It's a well-known fact that Valentine's day is a very commercialized holiday. And I'm taken with every bit of it, contrary to my husband.
Last year, before we got engaged, I was slightly heartbroken when Louis walked in and handed me a card and a box of chocolates and, apologizing, said, "It's just another day."
But he's got a point. He didn't want just one day to give him an excuse to do things he should always want to do, that I should always want to do. And I do anyway. I like getting him cards every so often just for the heck of things. One time I got him one that said "Do these pants make my ass look fat" with two guys talking and a donkey in the background wearing pants because I thought it was cheesy funny and that's what I do. Another time, before we got married, he was having a hard time with work (we're talking starting at 6 a.m. and not getting to his truck until 10:45 in the evening) and I left him a card under his pillow. The next time I saw him, he hugged me and said thank you for the card - it was just what he needed to see him through the project.
For this Valentine's day, since I'm not working, I didn't want to spend too much. As noted above, I love giving him cards. So I saw this adorable "wife to husband" card from Papyrus (LOVE them!) and had to splurge the extravagant $6.38. Then I started thinking of what else I should do for him. Since my steak fiasco, I wanted to make something really good, but really chic. We got a fondue pot for our wedding and was very excited to bring it out, so I thought, "Perfect!" I'd even make spritz cookies (which you'll see pictures of on here soon)
Looking through the recipe book the Cuisinart appliance came with, I knew I definitely didn't want to get involved with the seafood aspect of things, so I picked the only one that wasn't. Chicken with star anise broth. It looked pretty good and didn't use oil to cook the food so I was excited! Then I turned the page and saw "Chocolate Mint fondue." Oh my goodness, I was ecstatic! Mint chocolate is his favorite. Louis goes out during Christmas and buys at least 3 bags at a time of the mint chocolate M&M's. So now I've got the last two courses down, but then I got to thinking about salad. How romantic would it be if I made salad from the restaurant where we had our first date? So I searched online for the ginger salad dressing from Benihana (absolutely fantastic if you've never tried it; it's an absolute must-try before you eat out again). So I'd planned the evening all out. We'd start fondue at about two and have the rest of the evening to eat and relax.
Hahaha, but I had a plan...that's what went wrong. My brother came back to town to spend Valentine's Day with his girlfriend and my mom and the rest of my family were going to get together relatively close to our house so we ended up doing an early dinner with them instead. Not that it's a bad thing, but I had kind of wanted to spend our first Valentine's together alone. But we love our families and couldn't resist the opportunity to see my brother since he's not around very often and his girlfriend is absolutely adorable! I don't think he could have picked out a cuter, more deserving girl. She's sweet, down to earth, and was so helpful during crunch time before Louis's and my wedding.
Even though he doesn't really believe in Valentine's day, Louis wanted to do something for me and felt bad that he hadn't gotten me anything. It really didn't matter to me, but he did surprise me with plans of a nice desk to put in one of the guest rooms so I can turn it into my scrapbooking heaven. I don't think he realized how sweet a gesture that was. It may not come to fruition anytime soon, but I know he loves me and was thinking of me as always. As I'm starting to realize how married life starts to make us more familiar, I can't help but notice how much I'm falling in love with him even more than before we got married (which i didn't think was possible).
Now I get to invent different ways to show him the little things: to surprise him with cards or notes here and there, because now we share bank accounts and that makes it even harder to surprise someone. :)
I found your husband’s insight about it being just another day rather interesting. I was curious to know if it is just another day, what kinds of things he does to help make your everyday wonderful. I also wondered if the fondue fiesta ever happened. It sounds like it would be a very romantic gesture for a playful date night. I love your writing. It is vibrant and cheerful. It also makes me smile as I am reading. I can tell how much you love your husband and family with every word. I must say that your blog leaves me wondering about more of your life. For example, what was his reply to the donkey card?! You have a talent for leaving the reader wanting more and the interesting part is the story is about your life. That says a great deal about you and your skill as a writer. You found a way to put passion into your writing and you did it without having to make anything up. That is impressive.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed the way you used the name of the appliance. Since it is common, I was able to place a visual to it, which helped in bringing the story more to life. I know your blog is about your married life but I have a suggestion if you would not mind doing it every occasionally…. You reference your past but you do not say much about it unless it is specifically about your hubby. I suggest you add the details about your wedding and the stories that lead up to it as well. For example, you spoke about your brother’s girlfriend during crunch time at the wedding. I could feel that you adore her so maybe, since she was involved in the wedding, you could share stories. I told you, your blog opened up for more questions – now I am curious about everything! Great job!
The Fondue happened in pieces, haha. We ended up making the chicken fondue that night but we didn't have the desert until this past weekend. That's the next post :) You'll see.
ReplyDeleteI think it is true that you don't necessarily need a day to dote on your beloved, but it is possible that Valentines day is an opportunity to kick it up a notch. It's a little easier for me because Valentines day is our anniversary. Plus it seems that by our not celebrating Valentines day we allow Saint Valentines' sacrifice to go in vain.
ReplyDeleteThe most important thing about it is that it represents the only real holiday in the year that love is loftily held up as a chance for us to make clear our love for our significant other. Ultimately the idea of love is treating that special someone better then you’d even treat yourself. Love is a sacrifice and when both people love each other deep enough to put their significant other over themselves then it just works. While you may not have your own best interests in mind, you can be sure that someone does.