his & hers anniversary...

last week the hubs & i celebrated our wedding anniversary...13 years, or lucky 13 as we have coined it. someone asked me if it really felt like that long, to which i delicately responded "hell yea!" juuust kidding, i truly have found my very best friend ever. it's kind of cool...his sanity gets stronger as mine continues to have peaks & valleys. but, at the end of the day, we keep each other pretty balanced.

naturally, it was no national holiday & we still had to commence to work & school. some funny cards were exchanged tuesday night & i was gifted some gorgeous earrings...now, we would just have to wait until the weekend to do it up "date night" style. the hubs had made reservations at one of our very favorite fine dining spots, so the whole rest of the week was spent daydreaming about what would truly be a yummilicious meal!

saturday night (after the hubs spent a remainder of the day addressing chicken coop escape routes), we set off to solstice kitchen, located in the sparkleberry part of columbia. i have never been disappointed by the service or food, but for some reason, this meal was so much better than i had remembered. like, freaking crazy delicious! after a bellini cocktail & calamari appetizer, i would single handedly engulf the best salmon dish of my life. i was tempted to lick the bowl that it was presented in, but then came to my senses...i do possess some etiquette about me.

coriander-ginger roasted salmon...green apple chutney, zinfandel-marsala reduction, sweet potato-georgia pecan "hash," sauteed spinach...i know, right?!



once dinner was devoured, we drove back over to our side of town to grab a beer at the local british pub; then retired home early to watch a movie on our comfy couch! (this is how we "party" sans monkey...ha!)

the next day, still starry-eyed from dinner, we had a few hours to chill & go through the motions of sleeping in & sipping coffee...which is always a special occasion in itself. the monkey had given strict instructions on a 3:30 pick up time from memaw's house (lawd...that child, that child)

the hubs is always talking about me joining him on a trip to the shooting range. i don't exactly like guns, per se, but i felt that as a nod to him, i'd give it an old fashioned go. he was very thorough about explaining rules & ways of handling & clips & safeties & all that other jazz that i have no clue about. i was a bit anxious about this experience, but heck, i'll try anything once!

can i just say, i was absolutely...terrified!! omg, there were loud noises going off everywhere; those big honking ear phone muff thingys only slightly muffled the ka-pows going on. i jumped every single time. i cried a little. i shot the 9mm like 3 or 4 times...the other big, long one (rifle?) a few more than that. whoa, not my new hobby...no ma'am. but, now i can appreciate it...i guess. & it's something the hubs enjoys & he was pleased that i at least went to see what it was all about. (thank goodness, that's over. more validation that i'm a lover, not a fighter!) after the fact, it's quite comical, but at the time...a super-sized om & a woosah!

do i look put together? cause i was shaking like a leaf!!



 

i'm pretty sure that this is what marriage is all about. looking forward to good times, food, & spirits together, taking an interest in the other's likings, & having stories & inside jokes to share for a lifetime (boy, do we have some good ones!).

overall, it was a his & hers & ours wonderful time. it's been quite a ride so far (18 years all together), & i can hardly wait for many more adventures!

**for a treat to your taste buds (while in the columbia, sc area) check out solsticekitchen.com. have little ones? they occasionally offer a "babysitter's night!" is that cool or what?!