One Great Day

Last Tuesday was our last day of vacation and our last day of Dan's sabbatical. I wanted for us to end it all with a pretty big bang.  The ultimate day-venutre.

Also, Dan is very difficult to shop for and that makes birthday shopping hard. When he was making his birthday list for family I told him I would rather he give me a list of things he wanted to DO as opposed to gifts and he liked that idea. Initially, I was going to pick one thing or maybe two things from his list but then I got a wild hair and decided to do it all and make it a fun choose-your-own-adventure style day!

I kept it all a surprise and gave him some false hints in the days leading up to the 5th so he wouldn't be certain. The one rule I had was that he needed to take a picture at each destination with our goofy inflatable birthday crown.  He was embarrassed but it was for the sake of memories! 

In the morning I got us up early and presented him with his first choice of the day. Bagels or donuts. He picked bagels and we enjoyed our breakfast while on the train into the city.  When we got off in lower Manhattan he knew right away what Destination #1 was going to be...

One World Trade Observation Deck

It was an overcast morning and the lady outside the building told us there was NO visibility and we should exchange our tickets for another time. We decided to risk it since it meant we wouldn't have to wait in line at all and honestly I didn't see how we could reschedule with the rest of the day already coordinated. It ended up being a good risk because we could see a lot! And we were in and out before our actual ticketed time!

The building with the green square top is where I work ^^

That's Empire way up there ^^

The skies cleared briefly while we were up there.

The next choice Dan had to make was whether we walked or rode the train to the next stop.  He picked walk, so we enjoyed a long stroll along the Hudson River.  It was starting to get really hot and taking much longer than I thought so we grabbed a ride for the last little bit to Destination #2...

Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum

Terri Mom, doesn't that look familiar?? ^^

We wandered around the exhibitions and then waited in line for a long time to walk through the submarine.  I'd been inside before with my parents but Dan hadn't and it was his day, so we waited. He agreed it wasn't worth the wait but we weren't in a rush so no harm done.

After the museum, Destination #3 was either arcade games and lunch at Dave and Buster's in Times Square or lunch and bowling.  He picked...

Frames

I had been here just before we left for vacation with some ladies from church and it was really nice. It was like a night club when I was there before but in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday it was nearly empty. We played three games and had super yummy food and drinks that they let you eat at your lane.

Dan creamed me with a total score of 331 versus 240, but I got a few strikes so I wasn't disappointed.

This part of the day was Dan's birthday gift from my older sister Jessy. It was a perfect way for her to gift him an experience that didn't require planning or coordination from the other side of the country and it helped fill the day with extra treats.  Thanks Sissy!

We ended up having a lot of extra time to kill after bowling and before Destination #4 so we walked around the Times Square area and did some shopping for the one thing on his list that was gifty. We stopped and got Jamba Juice and then relaxed for awhile in Bryant Park. We got Chipotle chips and guacamole for dinner and then I excitedly led the way to the Grand Finale!!

Wicked!

So, he figured this was the last stop since it was the only other thing on his list that we hadn't done yet. His ticket was my sister Mandy's gift to him and holy cow it did NOT disappoint.  It was 1000% amazing. We were sitting in direct center, up high, and could see everything.  Plus the theater was huge so there was plenty of room and very comfortable.

I saw Wicked in Chicago nearly 10 years ago when I was in college but it wasn't a good experience for many reasons. I've always obsessed over the music since Mandy and I memorized all the songs in high school and I always hoped to see the show again some day. Dan always wanted to see the show too so I splurged. It is one of the more expensive shows but once the first song started I knew every single penny for my ticket and Mandy's gift for Dan's ticket was worth it.  It was perfect. I had a smile on my face for the whole show and Dan really enjoyed it too.

The day was long, our feet were tired, we got back late, and had work to return to early the next morning but it was one really great day that we are both really grateful for.  Between the stress of the last month with the chaotic move and the many rough moments we've had in 2016 so far, it did our hearts so good to have this excessively treat-filled day. 

Lately I've been thinking a lot about where we are at in life and how we can make that place a great thing as opposed to a place where I allow myself to get down about what we have and what we don't. We're still young! We've still got a lot of energy! We still love to spend every day, all day together! We haven't been blessed with kids yet and we don't have any pets.  We can GO and DO and float around relatively untied.  We live in an awesome city filled with tons of things to do and who knows how long we'll be here so we should take advantage. I remind myself often that "we can't take anything with us" and that helps me let go of strict rules and have fun. This doesn't excuse irresponsibility with spending but it has given me the freedom to say YES to special things that we might never get the chance to do again.

So, all that to say, I spoiled Dan for his birthday but it was worth it.