Tuesday, February 23, 2016

St. Valentine's Day Weekend - 2016

Hiiii peoples!

Well look at that, it's still February and I'm posting my Valentine's Day post in the same month that it happened! Am I good or what? You should be nodding. Are you nodding? Good.

This may be one of our best heart days yet! Mainly because instead of venturing out into the mad crowds of crazy people, trying to book a reservation and all that hullabaloo, we stayed HOME. 

Introvert. Heaven. *cue angelic singing*

Home is nice. It's my favorite-est place to be. A place where after being peopled out after a long week (my poor little introverted self can only take so much), I can just relax and be myself and not say a thing, if I want to. And Robert is my introvert buddy, so he understands!

We started out Saturday morning with this lovely breakfast:

GF Chocolate Chip Waffles WITH Chocolate Syrup (Mmmhmm, I did that) and Orange Slices.
 
We spent Saturday catching up on suuuper fuuuun things like dishes, and tidying up the house after the work week. Friday evening we went grocery shopping early because we didn't want to get caught in the crowds of men storming the store for last minute Valentine gifts :P Robert picked out a bouquet of flowers for me while we were there! Lol, we're such an old married couple. IT WAS a surprise! I wasn't in that area when he picked them out, BUT I did know he was going to get some for me before we left the house, cuz I hinted that there would be a better selection to choose from if we went early.  :) I HAVE picked out my own flowers before, but not until recently. It's because I'm an artsy person! I like looking at  all the different flowers and seeing what I'm in the mood for, but this time I wanted him to pick. And chose well, he did.

Are they not lovely? He knew exactly what I wanted before I did.




The spread for the next day.





Pink Moscato Champagne (Birthday present from my mother-in-law), Juniper Berry and Bay Leaf infused Olive Oil (Aldi's), Almond and Hazelnut stuffed Green Olives (Aldi's), Turkish Figs (Aldi's), Herb and Pepper encrusted Salami (Aldi's), Hawaiian BBQ and Himalayan Sea Salt Kettle Brand chips with Avocado oil (Krogers), Chocolove brand chocolate, "Spicing Up Married Life" book by Father Leo Patalinghug, and "The Vow" movie, one of my faves.

Aldi's had a BUNCH of specialty items on sale after Christmas and we stocked up for this!

 Speaking of Father Leo Patalinghug, guess who came to our church? You betcha, the man himself. HE WAS AWESOME! He came for our annual Mission and spoke at our Church for 3 nights and boy were they memorable evenings. If you haven't heard of him before, he is a chef and has a cooking show on EWTN called Savoring the Faith; he is also kind of a celebrity now after beating Bobby Flay on Food Network in a fajita cooking competition about 6 years or so ago.
 BUT THE WAY HE SPEAKS. OH MY GOODNESS. He just ignites you with a blazing fire for your faith And he's hilarious. He has published three books, and we have them all now, including the marriage one pictured above. They have recipes in them :) Including the fajita recipe he beat Bobby Flay with! Before priesthood he used to teach martial arts and self defense, and is pretty awesome at breakdancing. I mean, HOW COOL IS THAT?! Including videos below so you can get to know him:








Of course we got a picture with him! He told us we looked like we got married when we were 12 XD





Selfies with the marriage book!

Heart Strawbs, something I started doing last year. Just cut a V in the top of the whole strawberry before cutting and you'll have cutesie little hearts!




Breakfast on Sunday morning. Almond flour pancakes with strawberries hearts, part of a Pumelo (The ancestor of the grapefruit, and much better I think. Less bitter.), and pork sausage patties.




It's not a Valentine's Day post without at least one picture of us.




Champagne and Roses.




Foccacia Bread! I used the recipe in Cybele Paschal's ' The Baker's Handbook'. I loooove her cookbooks. Here is the link if you are interested in the cookbook. I added the grapes and majoram on top and it was amazing. It was hard to refrain from eating the whole thing between the two of us!




Ze romantic dinner. Complete with candles.





Bubbly in the candlelight.


So we ate our finger food, sipped the bubbly, watched The Vow, gobbled up as much foccacia as we could get away with, and it was such a nice evening, just being home together. We're realizing how precious moments like these are, so for us this Valentine's Day was more about making uninterrupted time for each other (and good food) instead of extravagant gifts. Not that I don't like extravagant gifts *hint hint*. Buuuut time is priceless and we never know how much we have until we lose it.

So cherish the people you love!

How did you guys spend your Valentine's Day??? I hope it was amazing whether you're are in a relationship or not :)

Cheers!

2 comments:

  1. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. YOU'RE CUTE. Ugh, I hate it lol.

    But haha, well.. I mean... you guys do look pretty young....

    You food looks good, and it's Lent, and I can't eat, and now I"m hungry. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. THANKS :) Whaaaaat? EXPLAIN.

      Ugh, but I don't FEEL young :P I get asked my age a lot, and it makes me feel like I'm in trouble or something and it catches me off guard. I was at the post office the other day, renewing my passport, and the guy asked me how old I was and I was like "21?". (It always sounds like a question when I state my age :P) Apparently if you get a passport before you're 16 (I got my first one when I was 16) you aren't able to renew. And he was just checking because I look so young. *face palms* In my mind I was like "I KNOW HOW TO READ INSTRUCTIONS." I know he was being helpful and trying to save me a big headache, but UGH.

      Why can't you eat? What are you giving up for Lent?
      Growing up we always did the no meat on Fridays, one meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and giving up something you love, whether it be a favorite food (chocolate), TV, or other,throughout Lent and Robert and I have continued to do it that way. Although as an adult, instead of the favorite food or other (unless I'm really addicted to something), I try to conquer bad habits like anger issues, my sarcastic tendencies and such. Something really difficult that I struggle with and something I intend to continue improving outside of Lent. Mom also never let on about the supposedly "free days on Sunday" :P Technically they are not included in the 40 days, but I still consider them as part of Lent, idk.
      Do you guys do it differently?

      Delete

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