grabbing some quality time with the hub

the hub and i were able to have a good long day date thanks to MIL being in town for a quick visit.  she was happy to be on bean pick-up duty, which allowed us to head out on a fun day trip down to san diego.  one of our most favorite places to hang out is at the hotel del coronado, and it had been a long time since we'd been there.  it was a gorgeous day, with temperatures in the 80s, and we were excited to just relax and enjoy a leisurely lunch.

we decided to grab a table at the shearwater, which is outside overlooking the beach.  my strawberry mojito was lovely and refreshing:

the hub went with the del seafood salad:

and this was my wedge salad with a serving of fire grilled top sirloin.

we took a nice stroll along the beach to walk off our lunch and just take in some sunshine and ocean air.

it also seemed that there was a film festival happening this weekend.

we drove around coronado island for a bit after that, looking at the gorgeous homes in the area and just enjoying being together.  we made our way through mission beach and then into pacific beach, where we decided to stop at another one of our favorite spots next to crystal pier - tower 23 hotel.  we grabbed a spot at the bar and i had my second drink of the day...this time, a really delightful concoction called "pick your poison."  it had vodka and watermelon and lemon juices with orange simple syrup, and it was super tasty.

after that we decided to start heading back towards home.  there was a ton of traffic, being a friday evening, and waze took us on a fun route using surface streets all the way to our next destination...pechanga casino in temecula.  we headed in to sit down at the great oak steakhouse for a nice dinner, although we didn't have a reservation and had to settle for being added to the waitlist.  they quoted us an hour wait time, and since we had time to kill we headed out to the casino floor to play a little.  the hub slid a bill into the first wheel of fortune machine we found that was available, and before i knew it i was actually winning.  it didn't take too long before i got to take my first spin of the wheel, which won me a measly $20:

but $20 is $20, right?  and then i was even more excited when i got to spin again...this time winning $125.  and amazingly enough, a third spin got me this:

i continued to spin the reels for awhile, but after i found myself down a few bucks the hub encouraged me to cash out.  i managed to hand him the cash he started me off with, and i still got to pocket this:

so awesome.  i seriously never win at casinos!  and as we were walking away from the cashier machine we got the text telling us that a table was ready for us at the restaurant.  everything on the menu sounded delicious.

we shared a shrimp cocktail:

and i enjoyed a bowl of lobster bisque.

my third drink of the day was a blue velvet - vodka and st. germaine with some blue curaçao.  this one was...not good.  heh.

but my steak made up for it, topped with herb butter and served with roasted garlic and sautéed mushrooms.

the drive home was quick and uneventful, and when we got home the bean was happily snuggled up with her grandma in the guest room bed.  they'd enjoyed a nice afternoon and evening, and the bean was excited to show me the drawings they'd worked on together.  it seemed that everyone had had a great day, and it was a nice way to kick off a busy weekend.