On Sunday I turned 37. My birthday weekend started off strong with a snow day! I love snow. Friday it flurried on and off all day, so I spent the day watching snow, drinking coffee, and building a LEGO orchid that I got for my birthday.

After Christopher was done working, he and I drove west a couple hours to spend the weekend in Knoxville, TN. Neither of us had ever been, so we figured, why not? Knoxville is cute, lots of coffee shops, stores, and restaurants.

We stayed at the Marriott Knoxville Downtown which is across the street from the convention center. There were two big events happening at the convention center over the weekend, a youth gymnastics competition, and a dog show. Needless to say, the hotel was packed with a really interesting group of creatures. Not going to lie, part of why we chose this hotel is for the M Club Lounge, an extra fancy, open 24/7 lounge . One of the perks of Christopher traveling for work a bunch over the last several years is his Platinum Elite status with Marriott Bonvoy. We get room upgrades, presents, and lounge access at any hotel with a club/concierge lounge. I like to make fun of Christopher when he checks in and the staff thank him for being a platinum elite customer, but I really love the perks so I should probably pipe down.

We drove through the University of Tennessee campus, which is big and old and lovely. We even saw a smokey the dog statue. We also found out about the UT Vol Navy, a tradition of people boating to football games, and now I want to experience this at some point.

We had a lot of good coffee and food, and went to some cute shops. It was really cold over the weekend, like below freezing, so we didn’t do quite as much exploring as we would have liked.

On my birthday, we went to Wake Foot Sanctuary for a fancy foot soak. The foot soaks at this place are so relaxing. You put your feet in a giant cauldron-like bowl with hot water and some combination of salts, clays, plants, and other happy smelling things. You can add on a massage to your soak, so we both got a 20 minute head, neck, and shoulder massage while we soaked our feet.

On the way back to Abingdon, we stopped at Yoder’s Country Market for some delightful sandwiches before getting back to regular life.

It was nice to have a relaxed little adventure over the weekend. I’m looking forward to year thirty-seven. Hopefully it’s the year we find our next home.