we decided last year that yes, every other year our anniversaries are going to have to be low-key.

we are on the pregnant plan for a while apparently, which means only about every other year am I going to be in any position to go anywhere fun slash feel cute doing it.

if i could go anywhere, it would be italy.
in my dreams, my lover and i both have large cameras around our necks,
and we are in all of the major cities, shooting each other with gorgeous live backdrops of the scene,
and gorging on italian food like eat pray love style.

we started kind of rushed cause i was finishing up a shoot with a hilarious client,
and we spent so much time laughing, the shooting sure took longer…

i came home to a gift on the counter, beautiful roses,
and a handsome guy in one of my fave dress shirts.
my clothes were laid out for me ready to go, of course.

we drove out to coronado island,
where we are shamed to admit, we have not really explored much.

cc found an italian restaurant with great reviews.
outdoor seating, real coke in bottles, and a view of the water.
we both ate lasagna, cause it just sounded so good it was hard to pass up.

we did get fancy and try this daring appetizer that was delightful!

then after chatting in the perfect weather with our real italian waiter,
we drove a few minutes to a nearby resort, and boarded a gondola.
{yes, they really need to re-up their photo equipment. this photo is not great.}

we had chocolate covered strawberries, and champagne glasses,
{filled with some yummy non-alcoholic beverage of course}
and watched the sun go down. our gondolier was a nice guy with a great voice.
we talked and laughed, and listed, and ate.
we held hands and agreed a quiet boat ride with the city lights reflecting off the water was pretty romantic of us.

it felt, for a moment, that we were actually in italy,
and going home to a beautiful hotel with a week off work–just us.

the funny thing about us, cc and me i mean,
is that we think alike most of the time.

i had him open his gift, which was a kitchen-aid ice cream maker. {attaches to your kitchen aid.}
we were excited, since we’ve been having ice cream almost nightly lately. {gotta get the calcium in somehow, right?}  i was pretty proud of how “anniversary appropriate” my gift was and he laughed and told me to open mine.

my gift was a new, cuter, much better working soda machine. cause see, it’s a benefit both type gift, and an appliance, win-win again.

we laughed for about 20 minutes at how ridiculous we are, then spent the next few hours deep cleaning our house and making the guest bed. pretty romantic, right?

my in-laws got in just before 1am and we had the weekend to play with family.
a 4-day weekend? you bet!

update on that soon!