Anniversay Fun - 16 Years!

Luke had an opportunity to attend a conference for week, in Irvine, the week of our anniversary. I was all over it when he asked if I could take off work and go with him. It worked out well. We were only away from the kids for almost 72 hours and we came home on our anniversary.

Grandma and Grandpa Hogue were up for the challenge and they came to stay with the Hogue tag team. They arrived Tuesday after school and Luke and I left to head down after feeding the kids some dinner. We ended up leaving the hotel around 10pm to find a place to eat. We drove to Newport Beach and found a Cheesecake Factory. Four glasses of raspberry lemonade at 11pm is something I don't recommend by the way. :) I can never go wrong with the Sheila's chicken salad though. It's my fave salad of all time. We thought we'd be rushed to check out because they close at 11pm, but surprisingly the waitress was very laid back and didn't make us feel that way.

Wednesday morning Luke left early to head downstairs to his meetings. He was going to be busy all day so I ventured out to Costa Mesa, which was only a few miles away. There was a bakery I had been wanting to try, called Black Market Bakery, that I follow on IG. (I ended up eating lunch here all three days, it was that good.) Their BLTA on croissant was the best I've eaten. The reason I came in was their caramel pecan cinnamon roll and it was as good as I had hoped. Amazing!

 After eating lunch at the bakery I headed over to South Coast Plaza. I meandered around and eventually inside Nordstrom's a nice gal at the Clarins counter asked if I wanted to sit down and get my make-up done. I never turn that down and just told her to make me look 21 again. She did all of my skin care before the make-up and I really enjoyed the hour I was there chatting with her. After leaving Nordstrom's I walked back to the car and headed back to the hotel.

The finished product. Wa-la. 

Don't think I look 21, but that's ok.

 Luke was out of his conference by 4:30pm so we headed out to Claim Jumper for dinner.

Thursday was more of the same: Make up and shopping. :) I had my make-up and skincare done at Sephora this time and the gal was super nice. After make-up I did more shopping before heading back to the hotel. We drove to Newport Beach, which is 10 minutes away, for dinner at Great Maple. I had a salad and Luke had a burger. It was really good and I loved the atmosphere. We sat outside and people watched since it's inside Fashion Island.  

After dinner we went to the movies to see "The Martian." It was one of those theaters where you reserve your seat when you buy the ticket. The seats are like large recliners that rock too. They also have a chef on staff and you can order food to be delivered to your seat! Have I died and gone to Heaven!? We thought the kids would definitely LOVE this....especially Tubbs. I had to snap a photo of us before the movie started. My husband does always look this angry, but he's actually in a great mood. :)

Guess what I did Friday morning before we left?
That's right. Had my make-up done again. :) What can I say...I can't get enough. I think I just need to move-in to South Coast Plaza.

Friday was our anniversary. 
16 years! Hard to believe. 
I like his little smirk below. I sure love this guy. We have definitely aged 16 years, but I can still remember hearing his voice for the first time, like it was yesterday. 
He really is my best friend. My snarky, funny, cynical best friend. I love the life we have created together and all of our many adventures. I am glad we stick by each other through it all and honor our commitment to each other. I am looking forward to many more years to come.

Before we left Friday we had lunch at Black Market Bakery together, but this time I got a fried egg on the BLTA. So good! Luke tried the BLTA too. I really loved EVERYTHING i tried at this place. All of their sandwiches looked so good and their cookies were deee-lish too. It's a good thing I don't live nearby.

We got home later than expected Friday because there was a fire on the side of the road, just south of the Grapevine. Traffic was backed up for 30 miles. In Castaic we took a potty/soda break and hung out for 30 minutes to avoid burning gas in traffic.
When we did eventually get home we got to spend 30 minutes with the kids before Bubba left to stay the night with his buddy Alex. We took Tubbs and Wiggy to pizza for dinner and then some fro-yo for dessert. Wiggy made us the message below on her light board for our anniversary.

While we were gone Grandma and Grandpa had their hands full running all the kids around to their practices, games and activities. 

 Craft time with baby pumpkins

 Wiggy's Class went to the School Garden for the first time this school year. Grandma and Grandpa got to go along.

 The girls playing their devices while watching the football game at Warren.

 Bubba the ref

 Wiggy and her friends playing during the football game.

Thank you grandma and grandpa Hogue for taking good care of the kids while we were away and keeping up with all of their stuff! We really appreciate it. XOXO