I am not a lover of Valentine's Day.
I said it, I meant it, the end.
It isn't anything Valentine's Day ever did to me. I was never jilted on Valentine's Day, I don't hold a grudge against holidays named for Saints, and I certainly don't have any problem with free chocolates.
It always seemed to me a pointless day. Children get gifts for it, husbands get stressed for it, and women are left plumper from it.
And all this because we are supposed to be communicating something that we should be expressing to our loved ones with every possible passing moment of every single day of our lives.
This year, around the first week of February, when Christmas had finally ended in my home, I saw the displays of pinks and red interspersed with delicious varieties of chocolates and the words 'I Love You'. Some sort of not human emotion overcame me and I was burdened with the desire to have a real Valentine's Day.
Translation: I was going to get excited to celebrate it.
I let hubby in on this little decision of mine and naturally he delivered with class.
Like I said, I've never been jilted on Valentine's Day.
Valentine's Day Eve I spent home sick. That said, it was a nice pick me up to receive this early surprise of flowers.
Not to be misquoted from one of my beginning posts, I will remind you that flowers usually aren't the best way to my heart. I am sadly prone to kill the beauties by mere neglect, yet, I do still fancy being sent flowers.
These were simply gorgeous.
I had an inkling that Valentine's Day would bring about more treats, and I was right. Sherrie's Berries delivered a dozen gourmet chocolate covered strawberries to my door.
I think this summer I'm going to get creative with strawberries and chocolate.
Thank you Sherrie's Berries.
Thank you hubby.
Sorry thighs.
At this point, hubby had done so much to make my Valentine's as traditional yet also spectacular as possible. He also was bringing home dinner. I decided the best way I could contribute, and also get the whole excitement about Valentine's Day out of my system, was to make our dinner table look beautiful.
I pulled our unity candle out and as I was setting it up I had a wild idea.
I would use my china.
The china I've never used.
The china that sat stored away for five and half years of marriage, never seeing the light of day.
It was time. I had waited long enough for notables of royalty, political value, or mere fame to drop by for a formal dinner. It was time to use these settings on the one person who I want to share every meal with, ever.
Hubby.
Our very first Valentine's Day together, hubby made reservations at an Italian restaurant we both had been to before and enjoyed. Despite our reservations, we arrived and stood waiting to be seated for at least two hours.
We've never gone out on Valentine's Day since then.
Some years we went out to 'celebrate' on a day near Valentine's, others one cooked for the other, and this year hubby did what he did the first year we were married: 'To Go' ordering from LongHorn Steakhouse.
This is really the best option for those who don't want to cook and don't want to deal with the craziness of going to a restaurant on Valentine's Day.
Firecracker chicken wraps started our meal off. My favorite part is dipping them in the avocado lime sauce that I clearly didn't picture. It provides the perfect balance to the kick of spice in the wraps.
Since we're absolutely adorable as a couple, we split our meals so that we both could get the best of both worlds. Flo's filet is my usual go to, and chicken tenders are hubby's.
The chicken tenders really are the best around.
But I could never order chicken tenders over a delicious filet.
For dessert, I forgot to mention another little treat that had been delivered with my chocolate covered strawberries: mini cheesecakes!
They were the perfect end to a perfect Valentine's Day.
And I promise, hubby and I didn't eat all three that night.
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