Birthday #26

Well, it turns out that I didn't get my only birthday wish, but I did get to come home yesterday to this great sight!

Brad (with a little help from one of our neighbor-bf's) rung in my 26th year with a little sidewalk chalk. Needless to say, I didn't pull the car into the driveway. And even without an early Charlie delivery, I pretty much had the best birthday ever in the history of ever. Let me tell you all about it.

This past Saturday, I noticed Brad rummaging through my clothes in the closet when I got out of the shower. I said, "Uhh, what are you doing?" He shrugged his shoulders and casually stated, "Packing." Confused, I asked, "Packing for what??" To which he matter-of-factly replied, "Our trip." Oh, duh. Our trip. Of course. I should have known... "What trip? Our trip to where??" Nope, he'd have none of it. He told me to go blow dry my hair and put on my makeup and he'd have an outfit picked out for me when I was ready.

I must brag on him a bit. Brad is a pretty remarkable packer for a boy. He not only packed my outfit for the drive, but three outfits total, each complete with matching shoes and jewelry. I noticed there was a dress in that dufflebag, saw that he loaded a suit up, and got very excited. What in the world did he have up his sleeve!?

We got in the car and headed East. I had no idea where we were going. Gatlinburg? Down to Atlanta? No clue. After an hour and a half of terrific conversation (I always love road trips, because the long drives are the perfect setting for great discussion.), we pulled off of I-24 at Chattanooga and into the Stone Fort Inn. It was this beautiful, romantic, sweet, cozy, 100-year-old (celebrating this year) Bed & Breakfast. It was perfect. We were escorted to our room, where we changed into our "Evening Attire" and headed out to our 7:30 dinner reservations.

We enjoyed a non-intentional tour of Chattanooga, river side as we tried to locate our destination. After a few wrong turns and a few "What in the world?? This road doesn't go left!"'s, we safely arrived at the Back Inn Cafe, which has been voted both the Restaurant with the Best View and the Most Romantic Restaurant in Chattanooga. They were completely right about the view. We were located in a room that hung over the river and had walls of glass. It was gorgeous. They were alsos right about the romance. They had white linen tablecloths and food options that we had never heard of before. It was perfect.

After our romantic birthday dinner, we went back to our suite with a bottle of wine, bubble bath, and oreos. (Yes, we're that mature.) Brad and I have never relaxed in a bubble bath before, even though multiple friends of ours have boasted about how wonderful they are. Well, with such a great jacuzzi tub available, it was the perfect opportunity to try it out for ourselves.

And they were so right. After we figured out how to use the bubbles, that is. I was apparently overeager and poured too much bubble bath into the water. (It was only a quarter of the bottle!) Once we turned the jets on, the bubbles raised above the rim of the tub and up to our chins. There was literally 8 inches of water and over 2 solid feet of bubbles. It was hilarious. We had to drain the water, squish all the suds with the extendable shower nozzle and start all over, without adding more bubble liquid this time. However, once we got that all figured out, we continued the best evening ever. The window was cracked so we could hear the rain falling, jazz was playing on the radio, the sweet glasses of wine perfectly complimented the scrumptious oreos, and the conversation was absolutely irreplaceable. We sat in there, simply enjoying each other's undivided attention for over two hours, until we got completely pruney. It was perfect.

In the morning, we woke up to the smell of bacon wafting upstairs from the kitchn. Yum. The Bed & Breakfast definitely held up to the second portion of it's title. What a great place to stay.

 

After we were filled with breakfast, Brad surprised me with tickets to the Tennessee Aquarium! Oh, I have always wanted to go to an aquarium. I was so stinking excited! I was like a little kid in there, dragging him from exhibit to exhibit, pressing my face up against the glass, ooh'ing and aah'ing over the otters, penguins, jellyfish, stingrays, giant fish, colorful fish, even sharks! We got to touch some fish and stingrays, and even were surrounded by butterflies in the butterfly garden! (Is there anything more romantic?) It was such a great experience, and one that I loved sharing with my husband. There's just something about him holding my hand, kissing the top of my head, and putting his arms around me in public that makes me get all googly inside. Having fun like kids, and being mushy at the same time, is what our love is all about. It was perfect.

We have some good friends from college, David and Stacy, that live in Chattanooga, now. While we were in town, we took the opportunity to have some lunch together. We had lots of fun visiting and catching up with old friends. It was great icing on the cake of our birthday trip.

But while we were waiting for them to pick us up, we goofed off by the river. I mean, duh. what else?

It was pretty much the best birthday ever. I would even venture to claim that it was one of the best weekends Brad and I have ever spent together. We totally needed it. With our hectic lives, crazy schedules, and busy social calendars, we rarely get to spend uninterrupted time together. We had tons of fun, hours and hours of incredible conversation, and lots of butterflies (real kind, and tummy kind). It was perfect.

I'm so blessed to have such a terrific, thoughtful, loving, sneaky, funny, romantic, sensitive, caring, plotting, hand-holding, head-kissing, picture-posing, wonderful husband. I can't even begin to imagine my life without him.

Thanks for loving me so much and for surprising me with such a great birthday, honey! I love you more than I'll ever be able to express! XOXO