Our Most Fantabulous Night Out

We had some fun fortune cookies this week. James' read, "Romance and travel go together now." Mine said, "A much needed vacation will bring a great deal of enjoyment." Ha. Yeah, right. Us? Go on vacation with a little one to take care? Not happening!

With a little one, we don't go on date nights very often. Hardly at all, in fact. So, we were pretty excited when Gramma K (James' mom) surprised us with tickets to The Phantom of the Opera for James' birthday. She also offered to take Ian for the night! As much as we love our little guy, we were thrilled with the idea of getting an uninterrupted night's sleep. We decided to stay overnight at The Joule, a hotel near the Music Hall where Phantom is currently playing.

Ian helped us pack!

Driving downtown Dallas, headed to the hotel.

Big cool gear in front of the check-in desk. The Joule is actually named after the unit of electricity and has a decidedly eclectic engineery-artsy feel to the place. Perfect for us!

We met up with Gramma K at the hotel to hand off the baby and they both came upstairs to check out the room with us. Our room had a very cool circular bed!

A few last minutes with our little dude.

The rooftop heated pool area - one of my all time fav features of this place! There is a foosball table up there too!

The pool actually extends off the edge of the rooftop and has a clear edge so you can see right over the ten stories it sits on top of.

Little shower area up by the pool - cool tile people.

Family photo by the edge of the pool.

Another shot!

Giving the baby kisses. It was our first time to leave him overnight, so we had to stock up!

Doesn't he look so sad to be without Mommy and Daddy for the night? Must be because going to Gramma K's house is so fun!

Kisses for Daddy too.

James and I headed back up to our room for a little r&r before getting dressed for the show. We noticed engineering type drawings on the door number. Cool, huh? (I know, I know - we're nerds!)

View from the bed towards the bath area.

And back the other way. The sink and counter were really cool.

The WC (i.e. toilet).

Going in. (Disclaimer: I don't usually take pix of hotel toilets - they just aren't that interesting. However, I thought this was kind of cool.)

Not only does it have a cool blue magazine rack, but the black panel on the wall on the right controls the lights. Off, low, med, or high are your choices. Totally what every bathroom needs!

The shower right across the way with rain head and massaging shower head. I had never tried a rain shower before. Let me tell you, total bliss! I honestly didn't think I would like it, but now I want my own!

Back to the cool bed - isn't this awesome? The two squiggly things at the headboard are reading lights.

Haha - being an upscale boutique hotel, we shouldn't have been too shocked at the price list for the in room snacks. But $8 for M&M's? Seriously! (Tip: click on pix to make larger and to see the rest of the prices.)

Sparkling grape juice provides some great r&r!

All dressed up for the show.

Looking at the pretty flowers.

I'm actually touching the door to the nightclub entrance. It's disguised to look like the outside of the hotel. Pretty cool, huh?

The Joule provides complimentary car service within a five mile radius. We opted to use it instead of trying to get parking at the Music Hall. Here's my handsome hubby in the car on the way to the show.

The beautiful light fixture inside the dining room at Music Hall.

We actually first saw it from the outside as we were walking in - it is gorgeous!

We decided to go ahead and have dinner at the buffet there before the show. The food is catered to each show. We really enjoyed the variety they offered too, especially at the dessert bar - ha!

After the show waiting for our driver to come pick us up.

A nice couple walked by and saw us taking a pix of ourselves and offered to take one for us.

Back at The Joule in front of our ride.

When we got back up to our room, we realized they had come by to provide their nightly turn down service. The robes were hung by the shower ready to go.

And the covers were turned down on the bed, dark chocolates placed on each side, and a little caddy with the TV remote and breakfast ordering sheet had been placed in the middle of the bed.

James relaxing...I just thought he looked so cute, I couldn't resist taking a picture!

We had a FANTASTIC time! It's hard to come home after being so pampered! Thanks again Gramma K for making it all happen!