A weekend away

Last weekend Jamie had a weekend off, which doesn't happen very often. We had been trying to plan ahead because, more often than not, when we have an extra day off (like I'm off on a Thursday or he has a Saturday off or something) we don't have anything planned and end up frustrated that we didn't use our time off more productively. So, we (read: Jamie) had been looking at different places we could go. We looked at Ocean City, Virginia Beach, New York, even some places in Florida, NC, Montana, etc. Ha. Its summer. Anywhere we could drive or get cheap transportation had expensive hotels. Anywhere with free or cheap places to stay (like Rebekah and Ryan or my grandparents) was too expensive to fly to. We kept looking and hoping and contacting our Marriott friend. :) But nothing.

It got to Friday and we still hadn't found anything that was really affordable. So, we finally decided to stay in town. BUT, Jamie had received an email from Marriott that they had specials on DC hotels. So, we spent Friday kind of how we normally do. Just hanging out, running errands, etc.

On Saturday, we slept in,  packed, got ready and drove all the way to the Westfields Marriott, where we spent the night before we left for our honeymoon almost 2 years ago. (Ha. Its like 20 minutes from our apartment, but we tried to imagine that we were just arriving from a long drive as we got there.) We checked in, ate lunch at one of the on-site restaurants, and then my lavish husband had signed me up for a facial and a massage at their spa. Ahhhh. While I was enjoying that, Jamie sat by the pool where I joined him when I was done. It was perfect weather. Beautiful, hot, but not too hot. And best of all, it felt like vacation: a different world.

After the pool we went to Legal Seafoods for dinner, which was also quite nice. (We justified it to ourselves by reminding ourselves what it would have cost to go to New York or Florida or even Ocean City.)

And then after dinner Jamie ordered chocolate covered strawberries and champagne delivered to the room as a surprise. (I know. I don't blame you for being jealous!)

On Sunday morning we had a rare opportunity to visit another church on a Sunday, so we went to our other favorite DC area church: Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD, where our friends Julianna and Larissa (and Julianna's new fiance, Jason) go. After church it was out for sushi with our friends (although neither of us dared to actually get sushi!) and then home from our mini-vacation.

It was wonderful. Refreshing, relaxing, and just a great time to be together. It was one of those weekends when I just couldn't wipe the smile off my face.