Our Tenth Anniversary!

We celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary this last weekend!

The kids spent the night with our friends, the Busters, and we spent a luxurious overnight in downtown Dallas.

We checked into the Adolphus Hotel, then snapped this shot before heading downstairs to dine at "The French Room."

Aren't you dying to know what we ate? Well, for our foodie friends out there, here is the scoop:

To start, the chef sent out an Amuse-Bouche (for the non-foodies, that's a little hors d'oeurve that the chef puts together to amuse the pallete of diners). It consisted of a yellow tomato, topped with Chilean Sea Bass, red radish, capers, and drizzled with olive oil. Delish!

For appetizers, Greg ordered the Jumbo Lump Crab Cake with mango curry and raspberry jams, and lobster-lemongrass sauce. He says it was the best crab cake he's ever had. I had Crisp Pork Belly with wild mushrooms, swiss chard, five spice sauce, and carmelized pearl onions. The pork melted in my mouth and the pearl onions were so gorgeously darkened that Greg thought they were cranberries on my plate!

For Main course, Greg enjoyed Colorado Rack of Lamb with yellow corn and green garlic gratin and kalamata olive puree. I had Duck breast with white chocolate polenta, foie gras mousse, and duck confit. The polenta was sooooo creamy. I had not tried foie gras before, and I knew it was goose liver, but I gave it a try anyway and it was CRAZY GOOD!

We even squeezed in some dessert! A white chocolate souffle with grand marnier drizzle.

What an amazing meal! Every bite was a thrill, the service was amazing, the environment was lovely. They even sent us off with a chocolate-banana cake for the next morning! We had a great time!

Stuffed to the gills, we retired to our lovely room for rest! One of Greg's co-workers at his hotel called a friend of theirs at the Adolphus, and they upgraded us to a Junior Suite. So here is a shot of our room. It felt a little like a waste of space for just the two of us, but we enjoyed it anyway. :)

Next morning, we slept in, then checked out and headed to the spa at the Stoneleigh hotel for a couple's massage and aromotherapy soak. Oh the bliss. After lugging around a 30 pound boy all the time, these muscles really appreciated some pampering.

Then we headed out for a late brunch at "Smoke," a local place we'd heard great things about. We enjoyed the food, but our visit was memorable for more than just that. But before I explain, here's what we ate:

I had smoked ham (they smoke it themselves) and a farm egg fritter with a sweet corn griddlecake and dublin dr. pepper red eye gravy. I loved every. last. bite. Greg had a omelette with goat cheese, mushrooms, bbq brisket and... something else I can't remember.

The food was GREAT! Here's me about to dig in.

What I think was most memorable, however, was that we inadvertently got ourselves right smack in the middle of some MTV reality show. When we walked into the restaurant, we noticed a camera and crew filming two guys at a table, but we didn't think that much of it, since we still have LA in our blood, and since we only saw one camera we figured it was a B level local production or something. But after sitting down somewhat near the table, we realized it was a bigger crew that we had first noticed and that their equipment was high-end. As our meal went on, the taping broke from time to time, and the crew and cast seemed to swarm throughout the restaurant. We also noticed that the guys who took over the table next to us where somewhat connected with the guys who had been being filmed, at we were right in between the crew, the cast, and their entourage. (The waitress told us it was an MTV reality show). Though we enjoyed the food immensely, we were glad to leave the world of reality TV. :)

With bellies full, we headed to Penzy's spices for some fun shopping.

We also hit an antique mall before heading back to the Buster's to reunite with the kids. They had us stay for dinner and cards that night, which was a blast. And I must say that even after eating such great food all weekend, at dinner that night, fresh tomatoes with salt and pepper and the company of fun friends and our wonderful kids was every bit as wonderful.

It was a great time together to celebrate God's goodness and faithfulness over the last ten years. We spent a lot of time reminiscing and just enjoying each other's company. I am so thankful for the time I've had to be married to my best friend, and to share so many joyful and challenging memories together!

We had a great time celebrating our anniversary!