In Vancouver, we would normally go out for Valentine's Dinner to the Fish House in Stanley Park. This was due to PJ not making dinner reservations very far in advance on our first Valentine's Day (the planner in me shudders - I booked his birthday dinner months in advance!) and the Fish House was one of the few places left with availability (I had wondered why we went out for dinner was so late!). That, coupled with the fact that he could make reservations online, made the Fish House our go-to Valentine's Day dinner spot. Well, seeing as our annual trip to the Fish House came a little early this year (with 40 of our nearest and dearests - get it?! I'm talking about our wedding!) and it would've been a long commute, we did something a little different.
I really wanted to get out of town and go to a big city. We really liked the Raleigh/Durham area when we were there for the Canucks game so that settled it. PJ found an amazing hotel and I had been counting down the days until we could leave!
I woke up in the morning and got to work on bringing a bit of Vancouver to PJ. You know what that means - Dutch baby time! Judy gave me the recipe (I guess I can get the family secrets now that I'm family!) and while it wasn't as good as the ones she normally makes, I was pretty happy with my first attempt:
(Bryan, you should really try this next time - it is a giant Yorkshire pudding. It's what dreams are made of, I promise).
Now for his gift. PJ has really liked a college football team since we've been down here: The South Carolina Gamecocks. It upsets me to even write it out. He giggles like a little boy when he talks about them or says 'Go Cocks!!!!' (I am so sorry on his behalf). And I think the word 'obsessed' comes to mind when I think about the people down here and their Gamecocks (I'm sorry again). The former controller at the office just has a license plate that says 'COCKS' on it - I think PJ's respect for him grew about tenfold when I pointed that out. I also couldn't figure out why an older gentleman at the office had 'Sandstorm' as his ringtone...until someone told me it's the song that the Gamecocks played while they ran onto the field. When we were in Charleston, PJ forgot to bring a hat (convenient) and needed to buy on so as not to get a sunburn. He got a Gamecocks hat. Again, I am sorry. He was pretty happy with it.
So for my gift, I decided I would get him a Gamecocks shirt. He wanted one every time we were at the store. I figured my gift was mainly giving my 'blessing' to wear said shirt. A few days before Valentine's Day, he asked me if I got his gift from Target - that is the kind of high-end establishment that sells Gamecocks memorabilia (side note: I remember him telling me on our first date that he found Italian clothes and shoes were a better quality and he was buying more of them - I thought he was too fancy for me... I no longer think that!). Unfortunately, the shirt was too tight so he couldn't wear it right away (not on purpose, I am not that smart!).
After PJ had his breakfast and opened his present, we headed off on the road! So you know what that entails: a podcast (him) and a nap (me). We ate breakfast late so we didn't go to Five Guys for lunch. We got to Durham and headed to Nordstrom to go to their Bistro. It tasted just like the Seattle bistro that I often go to with my aunt; I am loving anything that reminds me of home. We shopped around for a bit (the Microsoft store still does not have a band for me!) and headed to the hotel.
Wow. That hotel. Just wow. It may have been the nicest place that I ever stayed. It is called the Carolina inn and is owned by the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (not my photo - mine didn't turn out as well!).
The inside was wonderful. So tastefully decorated (with a lot of UNC blue - once I found out what that was, the colour scheme made a lot more sense!). It was just incredibly comfortable and welcoming. Our room was so cute - I could've lived there. Everything was in dark wood and it had a beautiful armoir. I found a picture online of what it sort of looked like (minus the armoire):
Up to this point, I haven't mentioned that it was cold. It was FREEZING. I didn't want to leave again but PJ had made dinner reservations so off we went! But not before taking a peek at the room service menu!
We went to a cute little restaurant in Mebane (a suburb) - it was about 25 minutes from the hotel. I got a carrot and ginger soup to start while PJ got a chef's salad - the soup heated me up! For dinner, PJ got the shrimp and grits (the grits were much better than past ones I tried) and I got the beef tenderloin. It was very nice! But... I had my heart set on something from the room service menu for dessert... And things worked in my favour! It was windy!!! With gusts up to 55 mph! Those gusts knocked the power out before we finished and they had to close the restaurant! So back to the hotel we went (encountering some fallen branches along the way!).
I had gotten some new pajamas that I was so excited to bust out: pink flannel with yellow ducks! (They also say 'I love my PJ('s)' on the inner waistband - appropriate, right?).
There was nothing nicer than getting in from the blustering cold, changing into new flannels, and watching a movie/reading a book in bed.
Except. It got better. The room service menu had cookies and milk!!! We had to get that (I love cookies and milk...even if milk before bed tends to give me funny dreams!). We also got a banana crunch cake with almond ice cream. It was so good that we didn't even manage a picture before it was gone!
The next morning I needed a Starbucks. I guilted PJ into going with me which doesn't sound like that big of a deal but... -9 but felt like -17 with the windchill. And he didn't have a coat... And I made us walk 10 minutes in the wrong direction before he realized. Whoops. I told him he could stay at the hotel when we walked past but he was a trooper. He got a chai tea latte to warm himself up while I got my caramel macchiato (side note - I don't need to ask for extra caramel down here. America: 1; Canada: 542).
We got back to the hotel, packed, and headed back to the mall. This time was for PJ so he could get some Cheesecake Factory!
We headed back to MB after lunch. It was a pretty great weekend. But most of the ones we get to spend together are! It was a pretty memorable first Valentine's Day as the newest McKnight's! Next year? Fish House!
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