2015 Valentine's Day Gift Guides

I love Valentine's Day. Maybe because my first date with Zach was on Valentine's Day? Either way, with only two weeks left, now is the time to think about gifts. There is nothing I hate more than a last-minute Valentine's Day gift. So I put together some Gift Guides for you! You can check them out on my Pinterest page. I'll be updating over the next week or so as I spot new items.

Valentine's Day Gift Guide For Kids: When I was little, my mom would always decorate the dining room table while we were at school. There were gifts and cupcakes. The things I put here are little things I thought my mom might have left for us,

Valentine's Day Gift Guide for Women: Good for sweethearts or best friends.

Valentine's Day Gift Guide for Men: I sometimes think that guys get the short-end of the stick on Valentine's Day. So many expectations from the women in their life! I always like to try to do something special for Zach.

Enjoy! And if there's anything amazing out there I missed, let me know!

P.S. See previous Valentine's Day ideas here and here and here.

Big Heart print pictured above available here.

Valentine's Day Wrap-Up

Did you have a nice Valentine's Day?  We did.  It was fun but hectic.  I had spent the last few weeks trying to decide how we were going to celebrate- I wanted to do something inexpensive but festive.  I started out with poms from pomlove hanging from the ceiling fan.  Simple.  But fun nonetheless.

I followed this up with a "clothesline of love" for Zach down the hallway. *This was easy: I criss-crossed red and white bakers twine down the hallway (I used pushpins to hold it against the wall).  Then I used mini-clothespins to pin up heart-shaped love notes to Zach (notes that I typed on my vintage, 1930's Remington typewriter, a gift from a friend in high school- great gift, huh?). 

As far as food goes, I had grand plans of cooking a delicious dinner.  After a busy day, those plans went out the window.  So we had pizza.  And champagne.  While we sat in front of the absolutely gorgeous bouquet Zach bought me.  Perfect.  And remember the dessert I made last year?  It was such a hit, we had a repeat performance this year.  Yum.

But my favorite, favorite part of the day was, ironically, the one thing I hadn't planned.  Ever since I read this post on Hip Hip Hooray, I have been thinking about confetti.  So when I realized that I had some extra tissue paper (what the poms had been wrapped in for shipping), I decided to make some.  I cut long strips into confetti:

And then I surreptitiously stacked little piles on top of the ceiling fan blades** so that I could grab Zach, stand under the poms, turn the ceiling fan on... and for a split second, we would be surrounded with red and pink confetti.  Perfect for kissing under.

Happily, Zach didn't notice the little piles, so he had no idea what to suspect when I made him stand up with me, and turned the fan on... tada! It worked perfectly! I did a trial run- here's a pic so you can see for yourself.

It was just a few seconds, but it was a perfect few seconds. 

I am so lucky to have Zach as my Valentine.  I hope your day was also filled with perfect moments.

*Warning #1- you are likely to walk into the clothesline about a million times between 10 am and 5 pm (when your valentine gets home).

** Warning #2: if you ever decide to pile anything on top of ceiling fan blades, be aware that the top of ceiling fan blades are absolutely disgusting.  It took almost an hour to just get the layers and layers of dust off the blades.  Not fun.

Valentine's Day Gift Guide: Tokyo Milk Bon Bon Bubble Bath

I love Valentine's Day. It's a special day for Zach and I (we had our first date on Valentine's Day in 1998. 1998!! I know. I can hardly believe it was that long ago either). But beyond that, my mom always made it such a fun day when I was growing up. My sister and I would come home from school to heart-shaped cupcakes, and new heart-themed pajamas wrapped in pretty pink and red paper, and balloons bobbing over the dinner table. It was always a fancy day.

So February 14th is on my mind. Over the next few weeks I am going to post ideas for Valentine's indulgences. Indulgences that could work as gifts for another or for yourself. Because self-love is important on Valentine's Day too, don't you think?

To kick things off, I am going to start with Tokyo Milk Bon Bon Bubble Bath. My sister got some for me for Christmas, and I love it. Isn't the packaging gorgeous?

Each label is printed with a picture that you can see when you look through the back of the glass bottle. So lovely to look at when you're soaking and up to your chin in bubbles. And also- they smell amazing.

P.S. Tokyo Milk also has gift collections called things like Dead Sexy Kiss Collection and Kiss and Tell Collection. Perfect for your Valentine. Or to buy for yourself to celebrate the day.

Hearts

Hope everyone had a romantic Valentine's Day! I love Valentine's Day. Zach and I had our first date on Valentine's Day (12 whole years ago- can you believe it?!?). He proposed on Valentine's Day. And each year, he sends me the most beautiful bouquet with a lovely sentiment. This year? Two bouquets. The first one came with a card that said "One bouquet because I love you..." and the second "And one because I love what we have created together". I ask you friends, how do you follow that up? I attempted to with mud pie, Zach's favorite. Homemade espresso ice-cream in heart-shaped molds, toasted almonds, real whipped cream with specks of vanilla bean... it was delicious. I also discovered these beautiful letterpress cards from Hammerpress: I love the juxtaposition of the old-fashioned technique with the vibrant colors and modern aesthetic. How about you, friends? Did you do anything special for your Valentine?