Celebrating Doug's Birthday Palm Spring Style

My beloved husband added another year to his life on February 17th and we had the opportunity to enjoy a very fine celebration together.  Isn't it great when the gift you give to your spouse also benefits you?!  We took advantage of a wonderful hotel deal that Travel Zoo was running on the Hyatt Suites in downtown Palm Springs.  This is a beautiful hotel with a lovely terrace that offers stay awhile lounge chairs around a nice pool in a fantastic setting.  The view from our room was out to a golf course and included the surrounding hills and mountains.  The only advantage to the bad weather was that the surrounding mountains got a lot of snow and that added to the dramatic beauty of the desert.  The day we checked into the hotel was blustery and cold so instead of sitting by the pool we wandered around downtown and found a nice happy hour.  We enjoyed the traditional chips and salsa along with mini-corn dogs which were absolutely delicious.  
The second portion of the celebration included dinner at the what was easily THE BEST STEAK restaurant I've ever been to: Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Palm Desert.  We had cashed in some old credit card points and obtained a nice gift card so we enjoyed a fabulous meal on Citibank! I had mentioned Doug's birthday when I made a reservation and from the moment we arrived, every person on staff offered warm congratulations for a wonderful birthday.  They even made our table look a bit festive by throwing happy birthday confetti on the table!  In case you haven't figured this out, Doug and I are carnivores of the most voracious type so Doug ordered up a ribeye while I went with the filet.   These steaks were truly memorable!  Huge in size, cooked to perfection, every bite was a taste sensation worth savoring!  The evening ended with the restaurant offering Doug a birthday dessert, one of his favorites, Creme Brûlée.  The chocolate cheesecake that I had was so rich I could only take two bites!  Suffice to say, we were quite full when we walked out the door! 
Upon arriving back to the hotel, the staff there had sent up a tray of desserts in honor of Doug's birthday as well.  We put it in the refrigerator and nibbled on it the next morning!   The following day broke beautifully so we grabbed a coffee and headed out to the hot tub to enjoy the lovely morning sunshine.  The celebration of Doug had really just begun.