the most perfect weekend ever

It was this past weekend, in case you didn't hear.

Friday night, Strider took me out on a surprise date night (rare and wonderful!) to dinner at Mellow Mushroom, where I got absolutely stuffed on a glorious pesto-mushroom pizza and thoroughly enjoyed eating on the sidewalk so we could watch all the interesting people walk by. Then, we saw Perks of Being a Wallflower at the a/perture theater—I give it 3 and a half coffee beans or stars or tomatoes or whatever your scale of choice might be. It was much more serious/intense than I remembered it being (I read the book like 6 years ago), but the acting was truly phenomenal. A lovely evening indeed.

Saturday, something truly miraculous happened…Strider was free ALL DAY. I kid you not, this was the first completely free day he's had since school started back…in August! (crazypants, no?) So we finally did something we've been talking about for a year…we went to Hanging Rock! The weather was cool and crispy-autumnal, the leaves were like a gorgeous, and it was sunny all day…nature was seriously struttin her stuff! Though slightly crowded, the trail was gorgeous and the view from the top was perfect. I packed us a picnic for the top and we spent some time just breathing in the air and relaxing before the hike back down. He napped in the car on the way back and looked oh-so-precious incredibly manly. Once home, we hit up George's with some friends for their super-ballin' hot wings. Another perfect day.

Then Sunday, that's right, you didn't even think more awesome could fit…it did! We got to head down to Charlotte to meet up with one of my craziest, most amazing friends Devon! She blessed us with an incredible gift of tickets to the Carolina Panthers – Dallas Cowboys game! The first pro football game for me and for Strider!!! After a cramped ride on the light rail, we had a fabulous lunch outside with Dev and then walked to the stadium. After a too-soon goodbye, we headed in, found out seats, and spent a fun few hours cheering on the team. Even though the Panthers lost, the light rail was so crowded we had to wait for three trains to come then stand next to some absurdly drunk guys talking about t-shirts, and that hit over an hour of traffic on the way home…it was still a perfect day. We amused ourselves in the traffic by making ridiculous sounds for no reason and listening to great music. Which reminded me of why I love him so much.

I've been smiling all day just thinking about how great it was to spend time together doing exciting, random things! This was certainly not our normal weekend (chilling around his dorm doing nothing), but its rarity is what made it all the more precious. I'm so happy that we can equally enjoy doing nothing and having crazy adventures together. Looking back, the song that's been stuck in my head all weekend is "It is Well with My Soul"…a perfect illustration of my heart…peace, joy, and surprise at all the unexpected, wonderful blessings that can be packed in to just a few days.

Have you ever had a perfect weekend like this? Please do share!