Friday, the 12th of February, Jeff and I were laying in bed chit chatting about wanting to get away, to take a trip, to just see anything different. I had been hinting for… months(?!) that I wanted to take a Valentine’s Day trip, no matter how small, but no matter how big my hints he didn’t seem too interested in making plans. There are very few things about that man that drive me crazy but I think the big thing is that he’s not a planner. Not making plans makes me anxious. I like to at least have a general idea of what I’ll be doing on a certain day. He briefly mentioned how Philadelphia sounded fun, and I had been saying for a few weeks how I was thinking of taking a short trip there but I figured nothing would come of it. I got out of bed, started to blow dry my hair when, in the mirror, I see him lift his arm in a dramatic fashion and drop his phone onto the bed.

“Booked it!”
“Booked what?”
“A hotel. We’re going to Philadelphia!”

Jeff had a wedding to shoot on Saturday but since Monday was President’s Day he had the day off work. And that’s how at 2am on Sunday morning, after Jeff finished up his wedding, we started the seven hour drive to Philadelphia.

I drove the whole way so he could snooze and wake up in the city well rested. The drive was a breeze aside from a little bit of snow the first hour of the trip. (Hi Mom. Sorry, I lied. It wasn’t thaaat bad, and we survived.) I forgot just how much I love driving. I’m not huge on city driving but long distance driving is my jam. Music up, just belting out the words to all my favorite songs, cruising along. I love it!

So what the heck did we do in Philadelphia in that short amount of time? We visited the cemetery of my dreams. More on that another day because obviously I took about 40 billion photos I’m dying to share. Scoped out a bunch of abandoned buildings, but failed to gain entry to any of them. Did a little exploring underground in an abandoned tunnel where I nearly peed my pants and maybe, just maybe, burst into tears upon exiting.* Laughed at funny tags; some shown in this post, some I regrettably didn’t take photos of. Ate some of the best pierogies I’ve ever had. And most importantly, spent some quality time together. This was easily my favorite Valentine’s Day ever.

As time goes on I’m becoming less and less dependent on plans and learning to just go with the flow better. It’s not always easy, especially since planning is so deeply ingrained in me. Compromise? It’s what makes a solid relationship. Spontaneity? As much as I hate to admit it, is what makes life fun. I’m glad we didn’t make plans until the very very last minute, it made everything all the more exciting. 24 hours in this city was not even close to enough time though. There is so much more I want to see still. We barely touched on our to-do list before running out of time. We will definitely be back. Hopefully for a little bit longer next time.
xoxo

*Long story short : being somewhere dark you’re not supposed to be and spotting someone else entering as well is terrifying, especially when you can tell your boyfriend is a little bit unnerved too. It’s been enough time now that I can admit, it was a pretty fun adventure.