Week Thirty-Six | An Anniversary Weekend

James and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary this past weekend on June 8th! YAYY! We made it!!  :)  James handled Saturday plans and I handled Sunday plans and together we created a weekend full of fun, love, laughter, relaxation and I even had a leeettle bitty health scare just to give it a little dimension and, you know, round out the weekend!

James Starnes, my life with you is never boring. I can't wait to see what round two brings! 

Love you babe! Happy Anniversary!

o o o 

I feel like last week F L E W  B Y! Can someone reign in Father Time, because he's getting a little OOC. I know, I know, you spend three days curating one Weekly Recap and you're surprised it's practically the weekend, but sheesh, can't a girl catch a break? So many pictures, so little time. But seriously, POOF, three days gone in an instant!

Thursday was a big deal for me because I was finally meeting James' boss for the first time. This meeting's been eight months in the making... So yeah... I was a bit worked up about it. 

We all met up at Les Duex Salaon, a french restaurant in Covent Garden and I had a really good time once my nerves calmed down. The initial interaction at the table was slightly awkward (on my part obviously), but eventually we were all laughing and enjoying good conversation. I mean, any conversation centered around skiing and Broadway theater, specifically Mamma Mia and Abba, is good conversation in my book!

after dinner drinks. i made it! whew!

It was absolutely beautiful last Friday, so James and I headed back over to Dalston Street Feast for dinner and a couple of drinks. It's still a fun place to go, still hipster as ever, but it's not the same without our posse to keep us company, sooooooo we went home and fell asleep to the new season of Orange is the New Black.

i love street food! and apparently frozen cocktails!

So like I said, James told me to leave Saturday afternoon up to him. I was told to be ready and dressed appropriately for anything by 5:00 PM. Saturday morning started off normal as ever; wake up, coffee, kickboxing, returns to Oxford Circus, home, shower, get ready, etc... Well his plans were nearly derailed when I got very ill/faint/light-headed/nauseous while waiting in line to make a return at TOPSHOP after my kickboxing class. 

To make a VERYYYYYYYYYY long story short, I was by myself, in a crowded store, and thinking I was going to lose consciousness at any minute. Several times I had to sit down to get my bearings and I also frantically skipped a 40+ person line for the ladies' room because I thought I was going to get sick. 

I was very disoriented and couldn't think straight or barely hold my head up, but I decided to brave the tube to get home as soon as possible. I texted James, ""Please. Meet me at angel station. I'm sick. I need you." He immediately responded, "on my way."

To my **GREAT** disappointment, the train I need to get home was out of service, so I had to leave the underground to grab a cab to take me home. I called James (very upset/hysterical) and told him I was in a cab and to meet me out front of the flat. I have never felt such relief to see my husband waiting for me outside. He collected me from the cab, helped me into the flat and evaluated the situation.

I was hysterical. I had never experienced anything like that before in my life. I felt like I was losing control of my body and my mind. I. have. never. EVER lost consciousness or fainted before, so I was very confused about what was happening to me. No, I hadn't eaten breakfast before kickboxing that morning, but I rarely do and nothing I had done that day was out of the ordinary.

At one point, both James and I (even though we didn't say it to each other at the time) thought I would need to go to the emergency room, but eventually I was able to calm down, eat and drink and pull myself together. I am still unsure of what truly caused my body to have such a reaction... Was my body really needing food that much? Was it stress? Was it a combination? I don't know. But what I do know is that I am going to try to avoid that feeling again at any cost!

**and for those of you who are wondering or have asked: no. i'm not. 

Unfortunately, due to my "episode," James had to cancel my surprise "kick-off our anniversary weekend" drinks with a couple of my London friends, but I guess we can make those up another time. The good part is, after a couple of hours of rest, I was feeling well enough to make it out to the second part of the evening which wassss... tickets to The Book of Mormon! 

that show is cra cray! LOL

At 7:30 we were situated in our seats for the show and afterwards we went to Sophie's Steakhouse for a nice steak dinner in Covent Garden. Luckily, I was feeling almost 100% by this point, so I was able to enjoy the food, the company and even a cocktail or two!

cucumber mint martini

Dinner was great and I am really glad that I was able to participate in the evening especially since we thought I might need to go to the emergency room at one point. It is very weird how everything played out that Saturday and even right now, as I type this, I am confused by it, but ultimately everything turned out okay and it was still a good start to our anniversary weekend!

Sunday morning, we woke up bright and early to get a jump start on our actual anniversary day. James and I arrived at the Chelsea Health Club at 9:45 in the morning, excited and raring to go. The CHC is an exclusive club for the Chelsea elite, but the recent addition of their Antara Spa allows outsiders to catch a glimpse of it's pristine facility and enjoy a full body workover, as well.

We had both previously agreed that a spa day would be an excellent way to celebrate our anniversary. I was initially looking for spas outside of London, but I am really glad we stayed local and enjoyed what London has to offer. It was important for me to choose a spa that we would both be comfortable in. I certainly didn't want to drop us in the middle of some pretentious, overly-feminine glitzoid palace, so I decided to go to a spa that had more of a theme, a Middle Eastern theme, that is.

We spent a total of eight hours at the club. We started with a traditional Hamman at 10:00 (aromatic infused salt exfoliation followed by private steam room and mud mask), followed by separate massages and a three course lunch at 12:30 PM. After lunch we were really sleepy relaxed, so we both took a nap by the pool before our 4:00 facials. After our facials, we got in the jacuzzi and swam in the pool for a bit (not sure if that is great "facial etiquette" or not...ha) and then we showered and got ready for dinner.

sneak peak into our hammam!

such a great day!

Keeping with our Middle Eastern theme, James and I went to Le Comptoir, a chain Lebanese restaurant, where we enjoyed a cool breeze, blue skies, variety of Lebanese fare and some grade A people watching on the patio.

so relaxed right now!

We were stuffed after our meal and both ready for bed. NEVER IN MY LIFE have I felt so relaxed! I think I can probably speak for the both of us on that one; we could barely keep our eyes open! We caught the bus home and relaxed in bed and fell asleep to Orange is the New Black. Again.

I don't know about anyone else, but for me, Sunday was perfect, the weekend was perfect, and I couldn't ask for a better partner to share those memories with! I still have a smile on my face thinking about how silly we were at the spa and how we were really able to relax and reconnect. 

This weekend was a great example of how we can love each other and be there for each other and all I want to do is carry that love and positive energy straight into the year ahead of us and reflect back to it as often as we need to. . . Because babe—we are going to need to. These next few months are going to be trying, we know that. But with love in our hearts and a positive outlook on our life and future life together, I know that we can do anything. 

You're my guy. You're my partner. You're half the team, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Team Starnes for life! xx