Valentine's Day Redux

Did your Valentine treat you right this year? I sure hope so. Today, I'm sharing my Valentine's weekend update with you.

On Friday night, we headed to the basketball game on the north end of town at our high school alma mater. (The fella and I went to the same school, but he was a senior when I was a freshman.) It wasn't much of a game in lots of ways, especially since the Purples stomped the Raiders with a 101-69 victory. I'm at least glad that we got to see the Purples score their first 100+ game since 2003 though. Since the Purples are ranked #1 in the state in basketball right now, I honestly expected them to win. I'm just glad the Raiders were able to keep it from being totally embarrassing.

I took a couple of selfies before we went to the game Friday night, mainly because I wanted to play with my shutter release and wanted a pic of my new clearance sweater from Target. Haha!

Also on Friday night, the ScrapGals Retreat for Nashville opened up for sale. The retreat is slated for October 6, 7, 8 this year and should be lots of fun. If you're interested in learning more or registering, you can visit www.tracieclaiborne.com for all of the info. I'd love to meet you there!

Saturday night was date night and our official Valentine's celebration. The kiddo went to his grandparents' house, and the fella and I headed out to dinner at a new local restaurant. We had dinner at Gerard's Tavern, and it was quite good. I just wanted a traditional burger, and the fella ordered a steak. We had plenty of time to eat before our next plans started, so it was nice to sit and talk in a bistro-style pub downtown and then walk leisurely back to the car. We were early because of our later plans, so we didn't even have to wait for a table on a Saturday night. The prices were pretty reasonable too; the fella said our dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings the week before had been much more expensive. :O

After dinner, we headed to PTK (Public Theater of Kentucky) to see a play, Almost Maine. It was a series of vignettes about people who live in a small town in Maine and their struggle with various sorts of romantic relationships. There was the shy, young couple who couldn't communicate clearly, the woman who came back home for love only to discover her guy had already moved on, the married couple who weren't happy together, the widow who surprisingly found love when she least expected it, and the young man who couldn't get his love interest to see him as more than a friend. It was the perfect kind of play for Valentine's Day, and the fella thoughtfully reserved my favorite seats for the show.

Near the end of the play, I developed a terrible migraine. I'm not sure if the constantly changing lights of the show had an effect or if it had to do with some seasoning in my food or if it could have been weather-related, but I got sick so quickly that I wasn't sure I'd even make it home without humiliating myself. The fella took me home, and I was immediately, violently ill. I won't go into details, but it was pretty horrible. While getting sick helped with the pain a little, it honestly didn't mean an end to the migraine. Plus, I was so nauseated that I was afraid to take my medicine. That meant that I lay in bed with a pillow over my face and listened to SNL with the fella - not especially romantic, right?  The next day, I still didn't feel great. If you have migraines, you know you can have that "hungover headache" feeling for a few days after a really bad one. That's exactly what I faced on Sunday. I stayed home pretty much all day and just lounged on the couch. I didn't even feel like stitching or reading or scrapbooking or anything.Charlie-dog was just fine with this arrangement; he likes it when I'm still and ready to snuggle.

Sunday night, I headed over to the fella's house for dinner and The Walking Dead, and I brought his Valentine's gift with me. I wasn't sure I'd be seeing him on the actual day and wanted to give him his small present. I bought him Cedrat cologne from L'Occitane, and I think he really liked it. Let me tell you, ladies, this stuff is to die for. He may not be totally safe when he wears it. ;)  

On Monday evening, Kelsey came by to celebrate Valentine's Day with me. She gave me some photos that she'd recently had printed that I hadn't seen before as well as some Fiestaware bowls that she found at a local tag sale. (Quite appropos since I'm convinced she's the reason my 15 place settings only have 3 bowls in total now...) I loved them both, of course. What made my entire day, my entire week, quite possibly my whole year, though, was the letter that she wrote me. I cannot express how wonderful it was to read her words and know how much she values me as a mom. This girl gets me and even made me cry - y'all know how I feel about letting all those pesky feelings flow. Anyway, I hope you'll read it and know how touched I was by her thoughtfulness and how much I'll treasure this gift. (I gave her a bag full of little treats that she needed/wanted - a couple of tees, some socks, three bralettes, a car charger for her phone, and some candy. Nothing I gave her could possible compare to the sweetness of what she gave me.)

Five Fiestaware bowls - five! Oh my gosh, y'all have no idea how much I needed these. Of course, I can't help but wonder what Kelsey did with all the original bowls and at least 20 spoons, but I have to make peace with never knowing for sure.

On actual Valentine's Day, I had to work of course. In lots of ways it was just a regular Tuesday. I snapped this selfie during my planning period. Look, I even have on red today. It seems like all the clothes I ever wear are black and gray, so this red sweater was definitely a pop of color.

The fella stopped by after my late night at work and brought me a beautifully romantic card. When I read it, I thought to myself, "Why do I suck at picking out cards?" I mean, the one I gave him was nothing special, and the one he chose for me was beyond sweet and romantic. Maybe he's just more romantic than I am. In fact, I know he is, and I'm sure he'd agree too. Sometimes, I suck at the girl stuff.  (Side note - he was wearing the new cologne, and I spent an excessive amount of time sniffing him as a result. Haha!) He also brought me some Valentine's candy - not too much since he knows I'm trying to eat healthier and exercise. He remembered when I said that I love dark chocolate with nuts and that Reese's peanut butter eggs are my absolute favorite. What can I say? He's a good one.

There's my Valentine's Day redux; I hope you enjoyed yours as much as I did! Love to you all!