Rachel turned 26!

So I am now officially in my late 20's :)
As you can tell from the previous posts- the time around my birthday was a bit busy, but Jeff managed to plan a few special things for me- both on the day and even a few days later.
Jeff was awesome and spent lots of time resaerching a place for us to eat out that I didn't have to choose from only 2 items only the menu I could eat.  (More on my new gluten fre/dairy free eating later- promise!) The chosen restaurant- The Wild Cow in East Nashville. Now to make things more interesting this restaurant was vegan/vegetarian as well as gluten free.  Unfortunately soy is not my favorite thing to eat- so this as truly a culinary adventure :)
We ended up with a Rueben sandwhich, nachos and a chocolate cake.  Not sure if I'm going to crave their food again any time soon- but there were definitely some good things there.
After dinner we went to Whole Foods and picked out a chocolate bar for dessert.  I know, we are seriously some granola dorky people- but you love us anyways!
A few days later Jeff took me on a surprise date in Nashville to complete the festivities.

For lunch we went to P.F. Changs- which we always love.  Now we love it even more because it has a gluten free menu available- and Asian food is almost always dairy free! Sometime I prefer to just try and find what I can eat on the menu without making a big deal to the server about food sensitivities.  On this particular day it ended up being better that I didn't- We order the lettuce wraps as an appetizer and asked for the gluten free kind (soy sauce is one of the random things that contains wheat)  Several minutes later a server came out with two plates of lettuce wraps and gave us one of them.

We happily dug in and were on our second wraps when the same server came out- freaking out... She had given us the wrong plate.  To make a long story short- after apologies from four different PF Changs employees-in higher order of rank each time, many jokes from Jeff with the petrified server including asking if she brought the gluten free lettuce- which she fell for (and looked at me like I was going to keel over at any second), and a lettuce wrap plate for each of us- we got the entire meal for free.  :)  We should have ordered dessert!

Our first stop was the Frist to see the Chanel exhibit of vintage clothing, and Chihuly.  I was truly amazed how interested Jeff at least pretended to be in all of the clothing.  We got the audio guides which were soooo worth it.

Our last stop was Centennial park for a picnic Jeff had hidden in the trunk while I wasn't looking.  Hummus, tortilla chips, olives, raspberries, blueberries, and Boars Head turkey (gluten free:) it was really wonderful.

One of our biggest challenges has been figuring out what each wants from holidays and special occasions like anniversaries and birthdays.  For some reason- I really love to celebrate special days on the actual day.  I like to make a big deal and focus the majority of the attention on that person/holiday on that day.  Jeff on the other hand is fine with not really making a big deal on the day if its not possible, and waiting till a better time to celebrate.  I am really grateful that, at least so far, we have been able to really develop the communication side of our marriage.  As a result, we are generally really aware of what they other wants/expects for a celebration.  This was a great 26th birthday... I am so glad I have a patient, loving AND thoughtful husband :)