"DND...hang the sign on the door.."

Semisonic says it so well. (One of our faves, listen here).

May 12, 2008, the actual day of our anniversary, we left beautiful NY, crossed the Hudson over the Bear Mountain Bridge (which offers fantastic views), stopped at a Salvation Army in the cutest quaintest little town where we walked away with a few choice steals—an awesome antique bedside dresser, 2 rockin' purses, and 3 stylin' ties, photos to debut at a later date—and then arrived at our B&B in northeast PA at the perfect time to drop our bags, get all fancied up, and head to dinner at a really great restaurant in the tiny little town we were staying. We splurged, but we never splurge, so I'm okay with that. It was soooo nice. The food was awesome, and we borrowed the nearby socket to charge our camera while eating...so tacky, I know. But you can't just have an uncharged camera during prime time moments such as dinner on your anniversary.

The Bed & Breakfast was AMAZING, and we'd highly highly recommend it. (Santosha on the Ridge) It was seriously in the middle of the woods, on a little ridge top, where we could see nothing else but trees and a river bottom way below us. You should have heard all the bullfrogs in the pond out back, it was so entertaining. It was kind of a yoga/zen place, which was funny, but we didn't partake in any yogi moves or meditation hours. They're optional. However, we did get to "burn something we want to leave behind" and "take something we want to gain" through paper and matches in a little urn and a rock with our desired new trait written on it. Jon picked innovation and I picked clarity--and what we burned are our little secrets. :)

And as for the cake in a sack...well, you know how you're supposed to eat your wedding cake on your first anniversary after freezing it for a year? Upon arriving in DC a year ago, we realized we had no idea what the fate of our cake had been, so we instead made a fakesy wedding cake (a.k.a. box cake), frosted it with our wedding colors, and froze it instead. But guess what? Months-old cake, retired from the freezer and mushy from traveling through 3 states, in a ziploc, inside of a cooler, just doesn't look so hot and romantic anymore. So we took a pic for good measure, and tossed the cake. We're such good traditionalists.