Staycation in Southlake

Birthdays are the perfect time to have an extra special date. My birthday was last weekend, and my husband had been planning for this special occasion for quite a while. {If you read our last blog, you will notice that he incorporated some of his tips in this date}

On Friday, I had walked away from my desk at work, and I came back to find Sterling sitting in my chair with a rose and said, "It's time for your birthday weekend! I've already talked to your boss and you can leave a little early today." As I open up the door to his car, he had a packing list waiting for me, so I could know what to pack without knowing the mystery location.

On our way to our weekend getaway, Sterling told me he had booked a night at the Hilton in Southlake Town Square, which is a fun retail area with restaurants, shops and a movie theater. We checked in at the Hilton and went to Brio Tuscan Grille, a few steps from our hotel. If we could recommend one item on the entire menu, it would be the bruschetta quatro, a sampling of all the bruschetta items on the menu. Delish!

Sterling had told me to bring some of my birthday money on our staycation, and we spent some time after dinner shopping in the shops. We of course had to stop for dessert at Milwaukee Joe's, an ice cream shop, before heading to our movie, The Best of Me. Ice cream=great. Movie=not so much.

First of all, you need to give Sterling credit for going to a chick flick for me. Second, don't see the movie. I mean unless you enjoy broken hearts and sadness, then by all means, see it! We just felt very empty inside after.

To cheer ourselves up, we went to Barnes and Noble and enjoyed looking at some books to lift our spirits. {sidenote: don't you just love the smell of that place. It just makes you want to read, even if you aren't a reader.}

The top 3 reasons this date was a great one:
1) It was a surprise. The whole time I thought Saturday was going to be my birthday celebration, not a staycation on Friday night.
2) We never had to get in our car once we got there. Our hotel, shopping, food and a movie were all in walking distance. It really felt like a getaway.
3) We got to just be ourselves. You may think this date sounds like nothing fancy or out of the ordinary, but it was the "no schedule, let's just do what we want" kind of date that is a perfect end to your week.

What are some of your favorite staycations? We would love to do another...we are kind of addicted now.