Valentine's day, with photos
The following will be an account of our general observance of Valentine's Day, along with information about crafty stuff I did.
February 14 happens to be a special day for us, independent of it being Valentine's Day, but the holiday gives us an additional reason to celebrate on it, so we like to do that. Kevin had to work swing shift, so going out or doing anything big and involved wasn't really feasible. Instead I made a light, late dinner for us at home:
--Salad of romaine and herb lettuces, with cucumber, d'Anjou pear, dried cranberries, and blue cheese, dressed with an herb vinaigrette
--Small pastries of sauteed mushrooms with garlic and white wine in phylo
--Escargot brioche for Kevin
Kevin had a dirty martini with dinner, while I had sparkling juice.
For dessert, I made heart-shaped mocha cookies drizzled with coffee icing, served with raspberries and blackberries, some truffles we picked out at Fran's, and a rich chocolate-y, cherry-ish port with an unexpectedly spicy finish. The cookies were really good, much better than the plain-chocolate ones I made last year, and that was even with the fact that I screwed up my original idea for decorating them (I wanted to drizzle them with melted chocolate; I am not skilled enough yet to work in actual chocolate, as opposed to cocoa powder) and had to improvise a recipe for the coffee icing.
Kevin gave me a dozen red roses (presented on Monday night, as he didn't want to risk not being able to get them on Tuesday), a lovely card, and a blue Le Creuset omelet pan. And yes, a pan is indeed romantic when just a few days earlier one was bemoaning the fact that one despaired of ever being able to afford the Le Creuset one wants.
I gave him a bouquet of mixed dark pink and lavender flowers, the port, the cookies, and several cards throughout the day.
Here's our Valentine-dinner table:
I took advantage of the holiday to experiment with my thoughts about making embellished cards. Everything was made with things I already had on hand. They weren't all exactly as I envisioned them (in part because I didn't have all the right tools for what I was trying), but on the whole I like the results.
The first card is on silver postcard stock, decorated with metallic silver ribbon, black satin ribbon with a woven heart pattern, a black lace heart, and black ribbon roses. I did this one as a postcard so I could stash it in one of his BDU pockets for him to find after he got dressed.
The second card is on glossy white card stock, pre-folded, with a paper doily heart colored with watercolor marker, black bugle beads, and two Gorey stickers, trimmed out of larger white-background rectangles and placed so that they appear to be arm in arm. This is the gothy-goth card.
The third card is on pre-folded iridescent lavender card stock, with interlaced hearts made of red and purple satin ribbon and sprinklings of red and purple confetti hearts. The envelope for this one is the same iridescent lavender and is also decorated with confetti hearts. I'm least happy with this one, I had trouble getting the ribbon to behave as I wanted and I really needed spray adhesive for the confetti (I used glue stick instead), but I still like the overall concept and attempt.
(Apologies for the quality of a couple of the photos. I really need a better camera. Photos can be clicked on for larger versions.)
There was also a "kiss" stashed in his briefcase (on a paper doily heart) and a card I bought, presented when we went to bed.
It was a lovely day. I'm very, very happy to be able to observe Valentine's Day with my husband.
February 14 happens to be a special day for us, independent of it being Valentine's Day, but the holiday gives us an additional reason to celebrate on it, so we like to do that. Kevin had to work swing shift, so going out or doing anything big and involved wasn't really feasible. Instead I made a light, late dinner for us at home:
--Salad of romaine and herb lettuces, with cucumber, d'Anjou pear, dried cranberries, and blue cheese, dressed with an herb vinaigrette
--Small pastries of sauteed mushrooms with garlic and white wine in phylo
--Escargot brioche for Kevin
Kevin had a dirty martini with dinner, while I had sparkling juice.
For dessert, I made heart-shaped mocha cookies drizzled with coffee icing, served with raspberries and blackberries, some truffles we picked out at Fran's, and a rich chocolate-y, cherry-ish port with an unexpectedly spicy finish. The cookies were really good, much better than the plain-chocolate ones I made last year, and that was even with the fact that I screwed up my original idea for decorating them (I wanted to drizzle them with melted chocolate; I am not skilled enough yet to work in actual chocolate, as opposed to cocoa powder) and had to improvise a recipe for the coffee icing.
Kevin gave me a dozen red roses (presented on Monday night, as he didn't want to risk not being able to get them on Tuesday), a lovely card, and a blue Le Creuset omelet pan. And yes, a pan is indeed romantic when just a few days earlier one was bemoaning the fact that one despaired of ever being able to afford the Le Creuset one wants.
I gave him a bouquet of mixed dark pink and lavender flowers, the port, the cookies, and several cards throughout the day.
Here's our Valentine-dinner table:
I took advantage of the holiday to experiment with my thoughts about making embellished cards. Everything was made with things I already had on hand. They weren't all exactly as I envisioned them (in part because I didn't have all the right tools for what I was trying), but on the whole I like the results.
The first card is on silver postcard stock, decorated with metallic silver ribbon, black satin ribbon with a woven heart pattern, a black lace heart, and black ribbon roses. I did this one as a postcard so I could stash it in one of his BDU pockets for him to find after he got dressed.
The second card is on glossy white card stock, pre-folded, with a paper doily heart colored with watercolor marker, black bugle beads, and two Gorey stickers, trimmed out of larger white-background rectangles and placed so that they appear to be arm in arm. This is the gothy-goth card.
The third card is on pre-folded iridescent lavender card stock, with interlaced hearts made of red and purple satin ribbon and sprinklings of red and purple confetti hearts. The envelope for this one is the same iridescent lavender and is also decorated with confetti hearts. I'm least happy with this one, I had trouble getting the ribbon to behave as I wanted and I really needed spray adhesive for the confetti (I used glue stick instead), but I still like the overall concept and attempt.
(Apologies for the quality of a couple of the photos. I really need a better camera. Photos can be clicked on for larger versions.)
There was also a "kiss" stashed in his briefcase (on a paper doily heart) and a card I bought, presented when we went to bed.
It was a lovely day. I'm very, very happy to be able to observe Valentine's Day with my husband.