Yay Babymoon!

For those of you who don't know, a "babymoon" is the new term for a pre-baby getaway. It turns out that Jalal and I haven't even left Quinn overnight before, so we decided to jump at the chance to go away for a night while we could. The Depeche Mode concert in Atlanta on Tuesday gave us the perfect opportunity. Jalal found a hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead, so it was bound to be a great night! (Sorry, they don't offer Friends and Family Rates at this location, but we got a great deal!) My friend Maureen was going to babysit Quinn but then she bailed on me (through no fault of her own). Jalal manipulated his authority at Marriott to get one of his employees off so she could watch him. She's sat for him a few times before, so we were comfortable with that. We got out of town around noon on Tuesday, checked into our SA-WEET! hotel room (on the top floor), and lounged on the beautiful 6-inch-thick pillowtop bed. Turns out they feature Bulgari toiletries, and believe you me, I took advantage of every single one. I even wore the shower cap in the shower while getting ready for the concert. Then of course, the body wash and lotion provided a lovely fragrance, and the bathrobe and slippers kept me cozy while I dressed.

We had passed a place called Twist around the corner from the hotel that said "sushi and tapas." How could we resist? After feeling uber-out of place walking through the mall of high-end shops like Gucci and Ferragamo, we were blown away by the food at Twist. Let me see if I can remember what we ate: mussels (Jalal), chicken empanada, calamari, buffalo mozzarella and cherry tomato salad, Philly roll, and for the second "course," a truffled egg salad sandwich and some fantastic sushi roll with mango and tuna around tuna tataki, which I was not supposed to eat (boo), but I cheated and ate a small piece. It was fantastic and I highly recommend it to anyone. I want to go back.

After an early dinner, we headed to the concert. It was at an outdoor amphitheater, which could have been dicey, but the weather was superb. The breeze was perfect at a time when it could have gotten hot from all the crowds. The people there, by the way, were about the most eclectic mix I've ever seen. Young goth folks, old goth folks, old preppy folks, old hippie folks, young trendy folks, a cowboy...weird. But after a lukewarm opening act by some guys, one of whom was named Bjorn (evidently they are huge in Europe), Depeche Mode came out and rocked my world. They were so good, and I knew more of the songs than I expected. I guess 10 years of indoctrination will do that to a girl. Anyway, after much screaming and clapping, they came out for their first of two encores, and began with our song, "Somebody." It was so romantic.

After the concert, we were pretty hungry (hey, it had been almost 5 hours since dinner!), and since it was nearly midnight, our options were limited. So we stopped at a gas station for Twix ice cream bars and donuts. Mmmm. I'm not a donut fan normally, but I'm blaming the baby for that one. Thanks, baby! Turns out, Ritz-Carlton does turn-down service. Whoops. Shouldn't have left my underwear on the bed! It was great though! Chocolates, water and glass on the side table, fresh towels, and the drapes pulled. Lovely way to come "home." It was so heavenly that I'm almost ashamed to admit we slept until 10 a.m.! For those of you with toddlers, you know what a guilty (and impossible) pleasure this is. We finally dragged outselbes out of bed and packed up every "Ritz-Carlton" labeled object that we didn't think we'd get charged for: stationery, water bottles, pens, notepads, mouthwash. We stopped at Fatburger for lunch. Never had that before, but it was yummy! Then we headed home. [Sigh.] It was wonderful. I missed Quinn, but not that much! Hah! Well, that's the story of the babymoon. Love, Us.