Date-a-versary Recap

I'm here to report that our date-a-versary celebration was a success! Allow me to recap the mini-adventure for you:

The hotel
We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel near the Galleria and loved it! And they got bonus points for pretty Christmas decorations. Brian's company's Christmas party was fun, but being that Brian is still fairly new there, it was a lot like being at a wedding for a couple neither of us knew very well. Nonetheless, he made me a very proud wife because everyone that I did meet was very complimentary of him and how much of a help he has been there- always nice to hear!

One "special" highlight from the otherwise wonderful accommodations: While taking advantage of the free breakfast buffet, I took a bite out of my apple walnut muffin only to find this in my mouth:

To clarify, it was the rock, not the penny. The penny is just there as a size reference. But back to the point: there was basically a piece of gravel in my muffin. How does that even happen?! I didn't want to make a scene, but made sure to mention it to the person at the front desk when we walked out.

He was very apologetic, asked our room number, and started clicking frantically on his computer. Sorry, buddy, but I'm pretty sure there isn't a section on what to do when a guest finds a rock in her muffin in your online manual. We insisted that we really weren't expecting anything in return, but rather just wanted to make sure they were aware. Maybe next time you should bake your muffins inside the kitchen and not out on the playground. Just a suggestion.

The Galleria
We got there early on Saturday (post rock muffin consumption) to beat the holiday crowd, but surprisingly, it wasn't that packed! We didn't actually buy anything, but had fun walking around just the same, particularly at the beginning when we came upon THIS:





Genius move by the SPCA, if you ask me. They had these puppies (and more) stationed by one of the entrances. Those poor, unsuspecting parents that brought their kids to the Galleria for a picture with Santa had no idea what they were in for.


Oh, and also amusing: at one point while I was waiting for Brian to get off the phone, an elderly Asian woman approached me as if she needed assistance finding something. Apparently she didn't speak English, so she started a game of charades and kept pretending to sit down. I didn't understand what she was getting at, but pointed her to a nearby bench assuming she just needed somewhere to sit. She shook her head frustratedly, and then said, "poo poo, pee pee?" YOU try keeping a straight face next time that happens to you. I guess I'm at least glad she didn't clarify which of the two she was hoping to accomplish...


The Zoo
After a quick lunch in Rice Village, we finished up our adventure at the Houston Zoo! The weather was perfect- sunny and cool, which was apparently ideal for napping, as most of the animals were asleep. EXCEPT for these guys:



So that, my friends, was our celebration, and it was a great one! A big thanks again to Brian for such a thoughtful gift :)