With Joy on the road to recovery, I decided Stevie and I needed some time away after a very long and taxing first two months of the year. But I had some limitations:

1) I wanted to get away on a weekend when Stevie already had some obligations.

2) I didn’t want to travel to another city, in case Joy had any problems in the night (her cast was just off and she was experiencing quite a bit of pain).

3) I wanted to surprise my man!

So here’s what I did: I told Stevie I’d plan a Friday afternoon date so that he’d block the time off on his schedule. Meanwhile, I was secretly canceling his Saturday morning commitments (Yeah!), packing his bag, and making reservations for fun things! I’d been wanting to check out the new 21c Museum Hotel, since viva bella is planning a couple of events there later this year. I also thought that going there would meet our need to stay local. But how could we make it feel like a “getaway”…?

After making my online reservations, I received a personal email asking if there was anything the 21c could do to make our stay more enjoyable. (Traveler tip: always respond to these emails and tell them what you want! Their business relies upon your being happy with your stay- and they asked! Might as well answer their questions, right?!) I wrote back sharing that we’d had a difficult start to the year and would appreciate anything they could do to make our stay personal and comfortable. To my delight, I received an email back saying they’d love to accommodate us and would send up strawberries and champagne sometime during our stay. Very nice touch!

When the “afternoon Friday date” arrived, I told Stevie we’d be going to a museum (a pastime he loves). When we pulled in front of the hotel, he was excited because the 21c is an avant-garde museum and hotel (he visited their location in Louisville years ago and is really pleased they now have a Cincinnati location).

When the valet opened our door and said “Checking In?” Stevie was shocked when I blurted out, “Yes!” He was even more surprised when his overnight bag was pulled from our trunk. He said, “…but honey… I have meetings in the morning…”, and was over the moon when I told him I’d already gotten him out of everything!

We checked into our room and were so excited about the idea of having a night away together, without any responsibilities. He was already getting into full relax mode on the couch with a magazine and ESPN, when I told him not to get too comfortable since we had an appointment… at the spa! I had reserved a couple’s massage for us: their treatment room (which I’d seen on a preferred vendor tour weeks prior) has heated floors (nice touch!) and a hot tub “bath” in the spa room which we were able to enjoy for 30 minutes after our massages. It was all so relaxing and wonderful! Needless to say, Stevie was willing to leave sports highlights for a while!

After our massage, we got dressed up and walked down to Jeff Ruby’s for our dinner reservations.

Later, we came back to our room where the champagne and strawberries were waiting! Are you getting the idea of what a dreamy day this was? We felt like we were miles and miles away- though we live like 10 miles up the road! Stevie even commented that he felt like we’d been on vacation for days before hitting the hay that night. Just what I was hoping for.

The next morning, after a quick workout, we had a fantastic brunch at Metropole. We were both really impressed at their simple but delicious food; it’s just the kind of thing we like: food that hasn’t been over-engineered, but with some interesting and surprising touches.

It was such a sweet, refreshing day away together- we really felt renewed and ready to tackle rehab and all the other challenges in our lives. It was a big success for both of us, and many thanks go to the hospitable professionals at the new 21c.  We can’t wait to produce viva bella events there!