season of love.

 

So  every once in awhile, A gets it inn his head to implement a strict monthly budget.Well, of all the months to choose this time around, he chose the one where I had planned an extravagant party, the one with Valentine's Day, and the one with my birthday.

Usually for Valentine's we go somewhere extra fancy, somewhere with a special menu for the day, and with a hefty (but worth every penny) pricetag, like Spark or Lugano.

Well, the budget preempted that this year, and A even wanted to just stay home. I convinced him to go to Bombay House, because the price would be half of our usual tradition, and when I called they said that there was only a fifteen minute wait all night last year.

Well, we got there pretty late, since A had class, and the waiting area was packed.we got it bane in the list and the host said it would be a 35 minute wait.

An hour later, we finally were seated! I swear they do that intentionally, it is so annoying.
Regardless, the food was excellent, and the company couldn't have been better. Can you believe this is our fifth Valentine's? I hardly can.

Love you, Mr. Nielsen. Happy Valentine's Day!

V is for valentine

Isn't my dad the sweetest?

monochrome.

Lately I like wearing two things that are almost the same color, but not quite. Example here: yellow cardigan, green silk shirt. I also have an orange cardigan that I love wearing with red. I like the tension between matching and clashing.

valentine party

decor: tissue poms, balloons, and garlands

centerpiece: pink glass, cherry sours, cinnamon hearts, carnations, and sweets

settings: pink depression glass, doily placemats and coasters, red  napkins, and surged fabric as table cloth

party favors: reusable hand-warmers!

treats! red velvet cupcakes, poppyseed cookies, and chocolate dipped strawberries.

infused waters: lemon cucumber, strawberry basil, mint, and strawberry lemon.

drink tags

chair sashes: tulle and doily flowers

a few party attendees

red mugs for cocoa 

If you follow me on Pinterest, you may have noticed I have a Valentine Party pin board. Well, I actually did have a Valentine Party, and I think it turned out pretty adorable. I thought I took some really great pictures, but Now I'm realizing I didn't get great pictures of the food, close up! Oh well, you live and you learn, and you get a good idea of the overall party here.

Attendance was a bit low, but we had a lovely time, and made some good progress.

I'll be posting a tutorial on the hand warmers soon, they were so cute!

I made these cookies, glazed pink. I subbed zest of one lemon and juice of half a lemon for the lemon emulsion, added another t of poppyseeds, and only baked for 5 minutes. I also had to improvise the glaze, using juice of half a lemon instead of the emulsion again, and adding a lot more sugar till it was thick enough to hold shape.

I made these red velvet cupcakes, iced with my sister's cream cheese frosting recipe (2 packages cream cheese, 2 sticks butter, 4 cups powdered sugar, vanilla and salt to taste). With a red heart sprinkle a la Trophy Cupcake.

I also dipped strawberries. No recipe needed there, huh? My only advice is to use chocolate that doesn't have to be tempered. I get mine at Baker's Cache and Carry.

To drink, we had infused water and hot cocoa with strawberry heart marshmallows and pink whipped cream. Yum.

I made more Christmas crack, but this time it didn't turn out so great. Last time I used Private Selection brand white chocolate chips, and this time I used Ghirardelli chips. They didn't melt very well, so they didn't coat the puffs as well. I did dye the chocolate pink, which was pretty adorable, and added sprinkles.

So that's it! Happy Valentine's Day!

wanted.

Partner (or two) to go to the Acorn's Antique Show & Sale. I went last year and got an amazing 1930s scarf. This event is probably as close as you'll get to a flea market in Utah. Hundreds of vendors, each specializing in a specific era or type of antique, from jewelry to toys to furniture. It is so much fun.

My usual shopping buddy, my mom, will be in Seattle the weekend of the show, so who wants to go with me? We could make it a date and even get some lunch.

remember me?

{photo credit}

Remember this post, about how Professional Marta would dress? And the pretty sweater above, from Old Navy? Well guess what. I found this sweater. In my size. At Savers. For like, $5.

That was a glorious thrift store find. Sometimes I feel really lucky.

stay tuned...

I just scheduled posts for tomorrow, Saturday, and Monday.

Aren't you excited?