My parent’s 50th wedding anniversary was last week so my sister and I decided to take them to dinner (along with our own spouses) for a nice steak dinner at Al Biernat’s Steakhouse in Dallas last weekend.  If you’re ever in Dallas, I highly recommend Al Biernat’s – it’s actually one of my favorite steakhouses in the city (my mom picked it b/c she had never eaten there before). They have the best filet mignon in Dallas and their sides, especially their homemade mac-n-cheese, are perfection.

Hard to believe that my parents have been married for 50 years!  They have traveled a ton over the course of their marriage and they continue to travel.  In fact, they are leaving next month on a 2 week river cruise in Europe.  My dad actually worked for Mary Kay Cosmetics as an executive for 25 years and he traveled all over the world for his job.

I always remember how excited I would get when he came back (and sometimes my mom went with him on his business trips) because they always brought back the coolest stuff. I was chomping at the bit to see what was in their suitcases.  I remember getting princess-like dolls representing King Henry VIII’s wives when they went to England, gaucho lassos from Argentina, a real boomerang and a kangaroo pelt from Australia, golden medallions blessed by monks from Thailand and wooden clogs from Holland, just to name a few.  I think it was all those unusual and foreign objects that made me so curious about the world and spurred my love of travel. That and my mom’s pictures.

My mom’s side of the family owned a photography studio when we were growing up and my mom has always taken a ridiculous amount of pictures.  She still has massive containers of old photos at her house.  I loved flipping through her photography albums and seeing her pictures from their trips (remember when you had to drop off film and pick it up a week later?  If not, you’re younger than me).  I also love taking photos though I don’t take quite as many pictures as I used to and, frankly, I am due for a new camera.  I love my digital SLR (Canon Rebel) but it’s already 10 years old and pretty bulky compared to the newer models. I like to travel light so I think that’s a good excuse for a new camera.

At any rate, we had a great family dinner and I think my parents enjoyed the gifts that my sister and I picked out for them – two sets of Baccarat crystal glasses, a set of low ball glasses for my dad’s scotch and two cut crystal wine goblets for my mom’s wine, along with a nice bottle of wine.  That way they can toast each other in their own preferred way.

Happy anniversary, mom and dad!