On This Day In History

On this day in history, the 17th of November, many important things have happened...

In 1855, David Livingstone discovered what is now Victoria Falls on the Zambia/ Zimbabwe border.

In 1950, 15 year-old Tenzin Gyatso was named the 14th Dalai Lama.

In 1973, Richard Nixon told the nation in a television address that he is "not a crook" in reference to swirling allegations concerning his involvement in the Watergate scandal.

In 1989, more than 15,000 protesters gathered in Wenceslas Square in Prague to call for the resignation of the country's communist government.

In 2003, my dear husband I went on our very first date to the Starbucks in Abilene, Texas. Although I was initially unsure about this dorky-but-charming upperclassmen, I soon realized we were meant to be. The conversation between us flowed so naturally that night they had to kick us out at closing time. (And Starbucks is open late!)

Each year, we (try to) commemorate this occasion
with a stop by the place where it all began...

[Sorry so fuzzy. It's an iPhone for crying tears!]

Clay orders a hot chocolate and I order a chai tea latte, just like our first date.

(Funny that neither of us got coffee!)

About three years after that fateful day, we tied the knot. And the rest, as they say, is history. :D

Look Who's Coming To Town!

When I drove past the University Park Village last week and saw the silver letters finally identifying the mysterious construction, I could hardly contain myself.

WE'RE GETTING AN ANTHROPOLOGIE!!!!

Immediately I was siezed by visions of myself purchasing adorable dresses like this:

Or maybe a serving platter like this:

Perhaps a fun necklace like this:

Or maybe an unusual throw pillow like this:

Let's just say I already know where my Christmas money is going! :D

I Gotta Brag

...on my wonderful husband! He absolutely spoiled me rotten for my birthday. :D Birthdays are not a big deal to him, so it really meant a lot that he put so much thought and effort into making mine special!

He handed me this on Saturday night:

and asked me to pick what I wanted for breakfast in bed on Sunday morning! (This is a Masters family tradition which I just love. When else are you allowed have crumbs in the sheets?!) Dear Clay even went out and bought a breakfast tray with legs for the occasion.

So Sunday morning I enjoyed a lovely breakfast in bed (sorry, no picture). Afterwards, I had some time to read one of the books my parents sent; it's called The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.

It was so nice not to get out of bed until almost 11:00am!

I finally showered and got dressed, then we hopped on the scooter and headed to the Movie Tavern on 7th Street. We ate lunch there and watched Life As We Know It, which I had wanted to see.

via

Watching a movie in the theater was such a treat! And it was actually very entertaining - I caught Clay chuckling pretty hard during a few of the scenes.

Since it was such a nice day, we ran a few errands on the scooter before heading back to the house. Then Clay presented me with his gift:

via

I am now officially an adult because I have real watch (not one of those $12 ones from Target).

Next we headed over to my friend Lindsay's house for a Halloween party. Clay didn't really know many of the people there, but he was so sweet to do just what I wanted! We also stopped by the Kinzie's to watch a little bit of the World Series before calling it a night.

Even though my birthday technically ended, that didn't stop Clay! On Monday morning before he left for training in Orlando, he stopped by my work and brought me these beauties:

When I got home that evening, I discovered I had these waiting too!

I just kept finding flowers all over the house!

Needless to say, Clay really outdid himself for my birthday this year. I am so lucky to have such a thoughtful and loving husband! That's definitely the best gift of all. :)

What the What?

You may be asking yourself this question after looking at the above picture of my husband. It's definitely not something you see every day...

Let me give you a few hints as to what my dear Clay was up to on Saturday morning. He could have been...

a. Starting a new house project. (You know how they always get worse before they get better!)

b. Checking on the prisoners in the dungeon below our house.

c. Lighting one of our floor furnaces.

d. Trying out a new yoga pose.

If you picked c, you're correct! Clay is, in fact, lighting one of our floor furnaces.

We live in a house that was built in the 1940s - which means it has a LOT of quirks. One quirk is the floor furnaces. (I actually had to ask what they were when we were looking at the house.) Turns out that these large heaters set into the floor with a metal grate on top actually keep our house really cozy and warm in the colder months. We've been toughing it out the past few cold nights and finally decided to break down and light them. It's a little funny seeing Clay with his head stuck halfway into the floor (so he can see if the pilot light is lit or not), but you gotta do what you gotta do.

I must admit, I look forward to the warmth of the floor furnaces. I love to stand over them in the cool of the morning and let the heat warm my legs (although I have to be careful not to stand on the metal grate too long - I melted my house slippers a little bit last year!). Turning on the floor furnaces is a sign that fall is really and truly here after weeks and weeks of flipping the window units on and off. And let me tell you - it's about time! :D