Baroq Motifs and our 34th Anniversary...

Today, April 7th is our 34th wedding anniversary! I created this card months ago, with this anniversary in mind...I love the Baroq Motifs stamp set and will really miss Soft Sky and Blue Bayou IN COLORS used in this card, after the Spring/Summer 2008 Collection ends.

My husband Tom, loves to eat out, and being part Irish, he has been anxious to try the new restaurant that opened right down the street recently, called The Irish Cottage, in Franklin NJ so I thought we just might end up at this place to celebrate our 34th wedding anniversary (Wow! seeing it in writing really makes it come to life-can't believe it has been that long already!)

We don't go out to eat often...so before I tell you about what we did tonight, I have a funny story this reminds me of. Maybe about a month ago, my daughter (15), husband and I decided on a nice Sunday afternoon we wanted to go out to dinner. Our son was "on duty" as he is a volunteer for the local Hardyston Township EMS Squad, so he was not included in the "vote". We were trying to decide where we wanted to go, and my daughter and I were naming places like Red Lobster, Outback, Applebee's etc. and my husband wanted to go to the newest restaurant that recently opened in Franklin, since he hasn't been there yet...The Irish Cottage.  However, that was "old hat" to us-we had already been there several times...so to settle the dispute, I suggested we put all the names in a basket and Tom could pick one-we all agreed we would go with the restaurant chosen.

My daughter (15) started writing the names of restaurants mentioned on pieces of paper...Applebee's, Red Lobster, Outback, then kept going...Outback, Outback, Outback and looking at me for approval, she started crumbling up anything but Outback! Normally, I would have said oh no-that's not fair...but I got in the spirit of my daughter's harmless joke and gave in. Sometimes, families just gotta have fun... my husband usually picks the restaurant (and he always expects us to agree with him) so my daughter thought of this fun idea to get him back!  We let him "pick" the restaurant and bet you can't guess what he picked? OUTBACK...what a surprise! ha ha!  I agreed not to say anything until AFTER we ate, so after our meal, my daughter innocently said to her father-"so Dad, did you enjoy your meal?" To which he responded "yes, it was very good". Then she looked at me for that "is it ok to tell him now, Mom?" signal, and I nodded yes, with a smile.

Well-I wish I had my camera so I could have taken a picture of the look on my husband's face when my daughter told him how he had been "swindled"! Thank goodness he has a good sense of humor- he just laughed and shook his head while saying "I can't believe it-outwitted by the women!"

Ok...on to the card- (sorry for the poor picture quality-had to increase the color so it would show up better) You really can't see the glitter, which is what makes this card so pretty:

Supplies:

Stamp sets: Baroque Motifs, Hugs and Wishes
Cardstock: Whisper White, IN Colors: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou
Ink: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Versamark
Accessories: ice Circle Brad, 1/8" Circle Punch, Lt Blue Narrow Organdy Ribbon, Dimensionals, Two-Way Glue, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Crafters Tool Kit, Heat & Stick Powder, Heat Gun, Iridescent Ice EP, 1/4" Circle Punch, Mini glue dots

My husband came home with flowers today and a "hand bought" card which was really lovely (after 18 years of getting hand-stamped cards from me, I still can't get him to make his own!) He announced "We are were going out for dinner!" WOOHOO! I've been cooped up for days, working on dull income tax preparation...so this was MUSIC to my ears!

He said we were going to "The Irish Cottage" down the street... :)
and I didn't dare dispute this choice... :)

So off we went...and we had a lovely meal and a great time. Wouldn't you know, that we met a family we knew...seated at the table next to us-and after they left, our waitress came over and said that nice couple had bought us drinks in honor of our anniversary! by buying us drinks! THANK YOU Jimmy & Laurie...

But the surprises didn't end there...upon arriving home, we caught  our daughter Kelley in the kitchen lighting candles on our "surprise" Anniversary Cake she had made AND DECORATED while we were out! What a sweet kid...we are so proud of her! She is an artist, and it has overflowed into cake decorating-it's not the best picture, but you can still see the fine details of the intricate flowers she made:




















and here is the artist:not smiling-ok..we did come home earlier than she expected us and she wasn't quite ready:

And here we are-her proud, but tired parents:

DEFINITELY NOT the best pictures of any of us...but it's late and everyone needs to get some sleep!  All in all it was a really nice evening...