Extravaganza indeed!

My love and I gave each other a pre-dinner gift.

Mi esposo had one of my rings fixed.  It was an amber ring that was missing it's gem.  I was so happy to have this sweet ring back in my life.  It meant a lot to me.

You see, G'ma had given it to me, and honestly, G'ma doesn't just 'give' her jewelery away.

I gave Papi some cute boy boxers that my love had been eyeing up at a local sex/book shop, Little Sister's.

I was so very ready to go for dinner, and Papi looked handsome.

We drove downtown, and I had no idea which restaurant we were going to, until when we pulled into the parking lot under Harbour Centre.  Now I knew where we were going; The Top of Vancouver Revolving Restaurant.

I was happy to get to just enjoy the view for a change, as I used to be a tour guide and walked people around yakking at them about our fine city.

The host who welcomed us for our reservations knew it was our 1st wedding anniversary.  I was so impressed!

When dinner had finished, it was time for desert.  Of course I couldn't have any, but Papi asked for a menu, because my love doesn't need to suffer for my food allergies.

When the waitress came back, she brought my love an awesome looking piece of mango cheesecake on the house for our anniversary.  It had me yearning immediately, but I was simultaneously distracted by a plate that was placed in front of me with a 'special treat' just for me.

It was such a nice gesture, but I assumed I wouldn't be able to eat it, even though I didn't know what it was.  It was wrapped in bright red paper in a box that was not so big.

When I picked it up, I felt it shift to one side, and thought it was a nice big chunk of chocolate.  My mouth immediately started watering, but I know I can't eat dairy and sadly said, "That's so sweet of them, but I know I won't be able to eat it.  It will either be filled with dairy, or wrapped in wheat, or both."

My love looked at me and said, "Oh, I don't think you'll be allergic to this."

I was so excited!  That must mean that my love got me a special wheat free, dairy free treat that I could have!  And the fact that it was wrapped as a surprise was such a nice touch.

When I opened it up, I was a little shocked to see a box from our jeweler, Gurvin, who made our engagement and wedding rings.

I was just a little confused as to what this could be!  I mean, it's a ring box and we don't have any money, so it couldn't possibly be anything expensive.

I slowly opened the box and damn!

It was a diamond encrusted ring that was very similar to my wedding band.

My love had a disclaimer, "Well, this is not your ring.  Your ring is still being made.  I told Gurvin I need to have it by today, but you know Gurvin ...  So, he's lent us this one until yours is finished."

That's our jeweler.

Papi has known him since forever, and he adores my love so much that he would allow Papi to just take a ring out of the many gorgeous rings that would be 'similar' just so that I could open a beautiful gift.

It doesn't really fit well, but left on the inside of my wedding and engagement ring, it will stay put.

So, I decided I'd wear it anyway.

You can't really see it in this pic, because it's hiding behind my engagement ring.

but i mean really! bling-a-ding-ding!! hell ya I'm going to wear it even if it doesn't fit!

After dinner, we went to the beach and had a little sit down to watch the sun set behind the clouds.  It wasn't all that warm, so it really was a short stay, but it was just nice to sit with Papi.

We were the fanciest people at the beach.

Papi was so handsome

I felt so special.

i was sinking in the sand in my heels eek!!!

It was a beautiful evening with my love, and when we got home, I gave mi esposo the other half of Papi's gift.

Well, mine wasn't as extravagant, but it was fun.

It's called 'Nookii', a game for adults.

I was ready to play, obviously, because I had my coffee, but Papi, looked at me with tired eyes and apologized, "Honey, I'm just so tired, I just can't."

I suppose we'll have to wait another day to play 'Nookii', and give The Love Patrol a chance to do his job.

Regardless, it was a wonderful One Year Wedding Anniversary Extravaganza.

The only bad news was, now that I'm wearing over a karat in diamonds, Papi took my love's engagement ring back saying, "I think it'll be fine for me to wear it now.  Nobody will look at it like it's weird, right?"

I almost wanted to lie just to keep the ring.

ummm ... no papi ... men don't wear that kind of ring.

But I didn't.  I'll play nice.