Anniversary weekend

Over the weekend The Boy and I got to celebrate our 7th anniversary with time away from our kiddos and galavanting around downtown Columbus. It. Was. Excellent. 

We dropped the kids off at Kim and Carla's at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday and for the next 27 hours we enjoyed a completely kid-free weekend together! I had been craving some one-on-one time with my husband and was SO looking forward to the weekend. I was trying hard not to have expectations that were too lofty and that would easily disappoint, but the weekend met my expectations and then some. I'm so thankful for our time together!

Because I don't want to forget what almost felt like a second mini-honeymoon, here's a rundown of our day and a half as just Kelli and Matt.  

Saturday:

• Our first stop was for lunch at Cafe Brioso. For literally six months I've been wanting to sit there outside at a table with Matt and sip on coffee whilst watching the busy city buzz past us. I had this romantic idea of doing that in October as the fall chill was settling in, but that never happened. Enjoying a warm, sunny afternoon in the spring was just as good. We hadn't eaten there in forever and that veggie sandwich was just as delectable as I remember. My cuppa joe was perfection and the time to sit and eat a leisurely meal with my boyfriend without having to cut up food or hear whining or fasten J into a highchair was nice. 
• Next, Matty wanted to visit The Vault and the alley where we hung out right after the ceremony (where we snapped the above picture).  We walked around downtown for a bit and marveled at the cool city we are fortunate to live in and we reminisced about our wedding day and how little we knew about life then. 
• Next, Matt took me to this super cool warehouse for about an hour dreaming and scheming and tossing around home decor ideas. I love his creative mind and the chance to be creative with him. One of these days we'll own another house and together we will decorate it just-so. Excited.
• In the late afternoon we checked into the hotel, The Hilton Columbus Downtown (at least I think that's the official name) and it is beautiful! And yes, I took photos of the whole room, but for now, I'll just post these first few that we snapped together.

Our room window looked out to the lobby/restaurant area, this was our view.

• Soon after getting settled into our (very) temporary new digs we um... christened the bedroom and my - it was excellent! There's something so freeing and different and passionate about being able to connect like that with absolutely no chance of a child interrupting things. Love it!
• We were giddy over the beautiful, large shower in the room and we explored it...together to be followed by lounging around in cozy white bath robes provided by the hotel.

• Next was time in the hot tub for me and a few laps in the pool for Matt. Nothing exciting to report about that, except maybe that we had the whole place to ourselves which was kind of great! 
• One of my favorite parts of the weekend was the chance to get ready for our date in a leisurely, stress-free way. I showered after the hot tub, walked around in my robe and then later in just my undies and I just took my time getting ready. I did my hair, got dressed, accessorized and took my time doing it, good tunes were playing from the I-dock and it was lovely. Because we were in a suite we had one and half bathrooms. Ridic, I know. More bathrooms than where I live for real, but whatev! Matty took one part of the suite and I took another and we got ready separately so as to (sort of) have that wow factor with each other when we were all dolled up and ready for the night on the town. It was fun. Its the little things, really!
• We met in hotel bar around 6:45 p.m. and myyyyy goodness! There was SUCH a handsome gentleman waiting for me at the bar, sipping on his classy whiskey with the sun hitting him just so. Seriously. He looked amazing and I was so happy we got ready separately so we could have that silly lil moment.

• After hanging in the bar for a bit, we took the COTA bus to Rigsby's Kitchen for an 8:00 reservation. Matt got an IPA and we shared the Grilled Mozzarella Brochette appetizer which was mighty tasty. Nothing I'd ever dream up on my own to make and not really something I'd be naturally led to on the menu, but our persuasive waitress talked us into it. We weren't disappointed. For dinner Matt ordered the House Made Sausage Pizza while I enjoyed the Sea Scallops (with fingerling potatoes and bacon-wrapped green beans). The presentation of everything was beautifully elegant and everything was yummy. Definitely one of those places that's known for ambiance and presentation with price tags to match so probably not a repeat restaurant for us, but a good choice for the occasion, for sure.
• The weather was so spring-lovely so we took advantage of it and walked back down High St. to the Hiltom for dessert at the hotel restaurant. We were the only peeps in the place which alway seems sort of weird and the apple pie thingy Matt ordered was wildly disappointing and crazily overpriced. Oh well. Ya live and and learn.

• Back in the room The Boy whipped out a big ol bottle of Asti Spumante that he'd smuggled in inside his bag. Sneaky! He wanted to make a toast to our future and reflect on our past together. Precious man. He ended by reading me his would-be vows from our wedding day that he had misplaced. The part that sticks out the most?  "Kelli Marie Shearron, You're my sunrise and sunset... through the trees." ;) We laughed at the cheesiness of it for a while!
• To end the glorious day together we christened the king sized bed once more and whew! It was even more excellent than earlier in the day! (Z and J, I realize that one day you'll probably be reading through this blog and things like what I just typed will make you blush or gag or worse. Get it over it, Babes. You'll be thankful that I remembered the moments like these one of these days and then you'll fall in love and you'll have moments like these with your special person too. So there!)

Sunday:

• We slept in! I think we woke up sometime in the 8 o'clock hour and its funny that at this stage of our lives that's sleeping in, but it was great! And then, to round out the weekend, one more romp in the sheets and good Lord! It was the best that its been in a long time!!!! (Okay, now I'm blushing!)
• We took our time easing into the day and checked out of the hotel around 10 a.m.
• We walked to Cup O Joe on the cap and enjoyed fantastical coffee as we walked into the Short North and explored Philco We had an incredible meal  and we will be going back there soon! I got the Fried Egg Tacos (with chorizo!) and Matty ordered The Traditional. We shared the savory Hushpuppies which were a flavor letdown in comparison to my meal. But no matter. It was a good experience all around.
• After brunch we window-shopped around the Short North for a while, eventually got the car out of the Hilton garage and then we wandered around Franklin Park Conservatory for an hour or more. Again, the weather was picture perfect and we thoroughly enjoyed the chance to get to spend so much time outdoors doing what we wanted to do - a lot of nothing much at all!

• For a late lunch we made it over to Katalina's, another place I've been wanting to try and it was another new restaurant success! I got the Pesto Avocado sandwich which was a light, fresh, felt-pretty-healthy choice,  Matt got the club sandwich. The Shagbark chips that come with the sandwiches are chip perfection!  
• It was a bittersweet to end our weekend together when we picked up the kids between 3:30 and 4 p.m., but all good things must come to an end, right? We're so thankful for the help of Carla, Kim and Maryke for watching the kiddos overnight and taking great care of them and we're so thankful that we got a chance to truly celebrate our marriage together. 2013 was rough for us and that's putting it nicely. Here we are in 2014 now though, a new year, another year of marriage that's beginning and it felt like we truly had joy over our anniversary. Praise God!