A Little Downtime for a Big Celebration

How do all?  The Mr and I took a little trip to Traverse City Michigan for his birthday.  It's an understatement to say we both needed the downtime given we were still knee dip in the shizz of the master remodel.  I must've foreseen being completely distracted with projects because many months ago I got the decorations and stuff I wanted and had them ready to roll.  As someone who spent their 20's packing two weeks in advance, that version of me would be horrified to know I began packing about 30 hours prior to departure.  The first time we went there was 10 years ago and it was my first time but I'd been hearing about it for 20 years so it had better be good!  It was and we fell in love with the place and went almost yearly for four years until we discovered New England.  

I let him pick the home to stay in and he found a place right on the water on M22 and he was sold.  It was dated but I knew that wasn't a concern for him because having a place to sit and watch the water is what he's all about.

When we got inside, he ran for the view and I knew he was good regardless of the rest of it.  

The rest of it being that the cleaning crew didn't do their job and I contacted the host and they said they'd refund the cleaning fee since I said I wasn't crazy about doing a 7 hour drive and having to clean the whole house.  (Still waiting for that refund and radio silence from the host, btw.  So basically she just said it to appease me despite saying to remind her if it didn't go through.)   We could tell it hadn't been used in a while because my sinuses immediately kicked into gear with congestion.  Time to open the windows but we had the waves to listen to so that helped distract us.

The first few nights we were treated to some lovely moonrises from the Hunter's Moon.

This was our 5th trip there so we knew it was an itinerary-less vacay and just visited places we liked.

(Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive (which had WAY less color than TC!), Sleeping Bear Dunes, Gallagher's Farm Market and Mission Lighthouse)

Then it was the Mr's birthday and I made sure the birthday boy rolled it in properly.

I was intrigued when I saw our favorite buttercream single bakery (radio bars if you're from the NE) made a cake version so I had to get that so I could get some fun toppers or they would look gigantic on the little singles.

They didn't make single layer cakes so we hacked off and threw away the bottom layer as we ate it through the week.  That mofo was HEAVY!  LOL  I brought some edible gold leaf to put around the outside to zhuzh it up a little since they couldn't put decorations on it.  

We had cloudier/occasionally drizzly weather from that point on but we both loved it as you know we're fans of the chilly.  Unfortunately that meant more time in the house with windows closed or cracked and that meant whatever creeping crud was in the air, mattresses and couches started infesting our faces.   (We suspect years of dust and probably mold since I'm highly allergic to both.)  He immediately got ear congestion the day after his birthday and by the following day, we were doing a telemed visit and a Covid test.  (We masked absolutely everywhere except walking outside.)  Luckily he was negative but we know it's not one test and done like people seem to still think 3 years later.   My congestion just multiplied every day.  (The baseboard heat and car heat on the way up had already killed my sinuses by day two creating a perfect storm.)

Since we'd already crammed in our must do's early on, we kept it pretty low key the rest of the time.  We watched spooky movies including Halloween Ends which sucked, would poke in and out of shops when the mood struck...

...and drove around looking at their stellar Halloween decorations.

(TC residents always know how to do it up for schpooky time!)

And because we are, us, this was in order:

I will never travel without our telescoping roasters because you never know when the opportunity for s'mores will arise.  (Aka- I make the opportunity!)

One lovely habit we got into from day one was watching the sunrise and they were beautiful whether it was going to be sunny:

...or not.

I do miss starting our days out like that because we live nowhere near palatable water or anywhere with a horizon.  

It was so nice to get away.  So lovely to celebrate the most wonderful, handsome, caring man I know.  I felt bad it wasn't some big blowout but we did the bigger party for his 40th so I hope he was okay with having the next milestone being low key and BS free.  Thankfully, it only took two days for his ear congestion to clear up but mine were done for and I was sick with sinusitis from the day we left to a week later.  (Three negative Covid tests.)  So that wasn't fun but because we know how to party the day after we got back, he got his first Shingles shot and was down with symptoms for the first two days.  Thank God that's over.  He slept under 3 comforters and flannel sheets!

Now we're back in the stew but always nice to remember that view...but with a different house.  😜

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