, we ventured to Blackbird restaurant.  We have now established a higher standard of date dinners.  This place was unbelievable,  it should be since the chef is a James Beard award winner.  Dinner consisted of an amazing Sonoma County zinfandel (for the area we visited on our first vacation together), mussel soup, woodfire roasted pork loin, leg of lamb, bourbon, dessert wine, and a chocolate dessert. 

Was it excessive?  Perhaps.  Was it quite easily the best dining experience we have had? Yes!  After all, my amazing wife deserves such an experience.  Love you honey. 

happy birthday dan!

Happy birthday to my favorite person! Cheers!

Ready for 32 (kind of)

Holy crap.  How did 32 sneak up!? 

My 31st year definitely had the theme of growing.  To say that there were challenges would be an understatement.  But I learned a lot and feel like I gained a lot of strength during the past year.  I am excited to see what 32 ends up looking like.  It is queued up quite nicely with some amazing experiences on the calendar to kick things off including my first trip to France and first marathon all in the first quarter.  (yes, I am turning into a corporate sally and use words like Quarter and ROI and strategic approach in casual, home-life conversation... *sigh*)

And it should be noted that this is the first year that Dan made a real cake (instead of a cake in the box).  He did a pretty fantastic job.

Cupcakes + Champagne

As our anniversary was approaching, we considered all the typical options for celebrating such as the fancy dinner at a top restaurant.  But at the last minute we decided that a super simple and relaxing evening was more of what we wanted.  So on the way home from work we picked up cupcakes from the bakery where we got the cupcakes for our wedding reception.

We found a relatively quiet little spot for laying out the blanket and enjoying the glass of champagne as the sun was setting.  The dogs had fun; Eddie got to play ball and Shelby played chase with Dan. 

It was just a quiet little evening and it was exactly what we were looking for to celebrate.  And now we can begin counting the days until it is time for our anniversary gift- our trip to France.

2nd Wedding Anniversary

This year has brought us challenges and awesome moments. We surely have grown as individuals and as a couple over the past two years.  I love where we are right now in our relationship and where we are headed.  We are creating an awesome & happy life together.  And the song we selected for our recessional still fits and kind of sums it up in a way...

I can't see me lovin' nobody but you
For all my life
When you're with me, baby the skies'll be blue
For all my life

Me and you and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together