Icky Love Stuff

Valentine's day is quickly approaching, and although the day consists of a whole bunch of red and pink which gives me a case of the shakes, I still like to think that I am supportive of the holiday. I understand that many have reasons to dislike said holiday, but to me it is just another fun day to celebrate love in all its glory. Obviously I should probably say "I love you" to Josh each day, and I may want to go out of my way to do something nice for him more than once a year, but hey it is an excuse to make heart shaped foods and eat chocolate all day long...not that I have ever needed an excuse for either of those. 


Alright, so how do I deal with a holiday that is rather "lovey dovey" and "cutesy" (which are two words that just do not come up in my vocab all that often)? Well, the thing is, sometimes I just have to embrace it as best as I can. This year there is a sickening amount (read: 4 items) of Valentine's day decor going on, however I really do think I can handle it for all 14 days that I am required to leave it up. Oh and for those of you who happen to adore pink, lovey dovey, cutesy, etc. please don't feel ashamed. I actually do appreciate it, I just don't like to admit to it. I may wear dresses, but sometimes I think I was better suited to be a boy. Oh and no, please do not comment on how you agree that I would make a much better boy than girl, this is neither the time nor place. Thanks. 


I actually took a cue from Valentine's day two years ago. Josh and I had kind of forgotten to use nice words to each other (okay fine, I forgot how to use nice words) so I thought it would be a good idea to cut out a bunch of red and pink hearts that we could write the things that we loved about each other as we felt lead to do so. It became a fun game to look under our pillows at night to see if "the goblin" as he was named, had delivered any hearts that day. We found ourselves discovering some of the little things that we really love about the other person that we would occasionally forget. Well, this year, with the addition of Eden, I thought it would be fun to have some little "valentine's" that we could write on to remind each one of us why we are loved. 

My stipulation was to only use items around the house. So, I found one of my favorite glass footed bowls from our candy buffet at our wedding as well as some crinkly paper that was used in a gift at one time or another. Then I found some printable valentine's and voila! We were now in business to write some lovey dovey stuff  to the members of the family. I find this to be a super simple way to celebrate this holiday by really reflecting on why you love your spouse, child, pet, grandma, etc. 

I adore these "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..." valentine's. They were conveniently already numbered so we can just add our little sentiment on it each day and at the end we will be able to see which day the person wrote their little love note. You can find them here. Not quite sure why the paper looks pink in the image...

I thought these valentine's were so perfect for Eden. I just love their whimsical nature. We will write "mommy" or "daddy" on the front, and then there is a spot for a little note on the back. It will be fun to keep these and look back to them from year to year. You can find these here. 

Aren't they so cute all propped up in the bowl? It is going to be fun to see these accumulating and then read them on Valentine's day. 


I hope you all are thinking of ways that you can have fun with this holiday, despite many calling it a "greeting card holiday." 


Oh and yes, you can see a little peek of what I have been up to on our mantle. I am kind of shaking my head in disbelief that I have decorate the mantle for Valentine's day. And, um, don't tell anyone, but I secretly am liking having some pink and red in the house. Having a baby girl around is getting me all sentimental and cutesy. Oh boy...(pun not intended, but that was quite ironic...). I'll be back again with some photos of the finished mantle...once I get around to finishing it...




**P to the S....or p.s. as most people would say...we have added a few more photos to Eden's flickr page and I did a photo shoot with her yesterday so I am sure there will be more up soon. Well, as soon as she lets me have a few minutes to get them uploaded and edited.