Eleven Eleven Eleven Eleven

Matt and I celebrated our eleventh wedding anniversary on 11/11/11. We were lucky to be able to sneak away for a couple days for a little adventure, just the two of us. We had talked about going somewhere quiet, we had dreamed of going somewhere tropical, but in the end, we were excited to find ourselves somewhere fun.

We stayed in downtown DC at The Donovan House which is within walking distance to anything we thought we might want to do. I’ve been to DC a million times, and each time, I fall in love with it a little bit more. It was a rare treat to be able to walk around the city with no kids and go about the day at our own pace. Grab a coffee, sit on a park bench, soak up the sun a bit, stroll around a museum, lunch, dinner, take a nap, you name it. I’m usually holding the hand of a certain 3 year old, so it sure was nice to leisurely walk around holding the hand of a certain 30-something year old.

Somehow (twitter is my guess), the folks at The Donovan House got word that it was our 11th anniversary and they spoiled us rotten! When we checked in, there was an envelope waiting for us at the front desk with a little Happy Anniversary note complete with complimentary drinks. And later that night they sent a bottle of champagne + chocolate to our room!!!

We spent a couple hours cruising around the Museum of Natural History. I always feel like I could spend days in this place and still not have enough time. We were happy to see a few new exhibits since we were there last year (like this one) but truth be told, I already have my old favorites that I have to visit each time no matter what. The Birds of DC is always my first stop. It’s not the most fancy exhibit, and it’s a little bit off to the side in a weird kind of way. But it’s simple and beautiful in it’s own right. And the Hall of Bones has this great mid century design – I could sit in there all day and find inspiration. If you’ve been there, you know about the super rad chairs. Another favorite is the Gemstones. See? I could spend a week. The only thing I don’t love is all the people!!! Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a museum all to yourself for a day? le sigh.

At some point during our getaway, we stumbled over to Arlington and found this sweet little spot for dinner. The globe lights caught my eye as we were going by. And the giant bundle of pink balloons outside the restaurant. The food was amazing, the service was perfect. The whole weekend felt a little bit like the universe rolled out the red carpet for us just a bit. Everyone was extra nice, and everything was perfect.

Of course what would a perfect weekend be without a getting in a little thrifting, right? An instagram buddy sent me a message about a “Target sized thrift store” that I should try to hit up before we headed home. That deserves a post of it’s own, so stay tuned for part two of our anniversary getaway, and I’ll take you to Unique!

Happy ELEVEN YEARS of wedded bliss, Mister Matt. Spotting you in that hardware store on my 4th day living in Boston was the luckiest moment of my life.