So many things to tell you about....
I should have blogged last night, but I was just too damn tired. So, tonight, you get two for one. Therefore, it's a LONG post. Deal :)
Yesterday, well, Friday (the 27th), was our 10 year anniversary. Whoooo :) Every 5 years, we renew our wedding vows. I know, something silly I made up before we got married, but you know what...it's fun and it reminds us to keep communicating and keep on loving; we work through everything and grow stronger as a couple...not just individuals. I think it really works. (And more couples should do it!!!) ;) I love it, and Cat, I think, just puts up with me ;)
For our 10 year, I really wanted to go to Italy and do the Europe thing. We did Vegas and Elvis for our 5 year and laughed the whole time because we were just having that much FUN (and yes, I have it ALL on VHS). This year...I found a wonderful planner of unique events (well, she is one of my clients and BNI members...and an absolute creative person...hosting everything from a traditional wedding to a Klingon bash...and I will help find her a Klingon bash to do yet!). Hell, that's even her company's NAME! "Unique Events" - she planned out an entire day for us. An adventure quest...and we even got to include pup for part of the day.
We started off with a trip down the highway to a Classic Cars showroom. Both of my boys loved it, and I found the car of my dreams (see the picture...my uncles are in heaven with the fact I saw it)! I know, shocker. I'm not a car person...but, I'll take the 1956 Porsche Speedster Classic any day. And no, I didn't realize it was a Porsche till we got home :D I love Porsche.
Cat loved the '71 Challenger (and I'm sure HE'LL take that one at the same time I get the Porche!!!), and pup loved anything Red....and the fact that he could 'race' around the showroom after being stuck in our SUV for an hour. :D
Off to Old Town Manassas and lunch! We snuck into Subway (yes, a standard for us), visited the Farmer's Market and then headed over to the Candy Factory, which is really an art gallery. Pup was entranced by the miniature replica of the train station even while Cat tried to snare him with the fact that the place really had been a candy factory...no go. He wanted trains! Up into the gallery....good artist, but the highlight of MY trip thru the gallery was listening to my boys argue. *Tears of laughter* about the film camera Andrea gave us...Cat trying to tell pup he had the camera backwards...backwards, BACKWARDS...and that he'd end up with a picture of his face.
Oh gods, I still want to laugh. Little man brought me the camera to advance the film and wanted to know, "why are you laughing mommy." I was laughing so hard at the two of them, I had to sit down. It was just precious.
Good artist. I was happy to see the oils on canvas, because it's not something pup and I have worked with yet.
Cat loved the Dead Man Drinking or something. It was a chalk drawing of a skelton with a bottle of something. He'll have to tell you about it ;0 Ok, so I found the picture....
Then, off to drop the young one off at his grandparents, who so kindly said they'd keep him over night. :) Plus, we had a package...Ms. Andrea left it there. But damnit...I wasn't allowed to open it until we'd reached our final destination!!! I am so bad about that. LOL. But Cat kept me in check.
We had to skip the roll but not rock stage. Cat hurt his foot last week, so we had to keep physical activity on the lower key. Not to mention...I was SO ready for a nap, but, I didn't cave!!!
So, off we went to Potomac Mills! We had three stops on our quest log....and did LOL, more because we're us and can't NOT shop!!! Plus, I spent WAY too much time in the bookstore...and way too much money. Hello?? BOOOKS!!! HEhee. For me, most of them were Gena's!!!
Then, we stopped at our favorite restaurant for snacks, Bento! They are a part of the family and were so happy we came by to do anniversary celebrations with them :) AND, loved the fact we were on a 'quest'!
Next were a few stops that we decided to change up, ONLY because I remembered a shop in Leesburg (our final destination) that I really wanted to visit and hadn't in over...oh hell, 15 years???? So, we headed up the road, passed Cat's office, my old office and oooooh and ahhhed at all the changes. LOL.
Leesburg....a hiccup because Cat thought he saw the store....and points to him because he was looking for it ;) It was just an eye doctor's (Eyetopia) not an esoteric store :) But, truth be told...when I'd seen it last, it had been in that location! Finally found a parking space, and then I spent a good 45 minutes in Esoterica (see why he thought he'd seen it????). I walked around the store twice, spent WAY too much money...and cooed at the store kitty cats. :) Cat just wandered and pointed out all the cool stuff...and wanted to know if a gypsy outfit counted as something we could buy? Well, and he grabbed some things for me ;)
7:15....we'd both changed clothes IN the truck. I'll leave that one to your imagination ;) But, I had my 'goddess' dress on as pup calls it...and yes, my hair is shorter (see picture) ...again...it'll grow!
After our 'in truck' changing of the clothes, we wandered back to the Leesburg Colonial Inn to find Richard...who went out of his way to take care of us, above and BEYOND the call of duty! Andrea had a wonderful minister, Lance - who I will recommend for EVERYONE wanting to get married...he included everything I could have imagined and I only wish he'd been at our original ceremony, but you know what? It was equally as memorable having him at our 10 year. Even with the natural born writers in the both of us, neither of us could have done it. Not something THIS important. Lance had me fighting tears. It felt like our wedding all over again. We renewed our vows in a small garden, with mother nature threatening storms overhead. A Catholic minister gave us Buddhist vows and made us both just reconnect with each other.
And that was the best blessing we could have had for our anniversary.
It was just us this time. No friends, no family. As much as we love you guys...I think this time...it was important for it to just be us.
You guys can join in at 15 ;)
Remarried...off to dinner at La Bella Luna. Again, just us in the restaurant. A gorgeous table in the window. The food was divine - calamari, egg plant, calms, champagne, and a cheese platter....oh, and gods, do NOT forget the Tiramisu!!!! I only had a few bites....). Richard even played the piano for us!
La Bella Luna connects to the B&B and a small diner. It's fun! If you want someplace to go that's local and quaint, you HAVE to go there. We're so going back!!!!
And that my friends....is as much as I'm willing to share with you for our anniversary! If you want to do something UNIQUE and fun, you totally have to call Andrea. It doesn't matter what State or hell, even what COUNTRY you're in! She can map it all out. And this is NOT a knock on the event planners I have as friends ;) I love you all and you each have your skills!!! But, Andrea managed to hit things we would not have thought of, include our little guy but allow us the freedom to adapt to our family and synchronicity!
Hehe. We're both still smiling! Even with all that we got done on Saturday!!
So, for today! Not anniversary, but still part of the weekend. I've been after Cat for WEEKS about adding a guard dog to the family. We live on a quiet street, but sometimes, we end up with trespassers AND, I am moving my office home.
Welcome, Samurai Jack or "Sam"....
For the record, he's passed out cold on the deck right now! Hehee.
We have to acclimate him slowly to the house. Gabe and Bijoux aren't too thrilled. But, he did GREAT with pup....and, he listens to me....and he did REALLY well on his walk with pup and I tonight...pup wanted to call him "buddy" and I had to ...creatively talk him out of that one....Sam fitted better and Samurai Jack was the closest I could get to a fighter/protector image for a 4 year old ;)
Tomorrow, it'll be an am run....and then I'm off to work while Cat deals with him. But, I have to SHOP for our puppy...hehe. He needs STUFF. And work on his training, since he's old enough.
Now, to see if he's old enough to go to TKD training ;) I think it'll take him some time. But, over all....the entire household, minus the CATS, are happy to have him.
Namaste!
Yesterday, well, Friday (the 27th), was our 10 year anniversary. Whoooo :) Every 5 years, we renew our wedding vows. I know, something silly I made up before we got married, but you know what...it's fun and it reminds us to keep communicating and keep on loving; we work through everything and grow stronger as a couple...not just individuals. I think it really works. (And more couples should do it!!!) ;) I love it, and Cat, I think, just puts up with me ;)
For our 10 year, I really wanted to go to Italy and do the Europe thing. We did Vegas and Elvis for our 5 year and laughed the whole time because we were just having that much FUN (and yes, I have it ALL on VHS). This year...I found a wonderful planner of unique events (well, she is one of my clients and BNI members...and an absolute creative person...hosting everything from a traditional wedding to a Klingon bash...and I will help find her a Klingon bash to do yet!). Hell, that's even her company's NAME! "Unique Events" - she planned out an entire day for us. An adventure quest...and we even got to include pup for part of the day.
We started off with a trip down the highway to a Classic Cars showroom. Both of my boys loved it, and I found the car of my dreams (see the picture...my uncles are in heaven with the fact I saw it)! I know, shocker. I'm not a car person...but, I'll take the 1956 Porsche Speedster Classic any day. And no, I didn't realize it was a Porsche till we got home :D I love Porsche.Cat loved the '71 Challenger (and I'm sure HE'LL take that one at the same time I get the Porche!!!), and pup loved anything Red....and the fact that he could 'race' around the showroom after being stuck in our SUV for an hour. :D
Off to Old Town Manassas and lunch! We snuck into Subway (yes, a standard for us), visited the Farmer's Market and then headed over to the Candy Factory, which is really an art gallery. Pup was entranced by the miniature replica of the train station even while Cat tried to snare him with the fact that the place really had been a candy factory...no go. He wanted trains! Up into the gallery....good artist, but the highlight of MY trip thru the gallery was listening to my boys argue. *Tears of laughter* about the film camera Andrea gave us...Cat trying to tell pup he had the camera backwards...backwards, BACKWARDS...and that he'd end up with a picture of his face.
Oh gods, I still want to laugh. Little man brought me the camera to advance the film and wanted to know, "why are you laughing mommy." I was laughing so hard at the two of them, I had to sit down. It was just precious.
Good artist. I was happy to see the oils on canvas, because it's not something pup and I have worked with yet.
Cat loved the Dead Man Drinking or something. It was a chalk drawing of a skelton with a bottle of something. He'll have to tell you about it ;0 Ok, so I found the picture....
Then, off to drop the young one off at his grandparents, who so kindly said they'd keep him over night. :) Plus, we had a package...Ms. Andrea left it there. But damnit...I wasn't allowed to open it until we'd reached our final destination!!! I am so bad about that. LOL. But Cat kept me in check.
We had to skip the roll but not rock stage. Cat hurt his foot last week, so we had to keep physical activity on the lower key. Not to mention...I was SO ready for a nap, but, I didn't cave!!!
So, off we went to Potomac Mills! We had three stops on our quest log....and did LOL, more because we're us and can't NOT shop!!! Plus, I spent WAY too much time in the bookstore...and way too much money. Hello?? BOOOKS!!! HEhee. For me, most of them were Gena's!!!
Then, we stopped at our favorite restaurant for snacks, Bento! They are a part of the family and were so happy we came by to do anniversary celebrations with them :) AND, loved the fact we were on a 'quest'!
Next were a few stops that we decided to change up, ONLY because I remembered a shop in Leesburg (our final destination) that I really wanted to visit and hadn't in over...oh hell, 15 years???? So, we headed up the road, passed Cat's office, my old office and oooooh and ahhhed at all the changes. LOL.
Leesburg....a hiccup because Cat thought he saw the store....and points to him because he was looking for it ;) It was just an eye doctor's (Eyetopia) not an esoteric store :) But, truth be told...when I'd seen it last, it had been in that location! Finally found a parking space, and then I spent a good 45 minutes in Esoterica (see why he thought he'd seen it????). I walked around the store twice, spent WAY too much money...and cooed at the store kitty cats. :) Cat just wandered and pointed out all the cool stuff...and wanted to know if a gypsy outfit counted as something we could buy? Well, and he grabbed some things for me ;)
7:15....we'd both changed clothes IN the truck. I'll leave that one to your imagination ;) But, I had my 'goddess' dress on as pup calls it...and yes, my hair is shorter (see picture) ...again...it'll grow!After our 'in truck' changing of the clothes, we wandered back to the Leesburg Colonial Inn to find Richard...who went out of his way to take care of us, above and BEYOND the call of duty! Andrea had a wonderful minister, Lance - who I will recommend for EVERYONE wanting to get married...he included everything I could have imagined and I only wish he'd been at our original ceremony, but you know what? It was equally as memorable having him at our 10 year. Even with the natural born writers in the both of us, neither of us could have done it. Not something THIS important. Lance had me fighting tears. It felt like our wedding all over again. We renewed our vows in a small garden, with mother nature threatening storms overhead. A Catholic minister gave us Buddhist vows and made us both just reconnect with each other.
And that was the best blessing we could have had for our anniversary.
It was just us this time. No friends, no family. As much as we love you guys...I think this time...it was important for it to just be us.
You guys can join in at 15 ;)
Remarried...off to dinner at La Bella Luna. Again, just us in the restaurant. A gorgeous table in the window. The food was divine - calamari, egg plant, calms, champagne, and a cheese platter....oh, and gods, do NOT forget the Tiramisu!!!! I only had a few bites....). Richard even played the piano for us!La Bella Luna connects to the B&B and a small diner. It's fun! If you want someplace to go that's local and quaint, you HAVE to go there. We're so going back!!!!
And that my friends....is as much as I'm willing to share with you for our anniversary! If you want to do something UNIQUE and fun, you totally have to call Andrea. It doesn't matter what State or hell, even what COUNTRY you're in! She can map it all out. And this is NOT a knock on the event planners I have as friends ;) I love you all and you each have your skills!!! But, Andrea managed to hit things we would not have thought of, include our little guy but allow us the freedom to adapt to our family and synchronicity!
Hehe. We're both still smiling! Even with all that we got done on Saturday!!
So, for today! Not anniversary, but still part of the weekend. I've been after Cat for WEEKS about adding a guard dog to the family. We live on a quiet street, but sometimes, we end up with trespassers AND, I am moving my office home.
Welcome, Samurai Jack or "Sam"....
For the record, he's passed out cold on the deck right now! Hehee.We have to acclimate him slowly to the house. Gabe and Bijoux aren't too thrilled. But, he did GREAT with pup....and, he listens to me....and he did REALLY well on his walk with pup and I tonight...pup wanted to call him "buddy" and I had to ...creatively talk him out of that one....Sam fitted better and Samurai Jack was the closest I could get to a fighter/protector image for a 4 year old ;)
Tomorrow, it'll be an am run....and then I'm off to work while Cat deals with him. But, I have to SHOP for our puppy...hehe. He needs STUFF. And work on his training, since he's old enough.
Now, to see if he's old enough to go to TKD training ;) I think it'll take him some time. But, over all....the entire household, minus the CATS, are happy to have him.
Namaste!
