I am in the habit of being a step behind in my efforts to record everything. I just cannot seem to catch up.
(Pause for semi-epic battle scene and Frodo and Sam's unfortunate kidnapping)
Okay, so a little background... For my birthday (25th, ya know), I only asked for money and I was instructed to save the money to spend at an unspecified time, date, and place. See, Chandler had a little plan up his sleeve that involved shopping and that was the extent of my knowledge on the matter. A month following my birthday, we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. We decided that we would celebrate bigger than normal because next year we would be celebrating in Africa. And by "bigger" I mean, we would actually get each other gifts, as opposed to doing nothing. Getting married a few weeks after my birthday and a few weeks before Christmas forces us to make a sacrifice financially, so we have always sacrificed our anniversary, agreeing that we would do something more for the "landmark" years: 5, 10, 20, etc. Follow? There are a lot of things going on in this paragraph and I am about to bring them all together.
(Oh man, Saromon just sent out his gigantic, freak army.. this is about to get so, so good.)
For once, I had absolutely no clue what Chandler was scheming and he, for once, was able to keep everything totally secret, except for the parts that I dictated: shopping in Cincinnati, dinner at Max & Erma's, and chocolate covered strawberries.
This year our anniversary fell on a Thursday (this information is of no significance). We dropped Waverly off at her grandparents and went to dinner at Malone's. It was during dinner that he gave me my anniversary gift: a silver ring with Waverly's birthstone set in it. He actually went to the same jeweler who made my engagement ring and had him customize it for me (David Hungerford Fine Jewelers). I was SO SURPRISED! I had mentioned earlier that I wanted something like it to stack with my engagement and wedding rings, since that's the popular thing to do now, but hadn't really expected it, I guess. No worried, though; I got Chandler a gift too.. For as long as I have known him, he has wanted a needlepoint, hobby belt so I had that in the works. I had also ordered us a couple of bracelets; the meaning is for us to know.
It was a wonderful dinner, but the best part was to come... Friday evening, after spending a few hours with our Life Group wrapping presents for our Angel Tree families, the surprise kicked into full gear. I had absolutely no clue where we were going or what we were doing (Waverly was with my mom and stepdad for the night). However, as we got closer to our destination, I realized that we were staying at the Hilton Lexington Green; the same hotel we stayed in after our wedding. It gets better: we stayed in the same room; the Governor's suite. Isn't my husband so thoughtful?? And it still gets better: he had an anniversary cake from Caramanda's, funfetti flavored!, and chocolate covered strawberries. That is true love. He knows me oh, so well.
Saturday morning, I was told to not take a shower and not worry about my make up or hair. I never go out in sweatpants, much less without make up, but I trusted him. We spent a glorious hour getting a couple's massage at The Massage Center.
After getting cleaned up and checking out of the hotel we headed up north to do some shopping! We made stops at Ikea, the outlet malls, and eventually Florence Mall...the closest mall with an H&M. It was really fun to semi-frivolously spend money and the day was so relaxing, doing what we wanted when we wanted. We had lunch at McAlister's, the BEST deli EVER, and topped off our evening with Max & Erma's in Crestview Hills. It was a pretty perfect day... weekend... birthday/anniversary celebration. My husband is pretty much the best.
We are minutes from a throw-down between good and evil. I am a sucker for a fabulous fight scene.
oh I totally agree about McAlisters!! Chandler was incredibly sentimental and it sounds like you enjoyed every bit of it. Show me that ring next time I see you!!
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