Birthday Weekend!

Garth and I had originally planned to go away for my birthday. But, in haste, I decided I wanted some new furniture and decor for our new place as a birthday present instead. As the month went on I slighly regretted my decision, but I kept telling myself the new decor was a great investment.
Fast forward to Friday. My office is closed on Fridays, so I was bumming around the house when Garth came home from work with this HUGE present. He is insisting I open it right then. So I do. It's the most beautiful 6-piece luggage set that I have wanted since we got engaged. Then Garth asks if I'm ready for the second half of my gift. I protest that my birthday isn't until tomorrow, but eventually cave. He says, "Go pack your bag." I'm so confused. I'm like "Don't you have to go back to work?" And he says, "No. I took a half day of vacation. Now go pack your bags!" After a few more moments of shock, I was so excited and started screetching and hugging him.

We both pack quickly and we're on the road. I still didn't know where we were going, but once I saw what highway we were on I knew we were going to the hotel we had originally planned on going. Oh boy, I was so excited.

Here is our room on the 20th floor:

The view:
Did I mention the package Garth chose included champagne and truffles?

The pool:
Tennis courts on the 4th floor:
The hotel lobby:
About to go eat on the 27th floor:
It's my birthday:
Sipping a martini:
Our sushi appetizer:
I ate raw eel!!

The pri-pri African Chicken. Yummo:
Our dessert with 24K edible gold:


Eating 24K gold!!
Then the restaurant brought out a birthday fondue:
Birthday dinner @ Cygnus:
A sunset walk after dinner:

I want to live in those condos behind me:
Our hotel is the tower closest to me:
Garth spotted the South African flag and had to represent:@ the art museum:



So the art museum is a really pretty building, but the art was not impressive. We wanted to be sophisticated, but all we kept saying was "We could paint that!" At least we tried:
Downtown Grand Rapids:



There was a free concert going on outside our hotel:
We dug the band:
Rocking out:


I told Garth to mimic the astronaut and this is what I got. Hilarious:



Mmmm my spinach and eggplant pasta:View from the restaurant:
We found another concert in the park, though this was much more like a rave:
I have never felt so disconnected to our culture:


The end:Whew, that was a lot of pictures. Sorry about that. The moral of the weekend is - I have the best husband in the whole wide world. Thanks baby for a weekend I will NEVER forget!