My wife and I haven't been on a "real" vacation in years. Last time I can think of that we actually took a trip just for fun was when we drove from Oklahoma to Paducah, Kentucky so our son could play with his little girlfriend and we could spend some time with her parents, who are friends of ours. This was in May of 2009.
The rest of my "vacation" time has primarily been spent since then visiting my parents in Poteau and grandparents in Eufaula on the lake (my parents had a little boat there).
So... since we've been together (about 11 1/2 years now), my wife and I have dreamed of going together to see Andrea Bocelli in concert. For those who don't know, he's a phenomenal blind Italian opera singer. He is in the class of Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo, better in my opinion.
Anyways, I just booked a trip to Fort Lauderdale for the Valentine's weekend, where he is performing on Valentine's Day for a single night. Nice hotel (the Westin), coupla days of just chillin', and The Boy is staying with my parents in Poteau.
So my thought is to not mention it at all until I tell her to pack a bag for the weekend and throw in some bathing suits.
I won't tell her where we're going until we check in for our flight (or better yet, when we make our connection in Memphis!). Then I won't tell her about the concert until the day of, or if she sees a billboard or something in FLL.
I did this once years ago when we flew to NYC for a revival of Toni Braxton playing the lead role in Aida, her favorite Broadway show... she didn't know why we were going or what we were doing until she saw the marquee on Broadway and saw Toni Braxton's name on the sign, at which point I produced the tickets... needless to say, she was stone-cold FLOORED. It was even better when I arranged for us to go backstage after the show and actually got to meet Toni Braxton for a few moments (she's a wonderful lady, BTW!).
I've been living off those brownie points now for more than 7 years!
So... does this sound like a good plan? She knows something is up, and probably knows it has to do with Valentine's Day, since I've forbidden her to look at my bank account for the time being. I have a separate "Toy Account" I use for my play money.
I'm particularly interested in hearing from some of the women on the forum, but all opinions are obviously welcome. I am trying to keep the spontaneity, romance and surprise alive, and she really deserves it all for putting up with me for so long. And she almost never spends any money on herself, either.
It's win/win for me... I get to do something I have wanted for a long time, PLUS, I get to see the look of surprise on her face and reap the 'benefits' all weekend and for years to come.
Is it unreasonable to keep it a surprise for that long? Should I spill the beans earlier to let her anticipate more? Or should I just drive her crazy with mystery and secrecy????
Let's hear some opinions!
<edit> I'm not bragging here, either, this is something I've worked hard for the last few months and have had only 1 weekend off since September, so I've busted my hump to manage to pull this off. Plus maybe some of the guys here will be inspired to do something spontaneous for their lady (see my Overmarried? thread to see why)... we're all here to help and inspire each other, right???
The rest of my "vacation" time has primarily been spent since then visiting my parents in Poteau and grandparents in Eufaula on the lake (my parents had a little boat there).
So... since we've been together (about 11 1/2 years now), my wife and I have dreamed of going together to see Andrea Bocelli in concert. For those who don't know, he's a phenomenal blind Italian opera singer. He is in the class of Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo, better in my opinion.
Anyways, I just booked a trip to Fort Lauderdale for the Valentine's weekend, where he is performing on Valentine's Day for a single night. Nice hotel (the Westin), coupla days of just chillin', and The Boy is staying with my parents in Poteau.
So my thought is to not mention it at all until I tell her to pack a bag for the weekend and throw in some bathing suits.
I won't tell her where we're going until we check in for our flight (or better yet, when we make our connection in Memphis!). Then I won't tell her about the concert until the day of, or if she sees a billboard or something in FLL.I did this once years ago when we flew to NYC for a revival of Toni Braxton playing the lead role in Aida, her favorite Broadway show... she didn't know why we were going or what we were doing until she saw the marquee on Broadway and saw Toni Braxton's name on the sign, at which point I produced the tickets... needless to say, she was stone-cold FLOORED. It was even better when I arranged for us to go backstage after the show and actually got to meet Toni Braxton for a few moments (she's a wonderful lady, BTW!).
I've been living off those brownie points now for more than 7 years!
So... does this sound like a good plan? She knows something is up, and probably knows it has to do with Valentine's Day, since I've forbidden her to look at my bank account for the time being. I have a separate "Toy Account" I use for my play money.
I'm particularly interested in hearing from some of the women on the forum, but all opinions are obviously welcome. I am trying to keep the spontaneity, romance and surprise alive, and she really deserves it all for putting up with me for so long. And she almost never spends any money on herself, either.
It's win/win for me... I get to do something I have wanted for a long time, PLUS, I get to see the look of surprise on her face and reap the 'benefits' all weekend and for years to come.
Is it unreasonable to keep it a surprise for that long? Should I spill the beans earlier to let her anticipate more? Or should I just drive her crazy with mystery and secrecy????
Let's hear some opinions!
<edit> I'm not bragging here, either, this is something I've worked hard for the last few months and have had only 1 weekend off since September, so I've busted my hump to manage to pull this off. Plus maybe some of the guys here will be inspired to do something spontaneous for their lady (see my Overmarried? thread to see why)... we're all here to help and inspire each other, right???
