I love another cosmic coincidence story.

I am sitting in what is called a boutique hotel feeling happy and well-rested. My comfy room is clean and funky. Funky in a good way. (You can’t be clean and funky in a bad way.) I’ve stayed at nice hotels that have icky elements - rusty vents, dirty rugs, questionable stains - and must rely on my trusty Benadryl. There have been too many Dateline NBC episodes investigating hotel grossness for me to sleep a single minute without its sedative qualities.

But this hotel appears to be perfect which is fantastic because a.) I forgot to pack my Benadryl and b.) I don’t own an incriminating blue light.

My only complaint is how hard they are trying. The decor is ultra hip and modern. I adore the bathroom wallpaper and the settee by the window. In the lobby, there are several brightly painted busts of Ben Franklin dramatically lit. Feels a little disrespectful. (Or maybe not. He was a character.) Every elevator has random pictures and scenes of weirdness plastered where I totally expect mirrors. In one elevator there’s a classic portrait of a woman. But get this, she has a mustache! What?! So unexpected! I missed the mirrors.

One of the elevator walls. A fireplace? No way!
Never got a shot of the mustached lady.

This morning, Jon went off to work and I wandered around looking for a Starbucks in downtown Philadelphia. There are probably 1,000 Starbucks in downtown Philadelphia. Of course, I ended up at the one on Market Street. It was packed, but I waited. Then they ran out of Pumpkin Spice syrup when my drink was finally "up." A clueless young fella was sent to the back to find it, but he never returned. So they sent a clueless young lady to find him. Then the manager got involved and eventually found all three. I got my latte and it only took an hour.

Cool.

We won our night in the boutique hotel at an auction last year. Then in May we decided to use it for our 15th wedding anniversary. Everything was in place for an overnight escape, when Jon called from the UK explaining that he wouldn't make it home in time. Grrrrr.

My niece, Nicole, is our go-to childcare angel. She started nursing school in May and was very busy throughout the summer making it impossible to reschedule. Grrrrr.

In October, Nicole was given a new rotation that leaves her weekdays free. The hotel gift certificate expires in November so we decided to book something on a weeknight. Use it or lose it.

(Sorry for all the boring details. It gets better.)

We picked a Wednesday because it is soccer-free and we chose the 17th because Jon was definitely in town. When I thought about the date and did some very basic math, I couldn't believe it.

October 17th was our original high school anniversary. The one we celebrated for ten years before we were married. And this October 17th marked 25 years since Jon asked me out at Jennifer Esser's party. Right before Seth Sonstein sprayed the fire extinguisher all over the dining room furniture and the cops came.

So we missed our anniversary, but we really didn't. Try explaining that to the waitress who brings you a celebratory bottle of champagne.

Crazy.

Twenty-five years! That’s a crazy long time. I feel lucky. And old. But mostly lucky. I bet Jennifer Esser's parents have gone through several sets of dining room furniture and have perhaps even forgiven Seth Sonstein in their hearts.