OTYA or Operation Twenty Year Anniversary

Yep, it's true. Kevin and I have been married for 20 years.  My husband could be described as "not having a romantic bone in his body." But then again, he's a guy. Actually that's not true, I think it is deep in there it just has a hard time showing itself.  That little part of him came out last week.

Our anniversary fell on a Wednesday and so we didn't celebrate until Saturday. All week he hinted at OTYA. (He was channelling his inner Jack Burns for you Meet the Parents fans). I was able to figure out where we were going for dinner, but I had no idea he would plan anything else.

I was told to be ready at 5 pm sharp. But I wasn't. So around 5:20 he is rushing me out the door and what do I see?

A limo! We didn't even have a limousine for our wedding day. We pulled away from our reception in his mom's blue Chrysler sedan, picture a late 80's model. It was better than my Diahatsu Rocky or Kevin's white with orange/red/yellow stripes Toyota 4 x 4 truck for the occasion I have to admit. 

Not working gondola at Bridge Street

Our driver took us to Bridge Street town center which is an outdoor mall.  We were scheduled to take a Gondola ride.  Apparently there is only one gondola and it was not in operation. I thought gondolas were powered by a human. This must be a "knock off" gondola with a motor haha.  (Sorry about the picture quality. I took it on my phone and had to crop and zoom so you could even tell what it is). So we headed on into Connor's steakhouse for a cocktail.  They have the best (and most expensive) margaritas in town. 

Kevin at Big Spring park

From there we were going to go watch the sunset from Monte Sano, but it faces east, good for sunrise, not so much sunset. Instead we walked through Big Spring Park. Kevin had never been to this part of town. It was fun to see his reaction to how cool this area of downtown is. There are tons of geese there and huge Koi in the lake and creek there.  At the other end of the park is the Embassy Suites hotel. We stopped in for another yummy beverage. This time it was some crazy fruity martini. 

Frank the limo driver picked us up and drove around the block to the Cotton Row restaurant for dinner. It was delicious and definitely a go-to place for special occasions. The peanut butter and jelly phyllo dessert - speechless really. 

We headed home after dinner. I gave Kevin his gift on the way home- no not that! Just a golf gadget, a range finder for determining distances. I figured the night out was my gift, but I had one more surprise in store for me! Kevin knocked on Frank's partition and he handed him a little box. I said, "Little is a good sign!" and boy was it!

He got this beauty at Alexander's here in town which has estate jewelry. I am going to have to get it sized because it is a bit big. When I do I will get the history if I can.  I have been dreaming of having an antique piece.  I don't think I have even mentioned it to Kevin, but he knows I love old things and knew I would love it.  His story of shopping for it is pretty good too.  The way he tells it he physically fought off about 3 other women who also wanted it! I am glad he won that battle! 

And that is Operation Twenty Year Anniversary!