full bellies. full hearts.

mmmmm.

vacation.

food.

my husband.

food.

window shopping.

no kids.

sleep.

food.

jeff & i just got back from a little getaway to san diego

for our eleven year anniversary 

(just 2 months late :)

we'd had the date on the calendar for awhile,

but we couldn't find a place to stay.

then, a week before our scheduled date,

we finally found a living social deal for san diego.

woot!

we spent thursday-saturday of this last week

exploring and eating our way through san diego.

it was so fantastic.

i also just discovered instagram

(i know.  i'm a bit late to the party)

and decided to use that to chronicle our weekend 

instead of my big fancy camera.

it was fun.

sorry to everyone following me for posting WAY too many times!

we got to stay in little italy.

i was pretty pumped about eating some legit italian food!

we stayed at the porto vista hotel.

it was not too bad,

minus this wallpaper in our hotel room.

dear hotel decorator....

i know you want to be cool and european, 

but giant, scantily-clad women in my hotel room

does not make me happy.

i should be the skinniest girl in my hotel room, right?

anyhoo.

we started out on thursday afternoon 

with some walking & sightseeing.

we went to a super-lame mall in the gaslamp district.

but luckily, right across the street was a great little restaurant,

the lincoln room.

the ambiance was awesome.

the food was delicious.

(fried green tomato stack!  deconstructed pizza!)

we had a great time.

we headed back to our hotel, parked our car,

and walked to extraordinary desserts.

 apparently the chef is from the food network (i think?)

and the desserts were CRAZY amazing.

along with the line.

we ended up taking our dulce de leche cake to-go,

stopped at 7-11 for some coffee to drink with it,

and ate amazing cake on our hotel room bed 

while watching the modern family finale on hulu.

good times. 

i slept until 8:34am.

okay.  i actually woke up at 7:00 

and FORCED myself to lay there and go back to sleep.

remember when you could sleep until noon?

my children have ruined me.

we got ready and headed to the breakfast place

recommended by pretty much everyone,

hash house a go-go.

most of san diego was already there waiting in line,

but after sitting down,

i totally understood why.

holy breakfast, batman!

the plates were GIGANTIC.

and the food was incredible.

oh man.

we got a bacon waffle

(like actual strips of bacon in the waffle.  right?)

and a crazy-good eggs benedict.

i'm hungry just thinking about it.

 

after breakfast

(more like lunch since it was noon by the time we ate)

we walked around and did some window shopping.

then we headed to la jolla.

my amazing, beautiful cousin graduated high school on friday.

we were able to go to her open house afterwards.

we couldn't be prouder of her.

congrats annabelle!

we have no doubt god has big plans for your life!

(totally stole this pic off her facebook.

she's headed to cal poly this fall!)

after the open house we headed back to get ready for dinner.

bring on the italian!

there had been a lot of opinions about where we should eat.

but between tara's (former san-diego-an) insistence & the crazy-long line outside,

we knew there was really only one option.

filippi's won.

the line goes all the way through their deli and to the street.

of course, my sweet & friendly husband made friends while we waited,

super-nice pediatric dentists from kansas, in san diego for a convention.

i love how nice he is.

side note: accordion player serenading the line.

bonus.

after a long wait,

we finally made it to our table.

it was EXACTLY what i was hoping for.

i felt like i was in italy.

or at least what i picture.

if nothing else, new york's little italy.

checkered tablecloths.

simple menu of lasagna, spaghetti, ravioli & pizza.

yes.

 

my favorite was the bottles of chianti hanging from the ceiling.

diners could decorate them to hang as a memento from their visit.

i have never ordered a bottle of wine at dinner before.

but you bet your bottom dollar it was happening!

we decorated our bottle and watched them hang it.

(and shared the wine with our new-found kansas friends :)

happiness.

the next morning we headed to the famers market

literally on our street.

i love me a farmers market.

this one had live sea urchins (what?), gorgeous flowers,

lots of yummy produce and tons of other fun things.

you know, like dogs riding in remote-control cars.

i walked away with some salted caramels & a new necklace.

we ate pizza slices and loaded up the car.

 

for our last stop,

we went out to coronado island.

i have always wanted to go there.

someday, i'd love to stay at the hotel del coronado.

it is straight-up beautiful.

we walked the hotel, 

headed out to the beach and the tide pools

(we spotted some big crabs & saw a few dolphins)

and just soaked in the sun.

and the quiet.

and each other.

after two days away,

it was great to come home to these little people.

(HUGE shout out to rose for taking fabulous care of them while we were gone!)

i'm always amazed that for how much i want a break,

the minute i'm away from them, i miss these kids like crazy.

but mostly,

it was wonderful to know that after eleven years of marriage,

i am still crazy for this guy.

he is my best friend.

he makes me laugh.

i have the most fun with him.

i love, love, love him.

so i returned with a very full belly.

but an even fuller heart.

i was reminded just how blessed i am

to be a mommy,

and to be married to this wonderful man.

eleven years

eleven years ago today,

this was what i looked like.

eleven years ago today,

i stood before God and made a covenant.

an unbreakable promise.

eleven years ago today,

i married my very best friend.

eleven years ago,

God gave me the greatest gift.

i am forever grateful to call this man my husband.

grand finale

i bet you're tired of hearing about my anniversary, right?

i've told you why i'm the luckiest girl alive, and where we went to celebrate.

 i'm not done yet.  

but i promise this is the last post you'll hear about my anniversary...til next year ;)

my wedding pictures have always made me kinda sad.

for someone who loves photography, i got a lot of posed, sterile pictures.

not really what i was going for.

i see all these gorgeous wedding pictures and i get kinda jealous.

and when you have kids... you just don't get pretty pictures together anymore.

sooooo.....

why not take anniversary pictures?

once i came up with the idea, i was so excited.

my brain started going.

when we do pictures, i'm not the kind of girl that just likes to pick out some clothes and smile.

have you seen my parties?

i'm a girl that loves a theme :)

i decided to create a very romantic, dreamy setting....

almost like a living room if you lived outdoors.

wedding-y, without being too overt.

i wanted evening light, nature, and warmth.

i added personal touches to make it special for us.

none of it would have been possible without an amazing photographer.

the incredible cori derksen of derksen photography totally caught my vision.

and big props to the magic-makeup skills of michelle kreiter who transformed my face.

(notice the heart garland i made in the trees, the paper lanterns, the wedding photo, B, etc?)  

now i can stare at beautiful pictures of my husband and i

reminding me of how in love we are 

10 years into this crazy thing called marriage

i couldn't be happier with the results.

take that, newlyweds.

oh, mexico

on april 7th, jeff and i celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary.

pretty exciting.

for several years, we've been planning/dreaming/saving for an anniversary trip.

on may 16th, it finally happened!

we traveled to the riviera maya in mexico, just south of cancun.

it was un.be.liev.able.

we stayed at the secrets maroma beach, an adults-only, all-inclusive resort.

(cause let's be honest... if i'm leaving my kids at home, i don't really want to have anyone else's at the pool, right? and.... i'm pretty thrifty. so all-inclusive means i can eat whatever i want and not feel guilty!)

i have never been on a real vacation before.  growing up, i went camping or to disneyland (which i am not knocking.  i heart disneyland intensely).

and as an adult, most of my vacations either consist of staying on a friend's floor, or waking up at 6am with my children somewhere.  both great, but not a REAL vacation.

never to some exotic destination.  needless to say.. i was beyond excited.

we flew into cancun to see water that is actually the color i use to draw water when i use crayons with bella.  just gorgeous blueness.

our resort was like something you see celebrities staying at.  

the door to our room had a 'happy anniversary' sign across it.  

at night they 'turned down' your room by closing the curtains & putting music on. the first night they turned our towels into swans and sprinkled rose petals on the bed.  so cute.

we spent our days at the pool or the beach.  and really... it looked just like this (with more chaises).  

we enjoyed ourselves some pool volleyball and water aerobics :) 

they had all kinds of fun activities going on during the day... it was like the most amazing summer camp ever.

this guy hung out next to the pool everyday along with some smaller lizards.  we saw some cool wildlife.

after a 'hard' day of hanging out, i ordered these nachos from room service every day.  you could get room service whenever you wanted, 24 hours a day.  oh, you bet your bottom dollar i did.

and.... they put it in a 'secret box' attached to your room, so you didn't even have to open the door!   

the dinners were amazing.  like Top Chef good.  7 restaurants to choose from.  and all of them beautiful.

even teppanyaki.  

at night, there were shows put on by the resort, movies, dancing.... lots of fun times :)

we took a trip into town one day...

where we bought churros and toys for the kiddos

we rode jet skis

and snorkeled (we even saw a sea turtle!)

basically.... the best week ever.

but even better than the pool, the food, and the sleeping in was my amazing company.

a week with my sweet husband was priceless beyond words.

in a season of life that often feels out of control with busyness,  7 days of quiet, good conversation, laughter, no email or distractions, and togetherness was the sweetest gift of all.

and the best part is... after 10 years, we still love spending time together and love each other more than ever.

love you, jeffrey owen.

can we go back soon?  ;)