Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day this year was a blast. A favorite of mine so far, for sure. I know, I know, I'm still playing catch up here! Don't judge me. :) 

Dave and I have decided that we will take turns each year planning Valentine's Day and our anniversary, so that we don't get overloaded and idea-drained. So, it was Dave's turn to plan Valentine's Day and he did a fantastic job! 

Valentine's Day was on a Saturday this year, which was fun. Saturdays are my favorite day of the week because Dave is off of work and we get to spend a lot of time together. My favorite!!  Dave had a long church meeting that morning, but as soon as he was finished, we got to hang out for the rest of the day together. Which was awesome. We played with Lydia, went to the park, watched an episode of Sherlock while she took a nap, and just spent the day together. 

Later that evening, Dave told me that he was ready to start our celebration that he had planned. The celebration started off with him sending me upstairs to take a relaxing bubble bath, while he watched Lydia and was up to some other secret plans. My bubble bath was AWESOME! We have this great Jacuzzi-style bathtub in our bathroom, but I hardly ever use it. He had everything all set out for me - my BBC piano soundtracks playing quietly in the bathroom and 4 little chocolates on the side of the tub. He had made a pillow out of some towels that I could rest my head on. He is the cutest ever. For real. 

After my bubble bath, I started walking downstairs and I smelled some delicious dinner cooking. I came down from our landing and I saw a vintage Venice travel poster hanging on the wall in front of me. I heard Rick Steves' travel show in the background talking about his travels in Venice. I was still trying to put everything together when I see my cute little Lydia running around the corner with a Valentine's Day card in her hand dressed as a Venetian gondolier!! It was seriously the cutest thing ever. She was darling, and was so excited to run and give me my card. I wish that I would have got that moment on video so I could watch it over and over, but I got a pretty good mental picture in my mind. 

I came around the corner to see this set up...

...and Dave pulling a hot dish out of the oven. He then told me that we were in Venice (he has always loved a good theme, you know.) He explained to me that he wanted to re-create our Venice day from our Italy trip because that was the day that I was so cold and miserable. (Read about that bad day here if you are so inclined.) So he had created the Venetian atmosphere in our home! Which explained Rick Steves on the TV, the Venice poster, the Venetian gondolier, and the pictures of us in Venice that were hanging all over the kitchen. And the chicken parmigiana that Dave had just pulled out of the oven. See? I told you it was good.   

My favorite thing of this picture is that there is this delicious dinner that Dave has prepared and look what is on Lydia's plate. Blueberries. And that's it. She is our little fruititarian. 

Dinner was DELICIOUS, and we enjoyed every bite of it. He made some rotini noodles to go on the side, as well as an Italian style salad and Italian herb bread. He turned on some Michael Buble as background music since that was playing at the restaurant we ate at in Venice and it calmed me down a bit while we were there. This is why he was such a good marketer. He always gets all into themes and holidays and celebrations. I love that about him. 

After dinner, we opened presents and Lydia was happy to help us. I gave Dave a movie, a book, and a new sweatshirt. He gave me a new game, and some children's books I had been dying to have.

I just couldn't get over her outfit. I just kept telling Dave the whole evening how perfect it was when she came running around the corner all dressed up. It was like from a movie. 

Soon after presents, the Venetian gondolier started to get tired and cranky. So, we gave her a quick bath, put her to bed and then KEPT ON PARTYING! 

Hahahaha

We had chocolate fondue for dessert and dipped cinnamon bears, rice krispie treats, strawberries, marshmallows, animal crackers, and oreos. It was WAY yummy. Then we watched Kate & Leopold  and finally called it a night. Because - as fun as it is to stay up late, the Venetian gondolier wakes up bright and early every morning and it is much easier to wake up with her if we have a good night's sleep behind us.

I just love him.

 I'm just so glad that Dave is my forever Valentine. If I could choose again, I would choose him every single time. For sure. He is truly my best friend and the best man I know. I am grateful every day for him. Valentine's Day was a total success. Now I'm nervous that I have to plan the anniversary!! He set the bar pretty high, so hopefully I can keep up. Wish me luck!!