BeFOUR I knew you, I loved you

You all know how much I love my husband, right? I mean, as guys go, he's the coolest one around. And the most romantic. And the most original. He's so cool that when I'm with him, time flies by. But when our 4th year anniversary came this year, I didn't think, "Man, those 4 years went by fast." Instead I thought, "Man, it's only been 4 years? I feel like I've been with Dave for 50. I don't remember what life was like before having him around." Maybe that's what happens when your spouse is also your best friend?

So anyway, for our anniversaries, we have a "no presents" rule. Dave and I would rather spend money on experiences than gifts for each other. So that's why we usually travel somewhere on our anniversary. By the way, it helps when you have a brother that can get you discounted flights and family members that live in beautiful places who are willing to house you for free. But this year, we were planning to go big and expensive with our travel plans- Italy. However, when we found out little Miss Mia would be born this summer, we quickly canceled. Walking around Italy in my third trimester or with a newborn was not my ideal vacation. So this year, we did "Italy in LA". 

Dave and I planned different parts of this year's event. The day before our actual anniversary, he took me to a shooting range. We'd talked about going to a range for pretty much the whole 4 years of our marriage, but never gotten around to it. So he planned the whole date. He found a shooting range, found a friend who had guns we could borrow, arranged for a babysitter, the whole 9 yards. He even tried to keep it a surprise... but when your wife sees you loading a shotgun into the car, there's only so much you can do. 

We had such a blast doing this activity. I highly recommend it as a date. I was super nervous at first. And when I first heard how loud the gun was, I nearly hit the floor. But you get used to it pretty quick. Dave and I are quite the shots too. Check it out. 

So then on our anniversary, I planned the "Italy in LA" theme. Dave didn't know what I had planned, so it was all a surprise to him. For breakfast, we ate crescents with Nutella. That was the typical breakfast Dave had eaten on his trip to Italy a few years ago. And we even ate as a family in bed :-) Then we loaded up the kids and headed to a local park. I really wanted to go to a park where they had pigeons, because there are tons of pigeons in Venice (in fact, tourists often get pictures of themselves covered in pigeons there). So we fed some pigeons and since there were ducks, we fed them too. Cage thought it was the funniest thing! Afterwards, we had an Italian picnic lunch. It was a wine and cheese lunch. I even went and bought expensive Italian cheeses. We don't normally spend money on that kind of thing, but I figured since we weren't actually going to Italy, we were saving money. And of course, the wine was good ol' Martinelli's sparkling cider!

 





























Afterwards, we went to Getty's Villa, which is a very expensive mansion that has a museum of Italian and Greek art and sculptures. It also has beautiful Italian architecture and gardens outside. In fact, the architecture of nearly the whole villa was based on the design of Pompeii and Herculaneum. It was absolutely beautiful. I almost felt like I was in Italy! Even Dave was impressed with how authentic the Italian design was. The pictures do not do it justice. And these pictures aren't even half of the ones I took!

 

After our trip to the villa, we came home and put the kids down for a nap. Then Dave and I watched "The Italian Job". I think Mia had a little crush on Mark Wahlberg. She couldn't keep her eyes off him. Can you really blame her?

After the movie, it was time for dinner. We went to...can you guess...an Italian restaurant. We had never been there before. When we first walked through the door, I was blown away. It was beautiful! Between the decor and the soft Italian music playing in the background, it was so relaxing. If we ever have friends in town that we need to impress, we will definitely be taking them there. And we were the only ones there so we had the full attention of the staff. Not a bad date.

Even if we didn't get to Italy this year, I really don't care where I am as long as I have Dave with me. I know, cheesy right? But guess what? I love cheesy. And I love my husband.