Six-year Anniversary!

On Sunday, February 18, Jen and I celebrated our 6th year of marriage! For whatever reason, we've never done a whole lot of weekend getaways, and it's been extra hard since Emme was born. But we've always tried to do something special for our anniversary, like a really nice dinner at a restaurant we'd never eat at otherwise (read: Milles Fleurs). Or, like we did this past weekend, we spent the night at a hotel downtown.

So this anniversary was a big deal for us, as it was our first overnight stay *without* Emme, who spent the night and Grandma and Grandpa's house.

We decided to stay at the Westin Horton Plaza. They've remodeled it over the last few years and now it's got this really modern interior design and cool furniture, kind of W Hotel-ish, except without the silicon and collagen.

>>[Funny story about the W Hotel] The last time we spent the night out for our anniversary (2 years ago), we spent it at the W. We wanted to see what all the hype was about and hang out with the hipsters. Problem was, Jen was about 7 months pregnant, and even though she looked absoutely stunning in this great dress she wore, she was more than a little self-conscious amongst the throng of lollipop-headed women. So we're hanging out, enjoying our cocktails (Jen had pellegrino), when this attractive blonde plants herself right next to us at the bar to order a drink. Turns out, she was one of Jen's clients from when she was an esthetician. So they start talking and, I know this sounds really pompous and macho, this woman is totally checking me out (Jen can vouch). She even said, "Oh Jen, you didn't tell me your husband was so handsome!" Now by this point, Jen is feeling even lower than she felt before. I, on the other hand, am feeling pretty good about myself, having just been "cougared" by a gorgeous, wealthy divorcee.<<

Okay, back to this last weekend. We had dinner reservations at Palm Restaurant, which was highly recommended by my buddy and general man-about-town, Pietro LaGreca. We decided to walk, since it was a really warm, beautiful weekend and the restaurant was only a few blocks from the hotel. The problem was, Jen wore these great boots that, while they looked incredible on her, she might as well have been wearing snowshoes. Come to think of it, snowshoes probably would have been more comfortable.

So, after a short (and painful) walk, we arrived and checked in at the restaurant. Once inside, our first thought was, "Is this the right place?" Palm Restaurant has a "unique" entry way that is largely defined by its large collection of charicatures painted on the walls. From the looks of it, it wasn't really what we had in mind for a nice romantic anniversary dinner. We were close to aborting and heading across the street to another restaurant, J-Six (which looks really great, BTW), but we decided to stick it out at Palm.

Dinner was fantastic. Not that romantic, but the food, wine, and service were impeccable. Highly recommended... If you can get past the campiness of the entry way.


After dinner was over, we knew there was no way Jen could walk back to the hotel. Her feet had two huge, fresh blisters on them. We needed a ride. Just as we're about to call for a cab, some dude on a Pedicab rides up.

"Need a ride?" he says in a thick Turkish accent.

"Yeah," we say in unison. So off we went on our first-ever Pedicab ride. Jen and I have lived here our entire lives and this was our first pedicab ride. Hard to believe.

Here's our first pedicab ride:



Anyway, we got back to the hotel, Jen changed into some more comfortable shoes, and we headed back out for an after-dinner drink. For sentimental purposes, we decided to hit the Grant Grill, in the newly remodeled US Grant Hotel. After all, this was where we got married 6 years ago, so it was a no-brainer.

The newly remodeled Grant is great. They managed to maintain a lot of the historical feel while updating the look of it. We sauntered down to the Crystal Room, where our ceremony was held. They were preparing for some after-opera function, but the staff was cool enough to let us in to take a look. They were pretty stoked to hear we were married there.


Then we went up to the bar, where we shared a glass of wine. The new Grant Grill has all these cool lounge-type seating areas, and in one of the areas were a group of three--one man and two women. They looked fairly young (younger than Jen and I, at least) and were well on their way to getting blitzed.

After being at the bar for about 15 minutes or so, I noticed their behavior start to change. The man was on the end and a woman, who we presumed to be his girlfriend, was cuddled up next to him. They were trading kisses and doing other things couples do. No big deal, we thought, until the girl in the middle gets up to go to the bathroom. So now it's just the dude and the girl on the end. Now she slides over and they totally start making out!

Here they are, pre-makeout sesh (eyes covered to protect the innocent--or not-so-innocent). Notice the guy's move with his left arm, reaching around the neck of the girl in the middle to rub his hands through the end-girl's hair. Shmoove.

So the girlfriend, although that title may be in question now, comes back and assumes her seat in the middle, where she was originally. And now the girls start touching each other, and not in a "hey-great-too-see-you" sort of way, but in more of a "lets-go-get-a-room" sort of way.

We're not sure how it ended, as we were too tired to see them off to their room. Sounds like one of those great stories Howard Stern used to tell on Mondays after a big weekend.

Anyway, we had an awesome time. Jen, I love you, you are the best!