Nothing But The Best

Another Birthday shout out to my husband and love of my life, Jim.  Let me just tell y'all that I'm pretty sure that Jim and I have one of the most unique relationships that I know of, we incredibly loyal and sincerely happy; but we're totally honest with one another.  Sometimes, that honesty can be mistaken for meanness or one or the other of us being too harsh (mostly me), but it all equals out.  Jim is a wonderful father and the most dedicated partner ever, he literally spent a month waiting on me when I was on bed-rest with Cullen and he never once threw it in my face like I would have.  He never once abused the built in DD privilege while I was pregnant (and he should have) and he goes above and beyond ever day to make happy.

So, here's the thing, on the daily, I should be known as Franny Frugal, because I don't buy anything unless it's on sale, we almost exclusively buy generic and we cut corners as much as possible.  At least twice a week, I tell Jim that we can't do this thing or that thing because it's not in our budget and I'm serious, it's not in the budget.  But, that budget sort of goes out the window- or down the tubes, when it comes to him.

A long time ago, we made an agreement that we wouldn't exchange gifts for each other's birthdays and for the holidays- I have upheld my end of the bargain, he has not.  So, I decided that my man deserved the best and remembered this place that I had seen some pictures of that looked awesome.  We packed the kids up and sent them to Poppy's and then we road-tripped our way to this awesome spa in the middle of nowhere and we had ourselves a good old time.

As the old saying goes, you can take the girl out of budget world, but you can't take the budget out of the girl; so when I was asked what spa treatments we got, I was taken aback, "do you know how much those cost?"  And for dinner, we filled up on snacks from the overpriced snack bar to avoid eating too much at the crazy over priced restaurant.  See, I just can't fully commit to blowing all of our money on the finer things... it just doesn't seem worth it.

But, the hotel itself was fab.  It smelled like a love and happiness and everyone was more than accommodating.  We walked around, almost bewildered at the grandeur of the place, and made sure to take pictures of everything that we found to be "crazy nice."  Seriously, this is the nicest place I've ever stayed.  Ever... Nothing but the best for my man.  Happy Birthday, Jim!

How about a little tour, shall we?

Let me tell you how they gave us not one but two fancy-pants walking sticks to explore the grounds.  If we were hikers, it probably wouldn't have been such a novelty, but since we aren't even these damn sticks made me swoon.

Apparently, this hotel came to be known as the "summer" White House while James Buchanan was president and  as that little tiny sign explains this was the very desk that he worked at while he summered there.  Upon reading that sign, I immediately turned into a 5 year old and made sure to touch all surfaces where a former president may or may not have touched; and let's face it, you would've done it too.  So major props to having such a historical artifact open to the public, but a noticeable fail for the books, which I'm pretty sure were high school text books wrapped in grocery bags- you ain't foolin' me. 

Look at this chair?  I wanted to sit in it, but I didn't... it probably wasn't comfortable anyway...

The grounds were immaculate and even the steps were kinda fierce.

Yeah, we walked across that bridge... and yes, we did feel fancy while doin' it.

The middle of nowhere sure is beautiful, right?

These rocking chairs were just chillin' there, it was so Southern Hospitality.

Ok, so I'm obsessed with these glass door handles.  They go for like 30 bucks a pop.  Can you imagine and 30 dollar door handle?  Talk about fancy-schmancy.

This little room was just outside of of the elevator. You know what's just outside of elevators in the hotels that I stay in?  An ashtray and maybe a mirror if I'm lucky...

How beautiful is this?  I need this for my house and my life.  

This is the nicest hallway that I've ever walked through.  The tile was milky blue and the columns were pristine white, it was my version of complete perfection.

Look at this. They just have this little sitting area where anyone can  view original artwork that 's not behind glass, or complete a puzzle without fearing that some hooligans the night before stole a few pieces as momentos of a good night.

In case you're wondering, there are 49 frames on this wall (the opposing wall had just as many).  You know why I could never make this type of display in my house?  Because I don't the the dollar store even has 49 frames out on the shelves at the same time.

Happy Birthday!