An Amazing Celebration of 6 Years Together
I cannot believe that Jenn and I have already been married six years. Not to mention the fact that we've been a couple for nearly a dozen years. To celebrate this momentous occasion I took the opportunity to plan a day. Not necessarily the most original idea since that's exactly what Jenn did for my 29th Birthday but alas I had some making up to do.
We started the morning by going to my favorite (selfish move I know) breakfast spot, Champagnes Deli and Grill in Newport Beach. They have the best breakfast sandwich. I used to get it with bacon but now I do avocado and its one of the best breakfast items I've ever had. They also have great vanilla coffee. Jenn always gets the pancakes which I think she has sadly been enjoying them less and less. Luckily it gave us the sustenance we needed to go throughout the day. Oh and Jake joined us after spending the night and he too agrees, best breakfast sandwich in town.
After breakfast we parted ways with Jake and began our adventure. Our first stop (Jenn had no clue about anything until dinner) was the house from the Father of the Bride movies. To give a little context the night before Jenn and I got married (September 18th, 2009) Jenn spent the night with her parents at the St. Regis watching the movie Father of the Bride. For that reason I knew the movie was special and I thought it would be fun to take a morning drive to see the actual house. The good news is the house was easy to find and still looks stunning if not in need of a small touch of paint. Jenn who had no idea where we were going guessed it right as we entered the housing track. It's a pretty memorable street. We jumped out of the car took a ton of pictures and were off to our next stop.
A couple weeks back I was fortunate enough to get a promotion. I've been an analyst for the last 6 years working my through the analytical ranks. A couple weeks back I interviewed and was successful in getting a Project Management position. As such I was going to be moving desks and thought I'd bring Jenn along to show her my new digs. So our second stop was at my office where Jenn helped me move. She's always wanted to see where I work so it was a nice opportunity to show her around.
After that we headed home and rested for an hour before going back out to see a play (the third and final stop before dinner) at the South Coast Repertory. I didn't do any research on the play before booking it. The time and location were to perfect to even try to mess with it. We walked into the matinee showing of One Man, Two Guvnors having no idea what to expect. We left two and half hours later having witness one of the funniest, most witty plays we've ever seen. Easily ranking as one of my favorite plays of all time. Dan Donohue who's the lead in the play was incredible. Not only was his timing perfect but he had many parts of pure mprovisation which was genius. I couldn't recommend the play more.
After the wonderful performance we walked from the South Coast Repertory to Maestro's across the street. The dinner was a combined anniversary celebration as well as a celebration for my new job so we went all out. We started with cocktails I had an old fashion and Jenn got a cosmo. Just like our last time at Maestro's, Jenn's cocktail came with dry ice so the steam coming off her Cosmo was impressive. We started our meal with a delicious sauteed shrimp. They were out of this world if not a little overpriced considering it was $25 for 3 jumbo shrimp.
For our second course Jenn got the Lobster Bisque which was phenomenal. One of the best either of us had ever had. It was packed with what seemed like an entire lobster and the creaminess you want from a bisque. My mouth is salivating right now remembering how good it was. I got the chopped salad which was great but didn't come close to matching what Jenn got.
For our main course we went with good old fashion red meat. To compliment the red meat we both got a glass of red wine which Jenn picked out and was out of this world. For my entree I had the 8 oz filet which like anyone who has been to Maestro's knows can be cut with a butter knife. It was delicious. Its easily one of the best steaks I've had. I still slightly prefer Ruth Chris (more for the sizzle) but this is a great piece of steak. Jenn got her favorite Lamb which was cooked brilliantly. Once again Jenn's choice won the day bursting with flavor. I'm not usually a lamb person but this was one of the best I've ever tasted. We had their cream corn as our side.
Because we were at Maestro's to celebrate our anniversary they were nice enough to bring us out a cake saying happy anniversary. By this point we were completely stuffed and barely touched it. Too bad to it was great. We left Maestro's and headed to our car feel stuffed and maybe a little tipsy.
When we got to the car I had one more surprise up my sleeve. Every year since we've been married I've wanted to surprise Jenn with a gift on our anniversary. But for the last couple we've been saving for a house so we always tended to save money before buying gifts. With news of my promotion and the fact that we don't want a house anytime soon I splurged a little and bought Jenn an Apple Watch. When we got to the car I told Jenn there was something in the glove box. Her initial reaction was surprise, followed by anger that I spent the money, followed by pure glee and joy when she put the watch on. It was one of those moments I will cherish forever.
As for the rest of the evening well that's not really any of your business now is it.... :-)
To many more years of love, laughter, and pure bliss.
