For the second year in a row, Lulu has won the title of ...

BOMB A$S GIRLFRIEND.

*cheer, cheer, clap, clap*

Thank you so much *fluttering of the hands* ... I want to thank everyone, especially The Man, for enduring three years of good and crap gifts from me. This includes the build-a-bear kung-fu fighting teddybear that said "I love you" which seemed like a really cute and sweet idea at first ...

You may have remembered last year's birthday present to the Man which is why I say "three years of good and crap gifts ..." I think I got it right into our fourth year together. And I believe that I did a pret-ty fine job for our four year anniversary. As you know from reading my little blog, I do enjoy the wine. The Man, unfortunately, does not share the same love and affection that I do (my Texas Cousin and Sister may remember the incident from my graduation party. We won't delve into it.) But my honey does like himself the sauce. He gets a kick out of microbreweries and trying new and different beers. Yes folks, I got him:

A MEMBERSHIP TO THE BEER OF THE MONTH CLUB!

Ahhh-yahhhh.

And because The Man IS The Man, he gave me a great gift as well. Unfortunately, The Man has been swamped with work. He barely has any free time lately. When he does, he's either kung-fu-ing or sleeping. I was sad that we weren't doing anything spectacular for our anniversary but we are both going to the Philippines and need to save. Anyway, despite doing everything on the fly, we had a great day. We went to Capitola and strolled for a little bit. Lucky for us, no rain! We ate at a so-so restaurant. We forgot that we didn't care much for it the first time we ate there. But our waitress did tell us where we could find a spa.

Earlier that morning, The Man was looking into mudbaths online but I had to set him straight on the fact that Lulu doesn't like mud all up in her crevices. Now, most of you know about spas. It's best to book ahead because they will most likely be all booked up especially on the weekends. I didn't want to get my hopes up just to be let down. We drove south to Aptos, checked out Sanctuary Day Spa and, hurray! They had an opening for a deep tissue massage at 3:30pm. The Man did not want to get a couples massage. Especially from a dude. I told him as long as I got the pretty girl, it was fine. He still declined. But he said he would pay for my massage-his gift to me-and roam around. It was 2:00pm and we ended up killing time at a nearyby cafe, Full of Beans. (BTW - The Man and I decided we would open two shops. Mine would be "Full of Shitzu" and his would be "Just for the Halibut." We think too much sometimes.)

Sanctuary Day Spa is a cute little spa. What I loved is that they had a Relaxation Room where you could chill before and after you have a massage. Nothing irks me more than a place that calls itself a "spa" but doesn't have a locker room or a room to relax in before and after your massage. Those places should be called "spa-ish" so right away you know the difference. I digress. My massage therapist was named Dea. She was a pixie lookin' girl and, while adorable, I was skeptical that this gal packed a punch. I was sooooo happy to be proved wrong. In fact, I had to tell her to ease up a little. Dea gave me a 60 minute aromatherapy deep tissue massage and it was so nice! I told her my shoulder was hurting me (I think from knitting and my new job but I didn't want to look like a dork so I just told her it was from my new job) and she worked on it for quite a while. It was the first time someone worked on my derriere but it was through a sheet so I figured I wasn't being assaulted.

I don't know if it was the aromatherapy or her massage but it was the first time that I fell asleep. I've dozed off before but never fell asleep. Luckily, it was towards the end so I was awake to enjoy most of it. But I was SO relaxed that I konked out. Know how I knew I was knocked out? I woke up to a big ass SNORE. From me. Now, I don't snore. But I know for a fact that it was one of those deep snores, from the throat. And since I don't snore, the sound actually woke up up! I apologized profusely but Dea didn't care. She just said that it was good b/c I was obviously relaxed. I couldn't hang out at the relaxation room afterwards (something I usually love to do to bask in the afterglow of a good massage) because The Man was waiting for me. I smelled like lavendar and was a happy gal.

We ended our visit at a very pretty restaurant called Shadowbrook in Capitola. It was such a yummy meal! The service was excellent. (I'm always wary of places that don't have a lot of minorities working or frequenting the place. Hey, call it a hang up for being brown but I can't help it. Plus, we looked casual so I wasn't sure how it was going to go.) The Man ordered lobster & steak and I had a salad b/c he said I could have some of his lobster. We also ordered baked brie and jalepeno mint jelly as an appetizer. Hot damn that was good! Of course, a meal isn't a meal without a delicious dessert. We had the Jack Daniel's Mud Pie. Oh yum.

Pookie, you have to tell P-hubby that The Man was thinking about him/you both. He said a couple of times, "We have to them here when they come visit. Then we can take them to Capitola or Santa Cruz. I think they would like it a lot." Isn't that cute? He was thinking of you guys during our special outing. Wait, is that normal? Does P-Hub think of The Man when you guys have a romantic dinner? Don't answer that. I'll just choose to continue thinking that it's sweet :)

And that was the end of our anniversary celebration. Well, I thought it would be romantic to take the scenic way home, Hwy 1. Three hours later, we were home :) (OK, not the brightest of choices but whatever. Bite me.)