Ahhhhh . . . Love is in the Air

Did I mention yesterday how much I LOVE Valentine's Day?


I love the little Valentine's holder that my friend Brittany made for all of the kids in playgroup. Remember these from grade school? Our teachers always gave us these lunch bags to decorate, and we would tape them to the front of our desks. Then we would race like mad around the room, depositing our Valentine's in the bags. I think I had a crush on this boy David from 5th grade all the way to high school graduation, and I am sure that he got a rockin' Valentine from me every year!


I love getting everything ready to display for Chris and James. I am a big geek, I know. About ten minutes before Chris walked in the door last night, I got a gorgeous shipment of roses from Pro-Flowers. And for those wine afficianados out there, we got our Norman Vineyards wine club shipment yesterday, too! (UPS man, I LOVE you, too! What is better than getting a box from Pro-flowers and a box from Norman Vineyards at the same time??? Dude, you ROCK.)


I love getting vintage cards from my Mom. Lately we get one for Chris and I, one for James, and one from James to me! (Like the one on the right). Ok, so if you don't make handmade cards, Vintage is pretty awesome too!


Here is an artsy-fartsy close-up of one of the roses in the bouquet. Pretty!



Here is a pretty little bunch of strawberry-creme candies from my Mom. She gets them at this place around the corner from her antique store called the Bath Sweet Shoppe. They are to DIE FOR. Funny thing is, they were always my Mom's favorite candy, and I got them for her every Valentine's Day for years as a kid, and now they are my favorite, too!!! (Plus, how could I not love anything that comes from a store that spells "shop" like "shoppe"?) RIGHT??!!!


Here is my little James, showing off the special presents from his Grandma. She has been looking for just the right train conductor's hat for him, and she found it! She also sent him a train whistle and a red neck bandana which he flatly refuses to tolerate. (Must be bad memories from his farmer costume at Halloween.)


Here is a photo of the heart cake that I made for Chris. I will be dedicating a post just to the baking and construction of this cake at a later date. Let's just say that some tears may have fallen into the icing. (Oohh--now you just can't WAIT to read about it later, can you??)

Note to Gini--yes, that is the cookie plate that you gave me for Christmas a few years ago. Turns out I don't have a cake plate large enough to accommodate this 100-lb behometh of devlil's food chocolatey-goodness, (which I will be bringing over to your house today.) Your trainer called and said you weren't eating enough carbs and sugar.


Ahhh, and the last little bit of Valentine's fabulous-ness?? My brand-new, rockin' red Blackberry Pearl phone. Freakin' AWESOME!!! (It joins my red Brain-Age and my red Casio slim camera). What can I say? I have a penchant for red. THANKS BABE!!!

And here is a photo from our trip last year to Smith & Wollensky's, our favorite restaurant on the Strip. We are going there tonight for a combo Anniversary/Valentine's Day dinner. (It is tough having your anniversary on Christmas Eve, it kinda gets lost in all of the Holiday excitement, so we are making up for it tonight). We always get this crazy seafood tower appetizer thingy, some peppercorn-encrusted steaks and a bottle of wine from Martinelli Vineyards, our fave. Isn't the look on Chris' face priceless?

And no, folks, despite what it may look like, we are not rollin' in the dough. Despite the super great phone (I have not had a new phone in two years) and despite the Wine Club delivery (way cheaper as you get a bulk discount) and the fancy-schmancy dinner out, we do try to be scrupulous with our money. Hey, you gotta splurge once a year, right???

Here's hoping your Valentine's Day was just amazing and filled with love. Can't wait 'til next year!