V Day, Me Day, Love Others and Treat Yoself Day 2014
Valentine's Day didn't turn out exactly as I'd planned this year, but it was fantastic. And with it falling on a Friday and President's day the following Monday, it was a four day love-fest. Longtime friends know I use the 14th to celebrate my affection for many of the awesome people in my life, not just my SO, and I also use it as a day to show love to myself. I sent some galentine's day cookies out to some of my most fabulous long distance friends and made gift bags for the entire Crisis Team at work. The two single ladies on my team, Shana and Alyse, got something special:
I left all these presents on my coworkers' desks the night before. I felt like some strange Santa/cupid hybrid. I also stopped by Dunkin's after my last client and picked up muffins, doughnuts, juice, and iced coffee for Carey and I. I made a big gift basket for Carey and it was waiting for him on the kitchen table when he woke up.
The plan for Valentine's day itself was not to go out after work. We generally think that going out on VDay is a racket. Carey's fabulous idea was to make fondue in the mini crock pots that my sister got us for Christmas a couple of years ago, get a Red Box movie and have a living room picnic. We were supposed to go grocery shopping together after work for all the ingredients, but he surprised me by picking me up and bringing me straight home, where daisies waited and the ingredients were purchased and ready to melt (as was I). Carey's best present was to insist I lay on the couch like a beached whale while he prepared the feast: appetizers of assorted olives, marinated mozzarella balls, cheese curds, and fresh fruit; cheese fondue with homemade french bread, cherry tomatoes, apple slices, and steak bites; dessert of dark chocolate fondue with strawberries and marshmallows.
The next day my friend AnnMarie came to drop off her dog for sitting while she and her wife went on their honeymoon cruise (another opportunity to spread the love). Later in the afternoon, I had a prenatal massage scheduled, and I booked Carey for one right after. It was the perfect indulgence/ health benefit, and this guy is an amazing reflexologist and super cheap ($70 for both of us to have an hour each). When we got home, I showed Greta a little love and gave her a bath:
Our puppy-sat dog, Asher, looked on eagerly and I almost gave him a bath too, he looked so excited. Just looked at this Valentine's posse:
On Sunday, Carey and I splurged on nose-bleed tickets to The Illinois Philharmonic's performance of Osvaldo Golijov's Sidereus, Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto, and Tchaikovsky's “Pathetique” Symphony No. 6. The performances were WONDERFUL, and it was so great to take Carey to the Rialto, which is one of the pretty theaters ever:
On Monday, we did the most romantic thing yet: We ordered a pizza and did our taxes. You might remember that we got royally screwed last year, as we went up a tax bracket and cashed a bunch of savings bonds in order to buy the Honda. We paid Carey's accountant $325 to do our taxes and then owed the government $400. This year I was determined that if we were going to owe taxes, at least we wouldn't pay an arm and a leg to find out. We did Turbo Tax Deluxe, and paid the extra money to automatically e-file our state return. The whole process took about 2 hours, and we owed the state $60, got back $100 federally, and paid $50 for the service. The big game-changer this year was that Carey is in school, so we got a decent tax credit for that. After the car accident (still haven't gotten the car fixed yet), it was quite a relief to break even. A refund would've been great, but oh well.
The weekend was just lovely. Reading this back now, I realize that the sum was much greater than the parts. I was able to be still, be appreciative, love and be loved. Wrap this all in a little indulgence, and I already can't wait for next year.
I left all these presents on my coworkers' desks the night before. I felt like some strange Santa/cupid hybrid. I also stopped by Dunkin's after my last client and picked up muffins, doughnuts, juice, and iced coffee for Carey and I. I made a big gift basket for Carey and it was waiting for him on the kitchen table when he woke up.
The plan for Valentine's day itself was not to go out after work. We generally think that going out on VDay is a racket. Carey's fabulous idea was to make fondue in the mini crock pots that my sister got us for Christmas a couple of years ago, get a Red Box movie and have a living room picnic. We were supposed to go grocery shopping together after work for all the ingredients, but he surprised me by picking me up and bringing me straight home, where daisies waited and the ingredients were purchased and ready to melt (as was I). Carey's best present was to insist I lay on the couch like a beached whale while he prepared the feast: appetizers of assorted olives, marinated mozzarella balls, cheese curds, and fresh fruit; cheese fondue with homemade french bread, cherry tomatoes, apple slices, and steak bites; dessert of dark chocolate fondue with strawberries and marshmallows.
The next day my friend AnnMarie came to drop off her dog for sitting while she and her wife went on their honeymoon cruise (another opportunity to spread the love). Later in the afternoon, I had a prenatal massage scheduled, and I booked Carey for one right after. It was the perfect indulgence/ health benefit, and this guy is an amazing reflexologist and super cheap ($70 for both of us to have an hour each). When we got home, I showed Greta a little love and gave her a bath:
Our puppy-sat dog, Asher, looked on eagerly and I almost gave him a bath too, he looked so excited. Just looked at this Valentine's posse:
On Sunday, Carey and I splurged on nose-bleed tickets to The Illinois Philharmonic's performance of Osvaldo Golijov's Sidereus, Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto, and Tchaikovsky's “Pathetique” Symphony No. 6. The performances were WONDERFUL, and it was so great to take Carey to the Rialto, which is one of the pretty theaters ever:
On Monday, we did the most romantic thing yet: We ordered a pizza and did our taxes. You might remember that we got royally screwed last year, as we went up a tax bracket and cashed a bunch of savings bonds in order to buy the Honda. We paid Carey's accountant $325 to do our taxes and then owed the government $400. This year I was determined that if we were going to owe taxes, at least we wouldn't pay an arm and a leg to find out. We did Turbo Tax Deluxe, and paid the extra money to automatically e-file our state return. The whole process took about 2 hours, and we owed the state $60, got back $100 federally, and paid $50 for the service. The big game-changer this year was that Carey is in school, so we got a decent tax credit for that. After the car accident (still haven't gotten the car fixed yet), it was quite a relief to break even. A refund would've been great, but oh well.
The weekend was just lovely. Reading this back now, I realize that the sum was much greater than the parts. I was able to be still, be appreciative, love and be loved. Wrap this all in a little indulgence, and I already can't wait for next year.