HBD MITCH!

  

we have celebrated hardcore every year since we've met. that's what happens when you are a legend. or when your wife is somewhat obsessed with celebrating birthdays. I think both the former and the latter apply when it comes to my husband. he is pretty spectacular and his birthday is just an excuse to rant and rave to the whole world about him without people thinking I'm totally obsessed...which I am definitely not, right? right? oh dear. I may want to have that checked out... anyway, I have kept all of you family members in suspense long enough over seeing our hbd mitch! pictures. for the sake of all things organizationally holy, we are going to knock this down by numbers, shall we? let's start at the beginning ::

07:45am :: first alarm went off warning me that it was time to go to the store to buy all of the things for his breakfast that I could not have bought earlier that week { because we would have eaten it all, mostly }. but the birthday boy grabbed me and begged me to stay. he's a sweetie, that one.

08:15am :: I finally get out the door when aforementioned birthday boy fell back to sleep. quickly, very quickly, I grab what I need at the store { strawberries, cream, chocolate croissants, and orange juice [ it's so expensive here, it has to be a treat ] } and race back home to a still sleeping mister.

08:30am :: once home, I cook and chop up a storm. on the menu :: strawberry or banana crepes with either cream or nutella or both; eggs; fresh fruit; chocolate croissants; and orange juice. it was very good. but a lot of food. still, mitch goes back for seconds and eats my eggs because I can't finish them. I barely put a dent in any of it. I will have to work on that if I aspire to be a professional eater...

which I don't. but I could with training.

10:30am :: we leave for marigot--the cutest little place-by-the-sea you ever did see. it is everything you would expect from a caribbean island. it has a daily market where locals sell their crafts and a weekly farmer's market, which as a nutrition major excites me to no end. I don't think mitch quite understands my affinity toward brightly colored produce all sitting next to each other smelling so fresh and lush and earthy reminding us what this earth is capable of if we take care of it. gorgeous. but he accepts it and let's me snap shots of each one we go to. but not too many this time 'cause we were on a tight schedule ;)

 

11am :: we do not hang out here long. but we do grab lunch at this amazing french bakery called serafina's. mitch has a thing for fresh bread, and I thought he could get his fill here. I had eaten here once before with my mom when she visited, and it was glorious. it didn't disappoint the second time, either. mitch and I both get a chicken&pesto sandwich on bread that must have just been made hours before our arrival. superb. and I ordered macarons. how do you go to a bakery without ordering a macaron, hmmm?

 

 

 

12pm :: we head for the ferry station to make our way over to anguilla { a smaller, neighboring island less cultivated than the one we call our own }. the ferry was late, so we make the "12 o'clock", not having to wait for the next one. got to love island time.

12:25pm :: we finally set sea. this is my love's first time crossing any body of water on anything other than a ski boat or jet ski. he loves it! we sat up top and took in the idyllic view of marigot thinking of what the explorers must have thought when they settled it all those hundreds of years ago. amazing.

1pm :: we relax on a beach in anguilla waiting for the main event.

2:15pm :: we play and sing and laugh and kiss and dance with dolphins. they towed us around by just pushing on our feet. they are so strong! their voices sound like little birds chirping, almost. and they boogie. oh! how they boogie. 

 { sorry about the hair. it's unruly. }

what's really interesting is they are so much like us.. except maybe more magnificent. their skin is smooth { like I wish mine was, most days, though maybe not so hard or rubbery } and they have their own little attitudes of which I can totally relate. they are bossed around all day long, and you can just see them rolling their eyes every time the trainer tells them to get going. remind you of maybe our own relationships with coworkers at our 9-5 jobs? they also expect fishes whenever they do anything good. doesn't that sound like mitch and me? if you don't know us, it totally does! we are totally foodly driven. the whole experience makes me think I missed my calling as a marine biologist 'cause I could play with those creatures all day long. and I would spoil them rotten with fishes. the most beautiful part, though, is how giddy mitchell was. it makes me wonder, not for the first time, if he really looked so different as a little boy. he claps and laughs and can't stop smiling. it is almost hard to watch the dolphins because I can't stop watching him. too far? I'm guessing, probably. no one really wants to hear our daily love story. moving on.

4pm :: we head back to the ferry terminal where we wait for the next. by this point we are a little wet, a little cold, and a lot tired. those dolphins wore us out. swimming with the dolphins does require a lot of, well, swimming.

5pm :: we arrive back in marigot, drive home, and we talk to mitch's mom about our dolphin adventure.

6pm :: I started making dinner and icing the cake { I know it was a late start on that, but I had to muster my strength }. we eat his favorite, ny strip, for dinner alongside some grilled zucchini and a baked potato. flavors of america because all of that is a wee bit pricey here. nonetheless, he is worth every penny. 

7pm :: we do the whole cake and presents thing and clean up the apartment. the cake looks as though it was iced by a 5year-old. so much for all of that cake decorating training. but on the upside, mitch says he got exactly what he wanted this year and that the cake is not too scary.

8pm :: we facetime my parents and they, too, grant him birthday wishes and we tell them of our grand activities of the day.

9pm :: we set out to watch gravity, mitch's choice. space kind of scares me, truth be told. but it doesn't matter because I promptly fall asleep 15minutes into it anyway. he is up much too late watching the whole thing.

and that is his birthday, more or less. do you feel like you were there? that is sort of what I was going for. this year was a little odd because no family was here to celebrate like former years, but it was fun just the same. I am so grateful for this boy in my life. some days, I still can't wrap my head around the fact that he is mine.

love, arielle