Destin Anniversary Trip

Tim and I decided to do a destination wedding on June 10, 2007 in Destin, Florida.  Given that our families were so far apart and we knew there would have to be a lot of travelling involved, we decided it would be fun to just get away to somewhere beautiful (side note:  when applying for a marriage license in the state of Florida with a Texas drivers license, a Nebraska drivers license, and Alabama address, they joked we must be fugitives)!  I am so glad we did - the wedding ended up being really intimate and felt like a huge vacation with all of our friends and family (since most came for an extended weekend)!  One of the major benefits that I've come to appreciate is the anniversary tradition we've created - we've gone back to Destin every year to celebrate!  This is one of my favorite vacations - a good excuse for just Tim and I to get away and who doesn't love the beach?!
Pictures from our first anniversary trip in 2008:

 We went back to Pompano Joe's which was the site of our rehearsal dinner...love the reggae rolls!

First anniversary dinner at Marlin Grill in Baytowne Wharf.  Tim surprised me with a ferry ride to the restaurant! 

Have to take a picture in the oversized chair...

Pictures from our second anniversary trip (2009):

Year 2 - back to Pompano Joe's!  I promise this is not the same year, yes, I realize Tim is wearing the same shirt, but look, his hair is a little shorter and apparently we went a little earlier in the day.  We had a good laugh about this picture being nearly identical to the first year, and we weren't even trying!  Just creatures of habit, I suppose.  True story...Tim also gave me the EXACT SAME CARD - no, he didn't recycle it and pull last year's card out - he literally bought me the same card again.  He says it just means he really meant what it said!  :)

Love raw oysters!


Sadly, our third anniversary was during my  "no picture taking" phase that I have been in and out of the past two years...so I don't have any pictures of the trip, but this was one of my favorite trips - we went for three nights instead of two and also met our good friends Justin and Nichole there which was fun!  The condo we stayed in this year was my favorite too.

This year, our fourth anniversary fell on the same weekend as a wedding I was in Dallas, so we moved our trip up a few weeks and went in May.  We drove down on a Thursday and came back Sunday night which of course didn't feel long enough, but was nice to get a little break!  On the way down, we were going to turn to go across the Mid Bay Bridge which apparently had been moved?  It was funny because our GPS was telling us to go the way we have gone every year but there were detour signs telling us to turn at another place.  Well, there must be many people who had this same problem because there were flashing signs that said "DO NOT TURN HERE.  YOUR GPS IS WRONG."

Friday was probably our busiest day - we got out on the beach that morning and then walked to Whale's Tail for lunch (I always have to get a shrimp po-boy somewhere during the trip).  Our guests for the wedding stayed at Seascape (which is right across from Whale's Tail) and we seem to end up there at least once each trip because it's so convenient.  The weather was really nice this trip too - I think I may always vote to move the trip to May - it wasn't QUITE as hot as June and there wasn't any of the nasty June grass.  Justin and Nichole were staying in Sandestin at Beachside II, so after lunch we drove to their place and relaxed on the beach with them.  Tim and Justin knew each other in Nebraska going up and they moved to Birmingham within a month of Tim and I moving here (Nichole is now a resident at UAB), so we've always had a good time with them!  We do a lot of holiday celebrating together - when we can't really travel to be with family, we celebrate with each other (think 4th of July, Easter, Memorial Day, etc...).  Justin's dad (Steve) and his girlfriend were also staying in town so after a quick oyster happy hour at our place and drinks at theirs, Steve generously took us all to dinner at Marlin Grill (same site as our first anniversary dinner!)  We did a little walking around Baytowne and made a quick stop and Poppy's before calling it a night.

Dinner at Marlin Grill 

Can't go to Baytowne without a pic in the giant chair! 

Justin & Nichole

Saturday, Tim and I stayed around our condo - first at the beach, then at the pool.  We again hit up Rick's Crab Trap which was in our resort for the oyster happy hour (which we found out isn't valid on Saturday's, but we ordered some anyway!)  The Belmont was on this day, so we watched a little before heading to our "official" anniversary dinner.  We tried a new place this year called Louisiana Lagniappe which I had been to in Orange Beach but never in Destin - we LOVED it.  They didn't take reservations, but when we got there around 7:00 there was no wait!  By the time we left, the place was packed, so apparently it gets busy a little later.  We had the most beautiful setting - a corner table, looking out onto the bay.  We tried to take a pic, but the lighting was bad - here's the best shot:

The view from our table!

 I think he's only making this face because it feels like yesterday when he married me, right, Tim?

We had the BEST dinner - all entrees come with free hushpuppies and salad and we ordered some stuffed mushrooms.  I ordered the shrimp and grits and Tim had filet medallions topped with crab and shrimp - delicious!!  And of course, because we were celebrating, I had to order dessert, which I think was the most decadent dessert I've ever had - Chocolate Volcano Pie which consisted of a layer of cheesecake, a layer of chocolate cake, a layer of peanut butter, a layer of brownie, and topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce - do your teeth hurt yet?  It was delicious, but even I couldn't finish it all!

We had to check out by 10 on Sunday so we went to a late brunch at Another Broken Egg and ordered our traditional belgian waffle with strawberries with coffee (for me) and Lafitte's tortilla with grapefruit juice (for Tim).  **NOTE:  I promise we did things other than eat on this trip!  But now that I'm reading back, it does explain the weight gain over the weekend....** 

Another Broken Egg

After brunch, we headed to the outlet malls for a day of shopping (found a few good deals at Banana, JCrew, and Loft) before driving back to Birmingham! 

New Blog!

I have been talking about starting a blog for a few weeks now, but have had various reasons for talking myself out of it - I'm too private, I'm not a "funny" writer, my life isn't interesting enough, we don't have any kids, no one would read it etc. etc.  I've decided to throw caution to the wind and invite you to share in my life (if you so choose) for the following reasons:

1.  I like reading other people's blogs.  I have picked up many recipes, DIY inspirations, organizational ideas, travel tips, and so on.  I figure, once in a while, surely I must have something interesting to share!

2.  I enjoy writing.  I used to think I wanted to be a journalist (that is, when I wasn't planning to become a dress designer?!).  In fact, I only went into the School of Business at Auburn because I got a scholarship - I thought I'd transfer into communications (until I actually took Intro to Journalism...but that's a story for another day!)

3.  I love keeping up with memories.  I've gone through many phases - I kept a diary much longer than I'd care to admit and I have most of high school and college organized into cute scrapbooks.  I love looking back at periods in my life and remembering the friends I've made and what I learned/taken from from each stage of my life.  For some reason, post-college, I have not done a good job with this and I'd like to have this blog to encourage me to document my life.

So really, this blog is mostly just for me...I hope to one day turn it into a "blog book" like I've seen people do and maybe this will save me a heck of a lot of time scrapbooking.  I can't promise how frequently I'll blog - I'm sure it'll come and go, but I will do my best.  Shout-out to my brother, Rhett and hubby, Tim who helped me name this blog!  A close second was my Dad's suggestion..."Tell-N-Photo-Lynds."  Yes, that is a pun for telephoto lens...Dad loves his complex puns  :)