Back when I was fully embracing my new identity of fiancée, the subjects of weddings and marriage became my default conversation starters. It’s one of the things I miss most about that special post-proposal-pre-wedding time frame: you always have something to talk about with other people. No awkwardly searching for conversation topics at the Christmas party (“Are you still doing that…” “Yeah yeah…still doing that”). All you have to say is “I’m getting married soon” and BOOM, it opens up a whole world of shared experience.
I met my current hairstylist during that special time. Having been married for a number of years herself, she shared with me that she and her husband have a unique tradition to celebrate their anniversary: Each year, they switch off planning a surprise experience. Normally it’s a short vacation, but it could be as small as dinner at a new restaurant or mini golf.
I loved the idea, so naturally I STOLE IT. Like any good Millennial, I value experience over possessions (unless it’s clothing because I’m weak). This seemed like a great way of taking the guesswork out of anniversary gift-giving and the concept was flexible enough that we could still honor the tradition even if we had a year or two of smaller-scale celebrations.
Alex was on board, and I volunteered for the first anniversary surprise: A weekend away in Sedona, AZ. The first night we were there, a tarantula crawled onto our bench at dinner. I reacted appropriately by flipping the F out and repeating the phrase “We’re from LA!” hoping that it would make the other Arizona locals at the restaurant judge me less harshly.
This year was Alex’s turn. and thankfully he chose a weekend away somewhere a little closer to home (and tarantula-free): San Clemente, CA
We spent two nights in the cutest AirBnB just minutes from the beach. The natural light in the morning was everything an Early Bird like myself could hope for, and I tried to take pictures of every corner of the apartment.
This was the second weekend trip that we have taken with Cosmo since he joined our family back in October. He’s a good little traveler. Loves car rides and exploring new places, but it is definitely a departure from his normal routine of sleeping 15 hours a day. He is 63 years old in dog years so we try to take it easy and give him breaks from walking when we can. For my birthday this year, I begged for a K9 Sport Sack and my wish was granted by my lovely in-laws. This backpack is ergonomically designed for a dog’s comfort, and has made our travels with Cosmo so much smoother. It can be tricky getting him in and out of it, but we have a good system now.
The first night, we went out to dinner at Pizza Port and enjoyed one of our favorite past times: drinking beer on a patio with our dog. It was so perfect that we ended up eating dinner there again the next night.
San Clemente was delightful, and Alex let me fully indulge my shopping vice. The main street is lined with dozens of cute boutiques, and I fell in love with on particular: Isabella’s Cabinet, where I found the perfect gingham sundress that I had been searching for all summer.
Alex did a great job planning and executing this year’s anniversary surprise. The pressure is on me to deliver next year!
