"I don't understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine's Day. When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon." ~Author Unknown
Although there were no toddlers or weapons, our third Valentine's Day was ideal. The celebration kicked off Sunday evening and concluded Tuesday. I guess when there is so much love in one relationship, you really can't limit your expression to just one day. Right.
Sunday night Tate told me that "all the guys were hanging out and that I should probably just go to Catherine's." Seeing as how "all the guys" have never made plans in advance before, much less made plans for me, I knew not to ask any questions. Tate dropped me off at Catherine's where I met up with the other wives and he headed off to his super secretive mission.
Little did I know the guys were going to the store to buy groceries and make us a Valentine's Day Eve dinner. Turns out all the other husbands caved and told their wives the big surprise, leaving me as the only clueless wife with the only husband that can keep a secret. :) We headed over to the Pittmans, as instructed. We walked in to dim lighting, the smell of steak and four husbands in the kitchen. What a sight! The table was set and there were even Valentine's decorations. They did such a great job! They came around and took our order, served the food and did the dishes afterwards. We weren't as surprised as we appear, but we did feel the love. Thanks to "all the guys:" Brittan, Colby, Andrew and Tate for a wonderful Valentine memory!
Day 2
Monday morning I woke up to an Einstein's bagel! Although it is my fave, sleep still outranked the toasty breakfast surprise, so I slept a while longer before scarfing down my cinnamon raisin bagel and coffee. Throughout the day Tate got little notes that stated simple reasons why I love him. I started this tradition last year. It's a good one! I keep a list throughout the year of specific things he does/things about him that I love, then I write them down to give him on V-Day.
Last year I gave him a box with all the notes inside, and this year I hid them around the house, in his lunch, on the mirror, in the car, etc. The last note was in his Valentine's card and read, "I love you for being my co-chair for life." As many of you know this is a reference to StuFu which is where we met and served as Student Recruitment co-chairs. For V-Day, I got a brick installed at the Ed Crenshaw Student Foundation Building with our names on it. This is where we spent most of our time together Senior year, learned that the other wasn't so bad or "the devil," as Tate referred to me, became good friends and a year later got engaged. That evening, Tate came home from work with a dozen roses and my Pioneer Woman Cookbook! For those of you that are not loyal subjects to the PW, you need to check out her recipes and website here. I am a little obsessed! I made brisket tacos for dinner, which is probably our favorite meal right now. Sadly, it is not by PW, but I'll give you the recipe anyway.
Day 3
Our final day of the Valentine's celebration ended with an ah-maze-ing meal at a local restaurant near our apartment called Haven. I had read the rave reviews about this seasonal restaurant and had been wanting to try it for months. Tate, understanding my basic need for fine cuisine (which should have been on one of his notes throughout the day), surprised me with reservations! This place uses only local, fresh ingredients. The waiter actually told us the name of the boat that was used to catch their fresh gulf fish of the day. Understandably, Haven was packed on V-day, so we hit it up the day after for a post Valentine feast.
As we were shown to our seats, I spyed a table covered with a a bouquet of flowers, a GIANT teddy bear, candles and wait for it....a balloon. I got worried for a second, but then we took a sharp right to our table, and I was quickly relieved. We drank tea out of mason jars. I, of course, had to try the shrimp corndogs and shot of lemonade I'd heard so much about. Much to my surprise, they tasted like corndogs with shrimp in the middle. Who woulda thunk it? For dinner, I had the beef loin, Tate had free range chicken and we got a side of the cheese grits (best part). Yum. We were too stuffed for dessert, but we are definitely going back sometime for dessert on the patio.
Day 2
Monday morning I woke up to an Einstein's bagel! Although it is my fave, sleep still outranked the toasty breakfast surprise, so I slept a while longer before scarfing down my cinnamon raisin bagel and coffee. Throughout the day Tate got little notes that stated simple reasons why I love him. I started this tradition last year. It's a good one! I keep a list throughout the year of specific things he does/things about him that I love, then I write them down to give him on V-Day.
Last year I gave him a box with all the notes inside, and this year I hid them around the house, in his lunch, on the mirror, in the car, etc. The last note was in his Valentine's card and read, "I love you for being my co-chair for life." As many of you know this is a reference to StuFu which is where we met and served as Student Recruitment co-chairs. For V-Day, I got a brick installed at the Ed Crenshaw Student Foundation Building with our names on it. This is where we spent most of our time together Senior year, learned that the other wasn't so bad or "the devil," as Tate referred to me, became good friends and a year later got engaged. That evening, Tate came home from work with a dozen roses and my Pioneer Woman Cookbook! For those of you that are not loyal subjects to the PW, you need to check out her recipes and website here. I am a little obsessed! I made brisket tacos for dinner, which is probably our favorite meal right now. Sadly, it is not by PW, but I'll give you the recipe anyway.
Day 3
Our final day of the Valentine's celebration ended with an ah-maze-ing meal at a local restaurant near our apartment called Haven. I had read the rave reviews about this seasonal restaurant and had been wanting to try it for months. Tate, understanding my basic need for fine cuisine (which should have been on one of his notes throughout the day), surprised me with reservations! This place uses only local, fresh ingredients. The waiter actually told us the name of the boat that was used to catch their fresh gulf fish of the day. Understandably, Haven was packed on V-day, so we hit it up the day after for a post Valentine feast.
Thanks for a great Valentine's Day Week! I love you with all that I am!
