I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck. ~ EG

Ok, so that's not true.  I do enjoy flowers but not nearly as much as diamonds...  I'm not sure I've mentioned this before but Joe gets his work schedule a month at a time.  So when the new one comes out I always check to see if he has any weekend days off, if he does, I check with Mike and try to take the same day off from the restaurant.  This way we can occasionally spend an entire day together.  We slept in a little bit (all the way until 8:45) then planned to grab breakfast, use our Longwood Garden Groupon tickets and meet up with Vic, Tammy & Luke for dinner.

I knew it was going to be a long day with at least 3 hours in the car and lots of walking.  The weather report called for high 40s so I decided on this OOTD:  a maroon cowl neck sweater from Ann Taylor Loft with a brown puffy vest from The Gap and Express jean leggings.  I wore these Brown Naturalizer boots for the first time.  They were a little stiff at first and I was worried I might end up with blisters but my feet finished the day just as pretty as they started. 

We decided to take Joe's car since we wouldn't be bringing home anything big and he likes to drive fast on highways.  I thought is was pretty funny when I loaded all my stuff in the car for just a day away from home, that's two purses, a book, my kindle and a phone charger.  We also made sure to bring Luke's birthday presents with us (since his 2nd birthday was almost a month ago).

Joe wanted to go to Howell's on the White Horse Pike for breakfast.  I had never been there but sometimes he goes with his dad when they're running errands.  I ordered a tomato, onion and cheese omelet with home fries and rye toast = 815 calories.  The food was good, a little more home style then I'm used to but definitely tasty.

Once we were sufficiently full it was time to head out to Kentwood, PA.  The GPS said it would take about an hour and 45 minutes but we can always shave at least 15 minutes off those estimates.  Once we parked the car and got our real tickets the sun was coming out!  We were in really good spirits and ready to explore.  We realized after about 5 minutes that we should probably plan another trip for sometime in the spring or early summer because while the grounds are definitely beautiful they are a little boring in the winter (which is probably why they offer 1/2 price tickets through Groupon that expire in March).

We wondered outside for a while talking about how beautiful it must be when everything is in bloom.  I couldn't help but think how many great places there are to have a wedding but when I googled in later on I found out that they do not allow weddings on site.  You may take pictures but they won't have a ceremony or reception.

While wondering through one of the buildings we came across this big guy.  Does he remind you of anyone?  We couldn't get over how closely he resembles Ian!  He didn't move the entire time we walked around the room, I even poked at his feet and Joe scratched his head but nothing.  If I hadn't seen his chest rise & fall I would have sworn he was stuffed.

We moved on through a few more of the paths until we came across a little cafeteria.  We hadn't been planning on eating anything but I did need a bottle of water, my head was starting to bother me just a little and I was pretty sure it was because I'd barely drank one glass of water and we were approaching 2pm.  Once we saw all the options available we decided to have a little snack.  I picked up a bottle of water, an apple and an orange = 134 calories.  Joe decided on a cup of their award winning mushroom soup and a piece of chocolate banana bread pudding.  Both of his choices were extremely delicious no matter what that face he's making seems to say.

I was very impressed by how "green" the park was.  There were different bins for trash, recycling and compost.  They provided real silverware instead of plastic and there wasn't any garbage to be found outside.

When we were finished with our snack we went into the main greenhouse.  This is where they were hiding all the pretty flowers!  I was happy to see that Joe was getting excited about being able to take some pictures and use his new lens.  That was the whole reason I wanted to take him here.  The pictures below are all from my phone or point and shoot camera but Joe got some really great shots with his DSLR.  I've been toying with getting one and really exploring photography more.  Especially with this blog it might be nice to take some really nice pictures.

It was the orchid extravaganza or something like that so there were a lot really pretty orchid arrangements everywhere.  I made sure to get a picture of us together so we can prove we were actually there. 

We're thinking about trying something like this in our garden in the backyard with ferns and tulips.

Around 4pm we decided that 3+ hours of walking was enough and made plans to head to Vic & Tammy's for dinner.  We decided to get take out from Appleebee's.  We thought about getting something from the 2 for $20 menu but I couldn't find an entree that had less then 700 calories and the appetizers were even worse.  I decided on a house salad and the Grilled Shrimp with Island Rice = 590 calories.

For dessert Tammy made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting (she swore they were low fat) = 235 calories.

I thought it was just too funny how Luke refused to use his hands while eating his cupcake.

We hung out for another hour or two after dinner watching the Oscar pre-show before deciding it was time to head home.  We walked in the door and straight up to bed where I went through our pictures from the day, uploaded some to Facebook and prepped everything for my blog posts.  I tried to stay awake and watch more of the Oscars but I just couldn't keep my eyes open.  It was so nice to spend the day together, we didn't bicker at all, just enjoyed each other's company :-)

How did I do on my February goals?

1. Read 2 books:  I was really hoping to finish my 1st book with all the driving but I still have probably 20 pages left...

2. Burn at least 750 calories a day for at least 20 days: 2125 burned - 1774 eaten = 351 burned, 21 days total (goal met)

3. 1000 fitness minutes, not allowed to count walking at the restaurant: 0 minutes today, 1145 total for month (goal met)

4. Eat 1 fruit or veggie with each meal for at least 20 days: tomato & onion w/breakfast, apple & orange for lunch, salad & broccoli w/dinner, 11 days total

5. 10 spend free days - I didn't spend a dime, 13 days total (goal met)...