Well, I've been away from the computer for the past couple of days. January 5 was our 20th wedding anniversary. Grandpa and Gramma were willing to watch the kids, and we wanted to get away and do something special...but on a tight budget. Did you know that you really can get away to a big city and spend a night in a nice hotel relatively inexpensively? Ah, the joys of shopping around on the Internet for the best deals! We decided to go to Chicago since it isn't very far away from us. My husband found an incredible deal at the Sofitel (a French hotel) on Travelzoo.com and told them in the notes we were celebrating our 20th anniversary. Well, we not only got a room on the top level of the hotel but it was complete with well wishes from everyone and Evian water and chocolate covered strawberries in the room because of the occasion. (Oh, the deal even had a food voucher for breakfast the next morning). One direction of the view is above along with a picture of those strawberries. We were two blocks away from Michigan Avenue and walked and walked and window shopped. It was surreal and wonderful. We had gift cards and were able to have dinner at a nice restaurant that was across the street from the beautiful Bloomingdale's Home store. We had the top level of the restaurant to ourselves (the waiter said it was traditionally their slowest week of the year) and looked out to the beautiful architecture and stained-glass filled windows. The picture above does not give it justice. It has a Middle Eastern flavor to the windows and architecture and was gorgeous. We had a wonderful time without the guilt of spending a fortune, and I'm thankful for a nice, relaxed time with my husband. Most importantly I'm thankful for our marriage and these past 20 years being with my best friend. 
