Hello, friends! It's almost Valentine's Day! I've always loved this holiday. What's not to love about pretty flowers, sweet things, yummy food, and chocolate! We always stay in on Valentine's Day and make dinner at home. I'm making lasagna along with a Caesar salad this year, as I have for the past several years, and something chocolate, of course. I likely make a chocolate cake! Do you have plans for Valentine's Day? If so, please share what you might be doing.
Recent glimmers from the past few weeks...
Freshly painted nails! I treated myself to a manicure last Friday, and I'm so glad I did. I haven't had a manicure in way too long. It was so relaxing, and I have to say I feel really put together when my nails are done. I'll be doing this much more often.
I also treated myself to a sweet treat and a cappuccino after my manicure!
The cutest Valentine note cards and stickers from Emily Lex Studio.
A sweet bunch of daffodils from Trader Joe's! Seriously, the best $3.95 I've spent in a very long time! They continued to bloom and bring me joy for several weeks. Just to say, January was a very blah month for me. Early February, too, if I'm being honest. The weather was very cold and gray, along with some snow and ice. Years ago, I didn't mind winter so much, but now, at fifty years old, I'm definitely not a fan. I'm a true summer girl now! Who would have thought?! I keep reminding myself that spring is getting closer each day.
I made two baked ziti recipes lately. The first one was Baked Ziti with Meatballs from Smitten Kitchen, and it was delicious. The second one (which I forgot to photograph after baking) was also from Smitten Kitchen. I've been making this Old-School Baked Ziti recipe for years. It's one of our favorites.
Freshly chopped veggies for oven-baked beef stew.
Little Rosie was not a fan of the snow, and neither was I!
And a cute watercolor painting I've been working on, also from Emily Lex Studio. I still need to finish the flowers, but it's coming along nicely. Something I'm trying to do more of this year since it's such a relaxing hobby.
The sun is shining today, it's supposed to be 65 degrees, a taste of spring, and you better believe I'm going to take full advantage of it and go for a walk this afternoon! Have a great week, dear friends! 🩷
We have a tradition that Dave and I do every Valentine's Day. And yes we did this even when the girls were with us (I have a 27 yr old and a 32 yr old daughter who now have their own apts for the last 5 years or more). Our tradition began our first Valentine's as a married couple (1991). We had a small black and white tv that got ONE channel. we didn't have cable (nor do we now as we only had it when our oldest was age 14-18 and we discovered NO one was really using it...we do pay for several streaming services). We had NO dvd player/video player but we did have an awesome stereo system. We decided, since we were both still paying off college loans (my grad school was free as I won a fellowship but i still had undergrad loans to pay back) so we bought McDonalds food (YUCK...yes we used to eat fast food!!) and rented a movie Casablanca as it's SO romantic and then bought our selves a new TV and DVD/video system. All for about $500. And each year, we either get take out Indian food or Thai food or I cook something yummy (this year it's going to be stuffed shells with beyond meat (Plant based) and a huget tossed salad and a chocolate nut pastry thing I make. We don't buy each other chocolates any more for V day as dave needs to watch his weight and sugar levels. He is pre-diabetic and overweight this winter due to lack of exercise and eating too many Xmas sweets. We will watch Casablanca curled up on the couch with our dinner and a glass of wine. Dessert will be a bit later when we watch the figure skating on the Olympics that i THINK will be happening Saturday evening. I have to double check the schedule. :) anyways, take out or dinner and the movie. Every.single.year. you can never get tired of Casablanca plus one of us usually spies something different in the movie every year!!
ReplyDeletePainted nails, a heart wreath, a heart cup, Valentine stickers, and a wonderful meal. You are into the Valentine spirit. It's a favorite holiday of mine as well, Julia. I'm wondering where you got that cute Valentine wreath? It's so simple and sweet. Your watercolor painting is delightful, and it should be framed. I love winter up here in the mountains, and I'm not quite ready for Spring yet. Your photos always make my heart sing, Julia. Happy Valentine's Day! This was such a dear Valentine post. I loved every bit of it. : )
ReplyDeleteI love your Valentine wreath, that's so pretty. I'm not a fan of winter, or snow, either, I'm counting down the days to spring and like you, I'm bringing a little sunshine into the house in the form of sunny daffodils until the better weather arrives. They really cheer up any dull day and make me smile. We don't do anything for Valentine's Day really, sometimes we'll get each other cards but it isn't something we do every year. Your watercolour is pretty, it's nice to dabble with a few different hobbies, it keeps things interesting.
ReplyDeleteHello my Friend! You do Valentines right! I love those stickers and I've been so into Emily Lex studio too - painting from her books and I have stationary cards I've painted. All of the food you're posting looks so good!! Matt & I are going to snuggle in this weekend for 💗 Day. I'm going to make him buttery steak bites and some fun sides. I plan to make some chocolate fondue with fun dippers for dessert. We will exchange little gifts and probably snuggle up and watch a fun movie. Blessings on the rest of your week! xoxo
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see a new post up from you, Julia! Your food pictures are gorgeous...and I am quite sure they were delicious. Happy Valentine's Day to you and your sweet family, my friend. xx
ReplyDeleteHello Julia! Such a lovely post: a beautiful wreath, coffee and treats, flowers, stickers and cards, watercolor painting, delicious food... All things that make life happier.
ReplyDeleteI'm the caregiver of my mother that has multiple chronic conditions so our Valentine's Day celebration was just a family lunch (and roses and chocolates between me and my husband).
65 degrees and sunshine sounds wonderful. We'll have such temperatures typically in April or May. :)
Happy Sunday!
Hej och tack för dina fina ord inne hos mig! Vilken gullig hund ni har! Och du målar också, det gör jag med ibland, dock alldeles för sällan, det är ju väldigt avkopplande!
ReplyDeleteHa det så gott!
Gunilla
We had a quiet day yesterday and enjoyed making heart shaped shortbread. D enjoyed making words with her letter stampers. Lasagne is one of our favourite meals but we had homemade chicken pie instead for our meal. It had sausage, chicken, bacon and stuffing along with a variety of veggies. We are finishing it today.
ReplyDeleteRosie is so cute and I can understand why she doesn't like the snow, especially when it gets between her paws.
I love your water colour painting with the jug of flowers- so cheery.
Have a good week and I hope the rest of the snow melts quickly especially for Rosie.
I loved these glimmers of your week. Hope you enjoyed your valentines...and lasagna sounds like a wonderful way to enjoy your evening in! I'm sure it was yummy! Here's to a nice week ahead!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos. ❤️
ReplyDeleteI missed this one. love the red hearts! And the painting and pup. Lots of good eats too. Yum. I wish we had a Trader Joe's close by. What a deal. For Valentine's Tim and I went to Burnes after the craft store then home for homemade pizza. Hard to believe how long ago that was. Month is flying by.
ReplyDelete