8th Wedding Anniversary

I am such a fortunate woman to have a husband who always makes a fuss about our anniversary!  No matter how little money we've had throughout the years, Michael has always made a point to make me feel special on our anniversary.  This year we are celebrating 8 years together as husband and wife and wow do we have a lot to celebrate.  We've been through so much in 8 years and I am happy to say that we've always been able to keep our marriage on track--which is not something that we take for granted.  I credit our marriage to our reliance on God & His word.  Although, we are imperfect people, God has kept us together & on the same page in our relationship.  Now, with 2 babies, we find it more challenging to carve out time just for one another, but this weekend we got to do just that.   I shouldn't go any further without crediting our friend Lisa Kernicky for helping to make our weekend getaway possible.  She was the one who suggested we should get away and she kept the girls for us while we had an overnight at a B&B about 1 hr north of our home.  So a huge thank you to Aunt Lisa--we love you!

Being the true Southern Belle that I am, I selected a B&B about 50 miles north of our home that was Gone with the Wind themed----I know some of you may think, that's cliche, but it turned out to be fabulous!  The name of the B&B is Tara (of course) and it truly looked like an antebellum home.

The rooms were decorated in the grand old style of a Southern manor and very tidy.  Our room the "Hearts of the South", had a fireplace, canopy bed, and a jacuzzi tub.  It was a very comfortable and felt luxurious. 

They even went to the trouble of providing us with a little snack tray, some champagne, and a little note wishing us happy anniversary, a nice touch, I thought.

They even had a sugar cookie decorated with icing that read Mr. & Mrs. Passineau on our snack tray :)

Another reason I had chosen this B&B (well, to be honest, the main reason) was because the reviews said the fine dining room was excellent.  After we arrived and got settled, we had a reservation for 7 PM at Ashley's fine dining room.  The dining experience was 7 courses and offered a variety of beautifully prepared options.  The first course, that we both selected, was the only 1 I didn't photograph, but it was a delicious lobster bisque---yumm! 

Second course was a salad in an Asiago cheese basket.

Third course: a light & fluffly warm asparagus tart with crispy procuitto and sprouts

Fourth course: a refreshingly light and tasty peach-mango/bourbon sorbet

Fifth course was the main: I had a pistachio crusted lamb, with mango/cilantro chutney, pearl couscous and haricot verts--truly the best lamb I've ever eaten

Sixth course: dessert, my favorite, I had the swan eclair with white chocolate mousse and raspberry sauce

Lovers enjoying their dessert course

A few other shots of dessert

7th course: a brie cheese wrapped in puff pastry with toasted nuts & fruits with port

Because we had eaten so much food we decided to take a short stroll around the Inn before turning in for the night.

All, in all, it was a wonderful way to celebrate 8 years together.  Although, it was great to not get up at 7 AM with two little hungry girls, we were happy to be home to see our little ones, following the Sunday brunch at Tara.  I would highly recommend Tara as a lovely weekend or overnight get away from Pittsburgh.  Wednesday is our actual anniversary so there is still another small surprise for Michael!  Hope you all have a great Monday & enjoy our pics :)  Tomorrow I'll have finished pics of the basement to post....so stay tuned!