Valentine's Treat

*Pictures are from my cell phone, so not ideal, but still show the highlights from the weekend!

Mr. GV and I decided to take a weekend away from home.  Some years we exchange Valentine's gifts, and some years we don't.  This year I had said that I just wanted a weekend away from home that I didn't need to plan.  And so that is what I got!

The highlight of the weekend was the show that Mr. GV surprised me with:

Yes, we saw South Pacific!  It was very enjoyable.  I had no idea what the story was about (well I knew it took place in the South Pacific during WWII) so the theme of racism was a surprise to me.  My favorite song was "You Have To Be Taught" which essentially says you have to be taught to hate.  So true!!  

 It was freezing cold so we got there early to get valet parking.  That meant we had a long wait but we passed the time reading, talking to my mom on the phone, and snapping pictures of ourselves. 

That was the big event of the weekend, but we packed a lot more into our 3 days/2 nights!  Friday we arrived in time for lunch, so we headed to Woodland's, an Indian vegetarian restaurant in time for the buffet. Iddly, dosa, rice, potato bonda, plus a couple of main dishes, and of course delicious tamarind. 

After lunch we checked into our hotel, and then it was time to head to the movies to see Star Wars:  The Phantom Menace in 3-D.  This was my first time using Fandango, and I have to say I loved it.  If you have to travel to see movies or don't want to stand out in the cold while waiting for tickets, Fandango is the way to go.  The movie itself---well, it is Star Wars, so right there I knew I wanted to see it again.  But as Mr. GV and a coworker discussed, it is probably the worst of the 6.  My thought was Jar Jar Binks was just as annoying this time around.  lol 

Whole Foods was right down the street from the movie theater, so we popped in after and picked up a few things for dinner.  The rest of the evening was spent in our room, watching TV and just spending time together.

Saturday Mr. GV worked out, we went by the recycling facility with our glass/#3-7 plastics, and headed to The Wild Cow restaurant for lunch.  I don't have any pictures of lunch but I can tell you what we ate:  Mr. GV had the Philly, Mixed Vegetables with Peanut Sauce, and Garlicky Kale, and I had the Wild Reuben, Pesto Couscous, and Zucchini-Artichoke-Greens Soup.  (Both my sides were DElicious, by the way!)  Oops I do have one picture, of dessert naturally.  We shared a slice of TN Terrapin Cake (chocolate and vanilla cake, caramel, yum yum.) 

After lunch Mr. GV dropped me off at McKay Used Books to trade in some books for credit and look around for a bit, while he hung out at Starbucks.  I came home with 4 books---3 cozy mysteries and one non-fiction.  Then it was off to change and get ready for South Pacific.


Sunday we had lunch at The Wild Cow again.  I again went for the Reuben.  What can I say?  I love those things!  My side was chickpea salad.  Mr. GV had the French Quarter Dip, along with mashed sweet potatoes and the soup of the day, sweet-potato ginger.  For dessert we shared another piece of cake, a caramelized hazelnut cake with vegan Nutella frosting.  I enjoyed it, but Mr. GV really loved it.  We rarely have dessert at home, so when we are eating out and they have vegan dessert, I am not going to pass it up. 

 After lunch we took our first ever trip to REI.  Mr. GV found some biking/running clothes and I even came home with a slouch beanie that I love.

Last it was on to Whole Foods to stock up on things we can't get in our small town, organic kale being one of those things. 

We had a great weekend away from home, and it was nice to just focus on each other for a couple of days.  Even with no children at home, there are still responsibilities that keep us from always appreciating the time we have with each other!