Past Valentines

Valentine's Day is a holiday I've always enjoyed. I love special occasions and fun silly holidays. Growing up, we'd always get a stuffed animal and a little heart-shaped box of chocolates with mystery fillings, which I now like more for the nostalgia than the actual taste (the orange ones are always a mistake). So while my expectation is that the day is acknowledged in some way, it's not necessary to go to a fancy restaurant and get expensive jewelry or to get chocolate (that reminds me - fun fact: I HATE chocolate covered fruit of any kind). 

So I thought it would be fun to take a look back at things we've done in the past. 

We'll start with the year before Carson, 2009 (Carson asked me out in March 2009, so I knew him but had zero idea that he was interested in me). Nick, Skyler, Molly, Erica and I went to Olive Garden for dinner (our other roommate Amanda was working and their roommates thought Valentine's Day was lame) and we girls exchanged gifts.  

We took pictures in this mirror every time we went to Olive Garden.

We also played a bit of a prank that year; we had a huge piece of plywood lying around our apartment, so we made it into a huge Valentine's card, waited until the guys who lived in the apartment above ours were gone (we'd stolen their key) and left it inside. 

 We drew Valentine's names like Secret Santa but we had a goofy name for it (Secret Cupid maybe?), and we got each other silly gifts. One of mine was a grow-your-own boyfriend from Molly that we put in water in a bucket where it sat for the entire semester. 

Oh yes, and we made a cupcake cake and sat down eating it with forks while watching a movie. This is why college was great. 

In 2010, we were engaged, but I was in South Carolina while Carson was in Washington.  Jillian got married that day, so I was preoccupied with enjoying her big day! Carson sent flowers to South Carolina but we didn't exchange gifts or go to dinner or anything that year.

2011 was the first year Carson and I did something for Valentine's Day. He planned the entire day. We went to breakfast at a diner, played indoor black-light miniature golf and went to a pottery painting place to make plates. He gave me a heart necklace with white sapphires and I gave him ??? I don't know. I'm not a really good gift giver but I'm guessing I did buy candy. That's the way to his heart.

In 2012, Erica, Molly and I got together and made fleece blankets as gifts for our husbands (at the time, Zack was Erica's boyfriend but now they're married so whatever). Carson worked all day so he set up a scavenger hunt with clues all over our apartment and each one had a small gift. When he got home, I gave him his blanket and then we had Jimmy Johns for dinner and went to see the movie "Dear John".

In 2013, Carson was going to be going to a conference on Valentine's Day, so we went to a pre-Valentine's dinner at Ruby Tuesday (with a coupon!) and then to dessert at The Cheesecake Factory. I can't remember what he gave me, but I gave Carson a picture I painted and something else I can't remember either.
(every time I see this picture of us, it confuses me because it looks like a baby announcement but of course it isn't)

On actual Valentine's Day, I took Carson to the airport (but made him take a picture first). Carson had flowers delivered to me and I went out that night with a coworker. 

In 2014, we decided to stay at home. If I remember correctly, I worked most of the day so it was the best option because I was hungry immediately. We cooked dinner while dressed up and Carson wore his tie with the most red in it. 

He gave me a grater and an apple corer, which I'd told him I'd been meaning to buy. It was incredibly thoughtful, if not romantic. I gave him candy and I can't remember what else. 

Our plan this year so far is to make a big breakfast. I'm not sure if that's what we'll do for dinner or for actual breakfast, but since we've yet to plan anything else and neither of us are worked up about the lack of plan, you can count on it being a low-key day.

Valentine's Day 2014

We've come to enjoy the tradition of celebrating Valentine's day early. Both last year and this year it was because Carson's schedule didn't allow for us to do anything on the day itself, but it's worked out well and might become a tradition. We celebrated the night before.

The day before we celebrated, I went to Carson's office after work to discuss our plans. We usually see each other for about 15 minutes a day (I wish that weren't true!) so we normally communicate plans through text or email, but this way was so much easier and we got to spend time together! After going through options (had to be indoor, didn't really care to go to the art museum or botanical gardens, did we want dessert out? [we were thinking milkshakes]) we decided that a simple dinner at home was the way to go this year. It's cheaper, less crowded, and you can talk without eavesdropping on neighboring tables (not that we would...). We came up with things to do at home (Carson wanted to write poems, but we didn't have time) so we wouldn't treat it like a normal night. 

We bought most of the food at Trader Joes this year and found some fun options.

We decided to each pick something to make just like a real restaurant.

(Carson picked steak and potatoes; I picked asparagus and Marsala pasta, and we had garlic bread. We also bought some frozen chocolate lava cakes but as I'm writing this we still haven't eaten them.)

We began with spinach artichoke dip, because between the time Carson picked me up from work and the time we had dinner were light years apart. We don't usually get appetizers at restaurants, so while we began dinner, we popped this in the microwave. It served to ease my stomach's rumblings, and it was nice to talk over the crunch of tortilla chips.

While I ate, Carson chopped up potatoes to boil and I tried to capture the moment without getting the clutter of the top of the microwave.

We didn't start anything else until the potatoes were boiled, but we made a Marsala sauce (Marsala wine was the reason for going to Trader Joes in the first place) and it rivaled the ones I've had at restaurants. We used this Food Network recipe.

When we had everything in the oven or just simmering on the stove, we quickly changed. We thought it would be fun to dress up, even if we weren't going anywhere. It felt more like a holiday and less like a random Thursday in sweatpants. 

This prompted a photoshoot. While the background is less than ideal (but does allude to the fact that we made dinner this year), this is my favorite photo.

Carson loves to make faces like this, ruining otherwise lovely pictures. I love it and hate it.

And a zoomed out one to show our footwear. I'm not sure why Carson rolled his pants up either, but you sure can't do that at a restaurant!

 Here's the Marsala pasta. I chose asparagus to go with this - we put it in while we were changing and forgot about it, so it was a little crispy. By the way, this sauce was excellent on the steak and probably would have been good with the potatoes but I didn't eat them because I was full.

I grabbed a bunch of candles for a candlelit dinner.

It was fun! We had a great discussion over dinner, which wasn't remotely romantic (we discussed the book of Revelation... haha!).

And then we decided to give each other gifts! Carson gave me a big piece of poster board with candy on it, using the names of the candy to fill in the blanks for a little message, earlier in the day.

I found this book for Carson at Barnes and Noble and thought it would be fun to do together. I also gave him black licorice and heart shaped Reeses.

And in addition to the candy message, I got a grater and an apple slicer.
Since we've been married, I've talked about how much I want an apple slicer. I don't know why, because they're pretty inexpensive and I could get one anytime, but every time I go to eat an apple, I wish it was sliced, and without the risk of slicing my hand. The grater? We had a really cheap one for a few years, but it rusted on the bottom and for some reason we kept it and it got rust stains everywhere. I'd finally had enough of rust stains on our kitchen towels and counters, so I threw it out in a fit of rage (I don't really remember my mood, but I'm guessing). So I bought another one which broke (it had a plastic handle). So these were perfect gifts.
Oh! He also bought a single pink rose. I forgot to take a picture of it though.

We settled in to watch a show after the gift excitement wore down. Carson asked if he could wear sweats and I told him he'd look better like this. I was very wrong (side note: he tied his tie like this on our first date and danced like a crazy person, no alcohol involved).

It was all in all a very successful Valentine's Day.

Four Years Since

We got engaged four years ago today. 

Last week, I had Jillian take our pictures at Old Sheldon Church, where we got engaged. It's funny comparing the four-years-ago us to the four-years-later us. 

I'm not as tan (I lived in South Carolina that summer and went to the beach all the time.), we're not really in the same shape anymore (I was running every day and Carson was a ranger in the Washington wilderness), our hair is longer, we don't look like little kids (or we look like older little kids), and most importantly,

now we're married. 

Can't believe it's been four WHOLE years since this day...

and can't believe it's only been four years.

What an adventure life has taken since then!

Maybe we'll take this picture in four more years and compare the difference :)

 

Lots of Love {Valentine's Day 2013}

Valentine's Day has always been near and dear to my heart. 

My dad would give me a stuffed animal and small box of chocolate every year (once he sent them to Spokane), and I always loved the fluff and cheesiness of the holiday.

I celebrated with roommates.

I celebrated by myself.

I just really liked having something to look forward to during months of winter gloom. 

I don't have a lot of Valentine's Day decor, but I do try to make things or put things up to decorate and make the house festive. 

Banner made by Mom/Carolina Ribbons. 

Paper flowers I made (so easy) and Target vase 

Heart dish from Dollar Tree // some of my favorite V-day candies


Two days before Valentine's Day (Carson went out of town on the day), we celebrated.

Earrings were a Valentine's gift from Carson two years ago 

Necklace from Juney Faye via Very Jane // Target clearance dress from four years ago // Lipstick Covergirl Lip Perfection in Burn (my new fav)

We had a mini photo shoot, and took a very cheesy picture - which makes it a GREAT picture.

For dinner, I had Tilapia and white cheddar mashed potatoes
Carson had Peppercorn Steak and Macaroni

We went to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert and we will be returning. So many options. I had the strawberry cheesecake and Carson had banana cream.

Then we exchanged gifts at home in front of the fireplace

On Valentine's Day itself, we didn't do a lot. Carson finished packing for his trip, while I slept in.
He made me breakfast in bed and while he was running to the store for bacon (oops), I snuck downstairs and made this for him to take. I saw the idea here and loved it. Hope he did too!

Aaaaand these went on his trip as well. I've seen the idea around the internet and probably couldn't find the original source if I tried, but it was really easy.
We had a random unopened deck of cards that my bridesmaids gave us for our honeymoon (sorry ladies) so I opened it, wrote something different on each card, punched a hole in the corner (my hand wanted to die) and couldn't find ribbon, so I tied it together with baker's twine.

I put the sandwich, a piece of candy, and the cards in this tupperware so that they wouldn't get squished on the plane. It all went into the suitcase where he hopefully found it and loved it!

Oh, and I wore this:

pink sweater: Forever21, striped shirt: H&M, jeans: Aeropostale, locket: Target (this was one of my gifts) 

And then we had to take a picture together.

After dropping Carson at the airport, I ran some errands and finished up by stopping by work. Not only did I get a tasty drink but some very kind coworkers had dropped off treats, so I snagged some too!

And this was waiting by the back door when I got home. (about that outlet... I KNOW.)

Carson had flowers delivered!

 All in all, a lovely day. It wasn't overly cheesy (though that was there too) but it was very sweet.

Happy Valentine's Day!