Matt sure out did himself for our anniversary this year. The surprises started the morning of our anniversary when he handed me a bag from a local jeweler. Yes, jewelry. He NEVER gives me jewelry. Inside the bag was a beautiful mother's ring with the birthstones of our three children set in it - emerald + alexandrite + emerald. It's simple and dainty, just perfect for me. I love it! But that wasn't all - he also sent me a big fall bouquet. Generally, I think sending flowers is a waste of money, but in this case, I forgave him. I love fall bouquets. It reminds me of the bouquet I held in our wedding. This is the one time of year I'm okay with the flowers. Our evening was pretty uneventful, as he had a football game to coach, but I knew that something was in store for later.
Boy oh boy, was I every surprised! After Lily's parent-teacher conference on Friday afternoon Matt told me to pack a bag because he made arrangements for the kids and we were going out for the evening. What? We've NEVER done anything like that! When we arrived at the Columns Hotel I was shocked. I guess he pays attention to what I say - I had mentioned this hotel once months ago, never dreaming that he'd make arrangements for us to stay there. The hotel was beautiful. It was old, filled with charm, and had a pretty nice bar. It was the cosmos I remembered from my last visit there. This place has a pretty happening happy hour.
We stayed in the Pretty Baby suite which was kind of creepy. I'm sorry, it was the stained glass of "Pretty Baby" that creeped me out. There was even a light behind it to illuminate the glass when the lights were out. No thank you. I think the part that bothered me was that she was watching us in bed. At least she gave us a good laugh! The rest of the room was pretty nice. I think I liked the chandelier and crooked fireplace the best.
After changing for the evening, we had a drink at the bar, then out to dinner. Dinner was at Tujagues in the French Quarter. It was nothing fancy, and the food was okay, but that wasn't important. What's important was that I had a night out ALONE with my husband! The company was fabulous, to say the least.
After dinner we strolled through the French Quarter, looked at art in the gallery windows, and just enjoyed ourselves. I think my favorite part of the evening was the smell in the air. Generally, the French Quarter stinks. It smells like stale booze and vomit, but not that night. The air was cool and smelled of sweet olive. Oh, how I love the smell of sweet olive. It reminded me of our first anniversary in Natchez, Mississippi, which had the most humongous sweet olive trees I had ever seen.
Being quite pooped from a long week, we retired to the hotel early. We were going to have another drink at the bar, but that place was hopping! I couldn't get near the bar to order anything, so we called it a night.
The next morning I explored the gardens around the Columns, we strolled along St. Charles a bit, I took some pictures, then we went to the Camellia Grill for breakfast. Yummy! An omelet with french fries? Of course! With pecan pie and ice cream for dessert. Needless to say, my new jeans aren't fitting so well anymore.
Our whirlwind overnight adventure ended all to early. Once we finished our meal it was time to head back home to gather the kids. Do I have the greatest husband or what? I am one lucky woman!! Yeah, I think I'll keep him, he's a good one!!
I created a flickr set if you want to see more pics.
