Fabulous First Anniversary!

This weekend was SO great! I cannot even tell you how wonderful it was to get away from the house and be a tourist in our own home. As you know, my husband told me to be ready for an overnight at noon on Saturday. So, I packed a bag and put on a cute outfit and was ready to go.

We left the house (promptly at noon) and headed to Dallas to Le Gateau Cakery to pick up our first anniversary cake. They were so wonderful to make us a fresh cake to enjoy rather than eating year old cake. (And, nobody had to worry about keeping or storing the top from the wedding).

After we picked up the cake we headed over to Eatzi's for one of their amazing salads. Seriously, if you're ever in Dallas, go there and get a salad or a sandwich. Such deliciousness! Being a relatively cool weekend in Dallas it was very crowded outside so we had to sit inside, but we didn't mind at all.

After lunch we went to check in to the hotel. Hubby was quite funny in that he pretty much toured Dallas from Uptown to Downtown to get to the hotel. He even slowed down near the Cresent to throw me off! Ha! Ha! When we turned onto Commerce and really slowed down I realized we were staying at The Adolphus Hotel, a Dallas landmark. I'd been in the hotel but had never stayed there. (We live here, remember?) The staff at The Adolphus is so great. They put the cake in a fridge for us and already knew it was our anniversary.

We decided to spend the afternoon at the Dallas World Aquarium since neither of us had been there. (There is SO much to do in DFW I've considered vacationing in my own region just to go to all of these places!) It was so much more than either of thought it would be. They have a great rainforest exhibit with tons of birds, fish, even monkeys. We spens several hours there enjoying all of the animals. We especially loved seeing the sloth (the only one on exhibit in the U.S.). The shark tunnel was also very cool. It's almost as if you're
swimming with them.

Side note: I forgot my camera at home and didn't realize it until we were looking at the cake in our room at the hotel. So, I pulled out my iPhone a few times, but they aren't very good pictures. Oh well...

Following the Aquarium we walked back to the hotel a different way. No offense Dallas, but we're from the suburbs Arlington and felt a little uneasy walking through the bus area with some "professionals", if you know what I mean. We walked over to Iron Cactus and decided to have a margarita and some chips and salsa since our dinner reservation wasn't until 8:45 that night. We thought a snack might be in order. Let me just say that was one tasty 'rita!

When we got back to the hotel we watched a bit of TV and I totally fell asleep on the comfy bed. I guess I needed a nap!

Dinner was at Bijoux and it was spectacular! Luckily for us they had extended their restaurant week menu and we got quite the deal! (For a five star restaurant.) And, let me just say for a couple of foodies, it was so delicious. I'm a scallop loved and these I was served were perfection. Cooked well, great searing on the tops and not gritty at all. So wonderful! Husband had the pork tenderloin and was a bit disappointed but still really enjoyed it. He took the DMN food critics advice and mentioned it to the chef and was worried he might offend him, but I don't think it did. Another reason to love the place, in my opinion. I will definitely be recommending Bijoux to friends and family for a perfect romantic dinner.

After dinner we went to check out the new Aloft hotel, but we didn't stay. It was so loud and more like a dance club scene. We went back to the Adolphus to enjoy a bottle of wine in our room.

Sunday morning we had wedding cake for breakfast. Sort of. We each had a piece with our coffee and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think we enjoyed it more since we actually got to take the time to eat more than a bite! (The cake itself was still huge so we gave it to the hotel staff who hopefully enjoyed it.) We also exchanged gifts on Sunday morning. I gave my husband tickets to see Ben Folds with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in September and he gave me a personalized place card set. (I'll take a picture and share with you; it's so great! I can't wait to have guests over to use them.) He also gave me the Brooks Brothers ladies perfume I've been eyeing. (As I've said before, it's hard for me to find fragrances that don't aggravate my migraine brain and this one is so nice. The bottle even has the cute pig on it. Love it!)

Brunch was at Breadwinner's Cafe and of course delish! It was super crowded, as usual, but we got sat fairly quickly and let stuffed. I had a herbed salmon scramble and it was to die for. I think I'm going to try to recreate it at home.

Sunday afternoon, when we returned to reality, we got home and discovered our big dog had rolled around in something quite undesirable over the weekend so hubs gave him a bath. Quite a task to give an 80-pound dog a bath! While he was doing that I was extra nice and washed both of our cars.

For dinner my husband felt like I didn't need to cook (so sweet of him) so went to a local bar and played trivia. We're so cool such nerds! We had beers and nachos and just had a great time. All in all, I had a fabulous weekend. I could not have asked for a better surprise for our first anniversary! I never liked surprises before I met my husband, but he's so good at them it's hard not to like them!

I hope you all had a a great weekend as well. I'm hoping to get caught up on all the reading tonight...

P.S. I guess I can't call myself a newlywed any longer? Or, can I? What do you think?