8

This past weekend, Grant and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary!  And let me just say, I don't know if any other anniversary celebrations will top this one.  It was amazing!

First, I have to give a HUGE shout out to Grant's mom.  Last year, for our anniversary, she got us a very generous gift card to the spa at Terranea Resort, which is only a few miles from our house.  For people like Cheri, who have been to this area, but don't live here, Terranea is between the lighthouse and Trump Golf Course.  It opened only about 2 years ago, so it's still very new.  We go to Terranea alot, whether just to walk around, go to the beach, or eat at some of their restaurants.  It's one of our favorite places to go!  Back in 2009, Grant's family came here for Christmas, and we (along with Grant's brother, John) got Grant's mom a gift card to get a massage at the spa there.  She loved it so much, and had such a great experience, that she wanted us to experience it, as well.  So that's where she got the idea to get us a gift card.

Last year, we tried to make a reservation there for our anniversary, but our anniversary falls on Mother's Day Weekend, so by the time we got the gift card and called for reservations, they were totally full.  So we slacked off until maybe October, and we made reservations then.  Well, our babysitter cancelled because of sickness, so we ended up not going.  Slacked off again until a couple of weeks ago, when we finally made reservations, and got a sitter.

As we were walking to the spa, I saw this little tiny Asian girl with two tiny Asian kids, and it looked like my friend Ting and her kids, but they were facing away from us, so I couldn't see their faces.  As we got closer, I called out her name, and sure enough, it was her!  Right before we saw her, I was just mentioning to Grant how we need to have a date night with Ting and her husband before we move, and then about a minute later, we saw her.  So random!  But this isn't the first time we've run into people we know there.  Everyone loves Terranea!

Folks, let me tell you, I have never experienced luxury like this!  I don't even know if I have words that can describe it, so you'll just have to trust me on this, and enjoy the pictures...

First of all, when you have massage reservations, you have free-reign of the spa all day, which is really nice.  Unfortunately, we didn't get there too early to use the facilities, but that's still a nice feature.  We did swim in the pool for a few minutes before our massages, though.  When it was time for the massages, we were shown to our room, and we were shocked at the view!  I knew this room existed, but we thought you had to pay more for it.  But this is the only room that has this view overlooking the ocean.  It wasn't a beautiful day, so the pictures don't do it justice, but the ocean was right there.

Right as we were laying down on the tables, we noticed all these dolphins, maybe only 100 yards out from the coast.  Then all of a sudden, two whales came up!  We see whales alot around here, but never this close!

After the massages (which were awesome, by the way), we went to the pool again.  By this time, the temperature had gone down a bit, so we didn't swim, but it was so nice to just lay outside, listen to calm music, and just relax.



After that, it was time for us to get ready for dinner.  We didn't have reservations, but we planned on going to Mar'sel, which is the fanciest restaurant at Terranea.  We've never eaten there before, because it is very expensive, and it's just not a place that you randomly go to.  It was perfect for an anniversary dinner, though, especially after the treatment we just received!

While I was getting ready, someone came into the women's lounge (do not call it a locker room!) to tell me that we had a reservation at Mar'sel at 5:30.  I didn't really understand how that happened, but I knew I had to hurry.  It's a good thing I'm not a high-maintenance girl, otherwise we would've missed our reservations!

As we were walking to the restaurant, Grant kept mentioning the strings he pulled to get the reservations, but he wouldn't tell me what exactly he did, but he was proud of himself.  He took our bags to the car, and I went to check us into the restaurant.  The hostess asked if we wanted indoor or outdoor seating, and I knew we definitely wanted outdoor.  She took me to a table that wasn't right at the edge of the patio, so I asked if we could have one right on the edge, and she said yes.  Check it out!

Looking this way, you can see our little town of San Pedro (the furthest out point)...

And this way is facing back towards the resort...

Edited:  I forgot to mention how Grant got us the reservations!  After the massages and the pool, we went our separate ways, and Grant was hanging out in the hot tub on the men's side of the spa.  There was another guy in the hot tub, and as they were talking (okay, this is starting to sound weird, but they didn't have co-ed hot tubs there), Grant told the guy that we were going to Mar'sel.  He asked when our reservations were, and Grant explained that we didn't have any, we were just going to show up.  He told Grant that he could get us reservations, because he was the chief engineer at Terranea!  So if it wasn't for Grant talking to random strangers in hot tubs, we would've been sitting inside at the bar.  Which would've been nice, but not as nice as this.

Our dinner was great!  I felt like I was a judge on Top Chef.  I have never had food that fancy before!  We were given an amuse-bouche, compliments of the chef, even!  Oh, and while we were eating, we saw yet another whale!  Again, it was really close to the shore.  That made it so, so special!

So that was it!  Seriously, the best anniversary celebration we've had so far.  I don't really know how it gets much better than that.

And if you're still reading, you can enjoy pictures of these two babies who got married almost a decade ago.

I love my husband so much!  We've known each other since we were 12, started dating in high school, got married after college, so we've got alot of history together.  I'm looking forward to growing old with my best friend.