A Brier Babymoon!

I can't believe it, but I am over 36 weeks into this pregnancy! It's crazy how soon Joe and I will be meeting our little guy, and how much our lives will change. Over the last few weeks, it's really hit how different EVERYTHING will be. While I am so excited to be a mom, I thought it would be a good idea for Joe and I to have one last hurrah before Baby Brier arrives.

Thanks to Joe's crazy schedule (D2 really is the hardest year of dental school), we couldn't go anywhere too far or for too long. Since we didn't want to waste time driving somewhere (and because at this point there's not a whole lot I can physically do anyway), we decided just to rent a fancy hotel room in downtown Philadelphia and have a 45-hour stay-cation.

Believe it or not, it actually felt pretty darn special (despite the fact we were less than 5 miles from our apartment).

We grabbed a cab from our apartment around 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon (parking at the downtown hotels is atrocious - like $30+ a night) and made our way to our Priceline-chosen accommodations. We had never used Priceline before, but figured this was the perfect opportunity to try it out since it really didn't matter where we stayed in the city. We were pumped to score a really nice hotel for just $100 a night (we saw the rooms going for about $200 on other discount sites). Joe and I are both pretty darn frugal, so there was actual cheering and high-fiving going on when we found out our price and our digs for the weekend.

We didn't have much time in the room before we had to get ready for our 6 p.m. dinner reservations, but we did manage to confirm that we had HGTV on our GIANT television. Joe and I have been on quite the HGTV kick lately (vicarious nesting?) and have been watching episodes of House Hunters, Property Brothers, etc. on Netflix since our cable package stinks and we don't get HGTV. We flipped on the channel as we got ready. I, of course, had to take advantage of the hotel mirror and take some bump-selfies.

I thought I could walk the 7 blocks to dinner, but after 1 block we realized that was absolutely not going to happen. Between my giant belly and new shoes it was just silly to try, so we hailed a cab and it took us the rest of the way. We chowed down on delicious brick-oven pizza at a restaurant called Stella Rossa. Joe enjoyed a very generous glass of wine, while I enjoyed a Shirley Temple.

After dinner, we grabbed some gelato and then headed to The Walnut Street Theater for a performance of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. I was able to score some decently priced orchestra seats and we sat closer than we've ever been to a stage. Being able to see the actors' faces and expressions was quite a nice change, especially after our nosebleed-seat viewing of The Phantom of the Opera last year (Joe had trouble following the story because, no lie, he couldn't tell which guy on stage had the mask on his face). 

We were really excited to see a play at The Walnut Street Theater because it is the oldest continuously operating playhouse in the United States! And ever since I was in an Agatha Christie-inspired murder mystery play in high school, I've been eager to see this particular show. While we both really enjoyed it, I was legitimately disappointed that most of the deaths took place offstage. But that's just because I am a weirdo and the kind of person who actually wrote her college thesis on slasher movies.

After the play, we headed back to the hotel for some HGTV and then sleep interrupted by frequent trips to the bathroom (seriously - a top 3 complaint of pregnancy so far).

The next morning, we decided to go shopping in the Rittenhouse Square area which was right by our hotel. We also decided that it was way past time for Joe to get a new cell phone (he was still rocking the iPhone 4 and had recently taken it apart and replaced the battery because it kept dying when there was like 30% left) and so we spent a good hour or so at the AT&T store and then at the Apple store getting him upgraded. Mr. Frugality shocked me by deciding to go with the iPhone 6 - he has never had the current version of a cell phone before. He loves it.

After shopping until I was about ready to drop (which was, frankly, not that long), we went back to the room and watched an episode of Family Guy that was inspired by And Then There Were None. It was really fun to watch since we had just seen the play. Of course, more HGTV followed. And I napped.

In the hotel lobby after dinner

That night we went to a fancy steakhouse called Barclay Prime. The restaurant had a retro, Mad Men-esque vibe to it and the prices were a bit ridiculous. However, the steaks may have been some of the best Joe and I have ever had (the baby enjoyed the meal too. I couldn't believe how active he was after I ate it!). Not to mention the truffle mac 'n' cheese... We would love to go back but we'll probably only spring for it once more while we are living in Philly. And the next time I really want to be able to have wine! My Shirley Temples were good, but Joe's wine was making me salivate like Pavlov's dog.

It was a fantastic end to a fantastic babymoon!

XO - Kate