This past Thursday, August 23, Clint and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. For the past 7 years, we have been apart on our anniversary due to the fall retreat at my school. I am so grateful that Clint is cool with that. We both love to celebrate special occasions, but neither of us want to be tied to a specific date to celebrate. The same is true of birthdays, holidays, etc. Before I headed out on retreat, Clint asked my permission to put together a fun weekend of surprises for the two of us. I gladly agreed…even though it is totally opposite of my planner personality to be in the dark like that!
Clint’s mom came down to watch Emma first thing Saturday morning and we hit the road. Our first stop was Art and Soul Pottery Studio just off Roswell Road in Atlanta. Neither Clint nor I had ever been to a place like this and we had a blast! This is one of those places where you can paint pottery, canvas, glass, etc. and then come back a few days later to pick up your creation. We chose to do a candle stand and had the most fun painting it. I’m sure it will be interesting to look at when we go back to pick it up in a few days!
After Art and Soul, we headed to Souper Jenny for lunch. This is an awesome place just off of West Paces Ferry in Buckhead. The weather was perfect for some of their homemade soup and sandwiches! Clint got turkey chili and a turkey sandwich. I shared his sandwich and chose the pesto chicken soup. We both really enjoyed our lunch and will definitely be going back there very soon!
After lunch, we took a few minutes to wander around Atlanta Station before the next surprise on Clint’s list. Clint booked me a 2:15pm appointment for a spa manicure and pedicure at the luxurious Spa Sydell. I had the best time with a very sweet lady. Very relaxing! I have always enjoyed a pedicure every now and then, but now I am totally sold on manicures too!
After I finished up at Spa Sydell, Clint took me to check in at our hotel, the Westin Buckhead. The hotel is beautiful and we had a room on the 19th floor with an awesome view of Buckhead and the downtown area. We found out the next morning that B.B. King stayed at our hotel…so we were feeling pretty special after that near encounter!
Right when we got to the hotel, we started getting ready to go out for dinner and dessert. Just as we were leaving, Clint gave me two boxes that contained the most beautiful pearl earrings and necklace. What a nice surprise!
Clint made dinner reservations for us at Ocean Prime, a restaurant in Buckhead. Our waiter had a ton of great suggestions and really seemed to enjoy his job. We started with a bowl of lobster bisque and then shared a steak and lobster tail. The atmosphere was really cool and the food was amazing!
After dinner, we walked across the street to the Buckhead Diner for dessert. It was totally worth every step of the walk over and the walk back to the hotel! I had an awesome brownie with nuts and ice cream. Clint had the peach bread pudding. The decorated our plates by writing Happy Anniversary in chocolate. We had a great time people watching the big groups that were eating at the Buckhead Diner. After we finished, our waiter brought out check and said, “Happy Anniversary from the Westin.” There was no charge for our dessert. What a nice surprise!
After all of the excellent food, we decided to walk the 7/10ths of a mile back to the hotel since the weather was so nice. We walked across the street to Lennox Mall and had the best time walking around and talking.
Sunday morning we got up and headed to the last place on Clint’s list of surprises…Another Broken Egg Cafe in Buckhead. This was our 4th new restaurant to try on the trip and it was amazing! I had a bacon/cheese omelet with green peppers, an english muffin, and grits. Clint had the two egg meal with biscuits and gravy. It was probably the best breakfast I’ve ever had and I can’t wait to go back!
I had such a great time having Clint all to myself. I am so grateful to be married to my very best friend that sacrificially put together a weekend full of things that he knew that I would enjoy…and that we would enjoy together!