Celebrating Our Second Anniversary

My apologies for being a bit delayed in posting about our second anniversary celebration - Kelley and Susan have been visiting us since Wednesday morning, and we've been having a great time. They are now in New Jersey with the rest of the W. Clan, and we will be joining them there tomorrow morning for Eric's cousin Kimberly's wedding. Then Kelley and Susan will return to the city with us on Sunday for more sightseeing before they head back to Florida on Monday. So, things have been busy!

But, our anniversary celebration was so nice. I told Eric not to worry about planning a thing and I put together a little surprise evening for him. He did start the day with donuts and a card and gift for me (he got me this adorable apron I've had my eye on, since the traditional second anniversary gift is cotton). I had left a card for him and notes all around the house the night before, so he found those when he woke up, too. Then he was off to work and I spent the day busily preparing both for dinner that night and for Kelley and Susan's arrival.

My big surprise for Eric was essentially a recreation of our wedding reception, or as much as I could manage. I decorated our table with votive candles and rose petals, just like our wedding centerpieces. I served champagne in our toasting flutes. I made a cake (yellow cake with chocolate frosting - Eric's favorite - and a "2" birthday candle in it) that we served with our serving set. I Googled how to fold napkins nicely, then placed roses in the napkins like we had done at our reception as well. I even dressed the part - I wore a white sundress, put my hair in an updo with the brooch I wore on the wedding day, and wore my wedding earrings and shoes.

And of course, I cooked. I cooked A LOT. I made much of our wedding meal, including the hors d'oeuvres. I made mushrooms stuffed with crab for Eric, and spanakopita for me (the spanakopita I got pre-made from the grocery store - I was set to make them from scratch, but then saw them in the freezer section and figured, why reinvent the wheel?). For dinner I made chicken stuffed with spinach, prosciutto and provolone, roasted red potatoes, and steamed vegetables. Then of course, cake for dessert. I also had the makings of salads but we had so much food, we just decided to skip them. Everything turned out so well! I was so impressed with my cooking skills.

Cooking away in my new apron - so domestic!

The table all set up, waiting for Eric to arrive

Closer view of the spanakopita and stuffed mushrooms

The dinner: stuffed chicken, steamed veggies, and roasted red potatoes

When Eric arrived home from work, he was very surprised at all that I had done! Although he had jokingly guessed that I might be cooking wedding food the night before, he hadn't expected all that I did. I was so pleased that he liked it. Eric popped the champagne and said a beautiful prayer, then we started in on our stuffed mushrooms and spanakopita. Then it was time for dinner, which was delicious, if I do say so myself!

The happily married couple

Pouring the champagne

Even Achilles wanted in on the fun!

Aw, he's nice.

After dinner we watched the DVD slideshow I made of our wedding pictures (and polished off the champagne), then cut into our cake. I thought Eric was being sweet and offering to feed it to me like we did at the wedding (when we opted for NO CAKE SMASHING), but this time he smashed me. Cake all over my face. Ah well, better now then at the wedding! That sneaky trickster Eric.

See? Cake everywhere.

And that was our anniversary celebration! It wasn't exactly a Caribbean feast on the shores of Grand Cayman like we did last year, but it was really nice. I was so glad I was able to pull off all my plans, and even more pleased that Eric enjoyed it. He is usually the one doing nice romantic things for me, so I really wanted to do this right.

Once again, happy anniversary, Eric! I love being married to you. You're the best!