CELEBRATE!!!

I have the best husband EVER!! Have I mentioned that lately? A few months ago, we were talking about my upcoming 30th birthday and he asked if I wanted to do something special. Usually these days (post-Sophia) my answer is no, you don’t have to worry about it! This year is different, this year is super special b/c I am turning 3-0!! I wanted to do something that I would always remember! Heck, I am entering a new decade!! He asked if I wanted a party …. that would have been nice, but super stressful to plan …. He asked if I wanted to go away …. that again would have been hard to workout with Sophia! I told him the best present would be a weekend spent with just him, doing fun things he planned! Kind of like the days pre-Sophia! (Not that I remember what life was like before her, it just sounded fun and adventuresome!)

I had no idea when we would be celebrating … all I knew was that I had to work 5/8 and 5/9, so it wouldn’t be that weekend!! This past Thursday night, my mom sent me an email asking when I was going to bring her grandbaby down on Friday! My first clue – it was this weekend!! He would only tell me that Sophia needed to go down to my parents house in b/w her naps. Friday I received an email from Nate that said, “Don’t eat too much today, save LOTS of room. Also, pick out a really nice outfit!” Ooh, la, la!!

When Nate got home Friday evening, we got dressed and headed downtown! He surprised me with dinner reservations at Fogo de Chao, an authentic Brazilian steakhouse! The whole experience was amazing!! Click on the link for details about a dining experience!! The salad bar was exquisite and the 15 kinds of meat were out of this world. I tried every kind, even had lamb!! The service was impecable which rounded out the dining experience. I highly recommend the restaurant to celebrate a birthday or anniversary! AMAZING!!

After dinner, the waiter asked if it was my birthday (Thank you Nate for including that in the reservation!), to which I happily said YES! He told me dessert was on the house! Although Nate and I were stuffed to the brim, I wasn’t about to pass up a free dessert from an elegant restaurant! Nate and I split the Crème Brule and didn’t have any problem polishing it off!! It was the best crème brule I have EVER tasted!!!

We left the restaurant and started walking around downtown. The weather was just perfect. Nate guided us to the Starbucks on the circle, the place where we first met face to face!! He gave me a super romantic card, along with a poem that signified our past (almost) 5 years together! We played a card game and then walked around the circle! He also gave me the 2nd season of the Office (b/c we are starting a new TV series after we finished watching every single friends episode (in ORDER)! He said, "I have one more gift for you ... it is actually from a lot of us ... at the Paper company." I had no clue!! Leave it to Nate to be witty!

We walked around and around downtown, until my little feet could take no more!

Saturday morning we slept in till 7:45am!! (YAY!!) He told me he had lots of options planned for today, but the weather was NOT cooperating! We ended up heading over to Eagle Creek for a long run (gotta burn off at least some of those calories from Fogo)! We ended up running about 2.5-3 miles, then stopped at the nature center. We did a 2 mile hike around the lake in the bird sanctuary! Saw tons of birds and even more nasty Canadian geese! After that, we finished the last 2.5 miles and let me tell you, we were both exhausted and starving!!

We each took a 2 hour nap, watched 3 episodes of The Office, then got ready to head to Broadripple!! We walked around Broadripple, my old stompin' grounds, for over an hour. We spent at least 45 min in Good Earth, the best health food store ever!! We even purchased our first Kombucha! Check out the pictures below!!

After all that walking Saturday evening, we stopped for a quick, lite bite at Qdoba ... 2 naked burritos ... order up! We ended the evening at the Starbucks reading for over 2 hours! I finally finished The Help! (450+ page book!) What an awesome, awesome book!!! You should totally check it out!!

Overall, I had such a fun, special weekend with my wonderful husband!! Although, I was REALLY happy to see my baby girl on Sunday afternoon!!! I think she was pretty happy to see her mommy and daddy too!! A big shout out to my parents for keeping her and loving on her all weekend long!! I know she had a great time!!

Still not 30 .... enjoying those last few days in my 20's!!

Allyson