The Best Present Ever

I've been meaning to circle back with you all for months about the awesomely wonderful gift I got Andi for our one year anniversary. It absolutely killed me not to tell you about it in June when I experienced it and then I gave it to him .. and time passed ... and life got busy ... and well, you know how that goes. Any-who, I racked my brain for months this summer trying to dream up a cool, unique gift he wouldn't forget for our most important wedding anniversary - the very first one. Complicating matters, I was determined to follow the traditional anniversary guide and that meant some part of my gift had to be paper.

I thought about booking a weekend vacation and wrapping the directions or confirmation page into a card, but he's really the trip planner of our family and I didn't think I could pull a trip off successfully without him figuring it out. I really wouldn't know where to start. I thought about buying him a family tree print from Etsy or making something myself, but none of that seemed cool enough for our special celebration. One day in June, in a conversation with my sister-in-law, she told me about a few friends of hers who own a photography business and host boudoir photography sessions once a month. As soon as she said it, I knew it was the most perfect gift I could give him. It's romantic and fun and sexy ... and best of all, he would never expect it in a million years.

What I didn't expect was just how amazing the experience would be for me. Oh my, I've never felt so beautiful.

I made an appointment with Boodwah Photography and met them in downtown Minneapolis about a month before our anniversary. Getting there was quite the battle as I do not do well driving downtown by myself but once I arrived, I was absolutely at ease. I spent the evening with Kristina and Megan - two of the most adorable ladies in the world who were both so professional and so flattering. I was pampered by having my hair and make-up professionally done and then spent the next hour basking in the spotlight. I've never felt so wonderful.

Well, that is until I received my photos a few weeks later. I still can't believe these images are of me!

In all, I received about 75 photos that are absolutely to die for. I'm not showing them all to you here but click over to the girls' website for a glimpse their work.

I decided to display the images in a handmade book I bought from Etsy. I wrapped the book in a glamorous gift box and felt like a kid at Christmas when I gave it to Andi on our anniversary. He was absolutely blown away. Absolutely blown away.

I can't decide who enjoyed this gift more. Andi loves the photos and tells me all the time how much he likes to look at them. And truthfully, I'd never felt so good about myself. I felt powerful and sexy and absolutely gorgeous. Best present ever. Not sure how I'll top this with next year's theme: cotton.