Things That Deserve a Valentine.

I was going to send out adorable Valentine's Day cards this year. Cheesy, pink valentines. But then the last four weeks have been crazy and yesterday is the first day I thought about it and for some reason, the mail system cannot catch up with Amazon Prime and get things places in two days, so, not happening this year. 
But just because I'm not sending out real valentines doesn't mean I can't shoot a virtual v-day card to some things in our lives that are well deserving of one. So, in vein of Jimmy Fallon and his thank you notes, here are some things that most certainly deserve my valentines. 
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The Target Dollar Spot. Roses are red, violets are blue, every single month you try to make me spend all my rent money on you. 

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Coffee. I literally cannot be a functioning human being without you, so, happy Valentine's Day. 

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Leggings. Thank you for making it socially acceptable to basically stay in pajamas 24/7. You're the real Valentine here. 

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Amazon Prime. Providing instant gratification in the form of two-day delivery...all the heart eyes for you. If you don't have this yet, you can get a 30-Day Free Trial here and never have to wait on a package again!

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Hats. Thanks for helping me make it through the hard times (like bad hair days, or when I haven't showered yet but still need to look cute). Couldn't do it without you. 
Youtube. You offer approximately 1.2 billion workout videos that should definitely cost money but are somehow available for free. You make it very clear that there is no excuse to not get a workout in, and for that, I both love and hate you. But still, happy Valentine's Day. 

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Netflix. LOVE YOU FOREVER. 
Audible. You've made my many commutes and road trips bearable and even enjoyable over the last three years. Thanks for stepping up to the plate, since actual reading while driving is frowned upon. (PS, if you don't have the magic that is Audible (WHY), you can get 30 free days here. It comes with 2 free books, so, why not?).   

Chick-Fil-A. I love you because you will forever let me eat (the world's best) chicken nuggets without feeling juvenile. And also because your 8 count is always more like an 11 count. Be my valentine. 
What deserves a valentine in your life? 

Celebrate Life.

I'm a sucker for any holiday that comes with decorations. St. Patrick's Day? Time to break out the green. Cinco de Mayo? Time for taco night! Easter? Better get a new dress to wear to church.

The first March that Chris and I were married, he came home to find me making green drinks. They were disgusting, by the way. Some weird mix of mint and powdered sugar. But it was before I knew that not every recipe on Pinterest was fail-proof.

He didn't really understand why we needed to have green drinks. Granted, this is coming from someone who didn't even really like to celebrate Christmas before me, so obviously he had a lot to learn. I told him we didn't need green drinks, but that any reason to celebrate is a good one.

It should come as no surprise, then, that I love Valentine's Day. A holiday that is celebrated with way too much pink and chocolate and champagne and love?! Sign me up.

I know that when it comes to Valentine's Day, a lot of people are in the camp of, "It's holiday that Hallmark has exploited to trick us into thinking it's an opportunity to celebrate something we should already celebrate everyday."

And to that I say: Of course it is. 

But why not just go with it?

Now, if you're really celebrating every day with chocolates and love letters, than by all means, carry on. But since I doubt very many of us do that, why not take Valentine's Day as an opportunity to celebrate life? After all, you should be in love with your life, if nothing else.

So this week, celebrate. Make chocolate-covered strawberries. Give a cheesy card. Get sucked into buying something pink and love-themed. Make dinner reservations for Sunday night. Or stay in and cook something special. Buy overpriced candy and flowers. Just celebrate the day of love.

And when that's over, keep celebrating. Celebrate life. The Mondays and the Thursdays that may feel mundane, but are really reminders that you are alive, and are opportunities to celebrate that.

Celebrate your marriage, your friends, yourself. Celebrate that it's Tuesday and the sun is shining. That your car started and you made it to work on time. Celebrate the cheesy holidays with the decorations and cards and presents. Celebrate that you're alive, that you're happy.

This is life. It's your only one. It should be celebrated. 

Staying in: 8 Ways to Celebrate Valentine's Day at Home.

1. Go half & half on the night. One of you plans dinner, one of you plans dessert and entertainment. That way you can still kind of treat each other, but you get to hang out all night, too.

2. Have an 80's love movie marathon. Is there anything that will make you believe in cheesy, cliche love like 80's movies? No, no there's not. Which makes them the perfect choice for the cheesiest holiday. Bonus: Most of the good ones are on Netflix.

3. Cook dinner together. Sure, this is maybe the most cliche at-home date night, but for good reason! Pick out a recipe, shop for ingredients together, and then cook together. It's so much fun, and it's a great chance to try out fancier recipes or ones that call for more expensive ingredients. Chances are, you'll still spend less than you would on dinner and drinks out.

4. Have a Valentine's brunch. Valentine's Day is on a Saturday this year, which means you can get started celebrating that morning! Heart shaped pancakes and pink mimosas? Yes, please. Anytime. But especially on Valentine's Day. Get some inspiration here.

5. Game night. I never really thought of this as a super fun date night, but one night me and Christopher ended up at a Wal-Mart buying all of our favorite card games and board games. We stayed up way too late playing them, and it became one of my favorite nights together. Sometimes you just need to have fun with your significant other. So swing by the store, buy a board game, order takeout, and make some cocktails. Best. Night. Ever.

6. Have an indoor picnic. Look up tapas recipes and have a candlelit picnic indoors!

7. Have an "I've been dying to see this" movie marathon. Another bonus about V-day being on a weekend--way more time for your date than if it had to start post-work. Swing by Redbox and rent all the movies you've been wanting to see, and all the movies he's been wanting to see. Then get your favorite movie snacks and take turns picking which movie to watch next.

8. Can't decide between cocktails or dessert? Make both! Just type in champagne cupcakes to pinterest and prepare yourself. If there was ever a time to make champagne cupcakes, Valentine's Day is it.

How will you be spending Valentine's Day this year?

Spending your February: A To-do List.

Happy February! It's the month of love and pink and candy! There are 28 days in February (isn't that weird?), and you get to choose how to spend them. As always, I have some suggestions. 

1. Make chocolate covered strawberries. Or chocolate covered anything, really.

2. Journal every day this month. Need some ideas to help you get started? I've got you covered.

3. Look up happy hours near you. After discovering how many places around here do happy hours, I have no idea why people ever pay full price for a meal. Our favorite sushi place does one where nothing is over $5. Um, yes please.

4. Evaluate on how you're doing on those New Year's resolutions and goals. 

5. Plan what you're going to do on Valentine's Day. Will you be staying in? Going out? Being Martha Stewart? Ordering Pizza? Whatever it is, have fun with it.

6. Have a picnic. If you live in the north, have an inside picnic. 

7. Peruse the Valentine's Day section at Target. 

8. Make a Valentine's playlist. 

9. Go try something out at Lush. I have just been introduced to the wonderful world of the charcoal face scrub. It's worth every bit of the hype.

10. Send someone a love letter.

11. Make a Valentine's Day craft. Hello, pinterest.

12. Go thrifting. Give yourself a budget, and then hit up some consignment shops and try to find an entire outfit for that amount of money.

13. Send Galentine's Day cards/emails/texts. 

14. Go to a Farmer's market. 

15. Make brunch at home. For real brunch, not cereal brunch. Waffles and muffins and mimosas and the whole nine yards.

16. Find a hot tea that you like. 

17. Watch the Pilot of Parenthood. It's on Netflix and you will have no choice but to cry along to all six seasons.

18. Spend an entire afternoon reading.

19. Write something that scares you. And then post it. I've been doing a lot of this (here, here, here, and here). If one of your resolutions this year was to be brave, this is definitely a good first (and second and third and fourth) step.

20. Find a quote that inspires you and print it out. Put it near your bed so you see it every morning

21. Do one thing you've never done before. 

22. Use this website to find your next book. You type in books you like and it gives you a little map of your next reads..so cool.

23. Go for a walk by yourself.

24. Sneak your own snacks into the movie theater. You little rebel, you.

25. Buy yourself some discounted Valentine's Day candy.

26. Have an at home date just as good as the one on Valentine's Day. Because you don't need a holiday to have the best date night ever.

27. Find a healthy snack that you actually enjoy. Little changes, people. Little by little.

28. Make a list of your favorite things that happened this month. Or a list of things you were thankful for this month. Any sort of happy list from February.

Ps: don't forget to enter this giveaway!

How are you planning on spending February? 

Thankful Fridays: Valentine's Day.

As I write this, my husband is stuck in the snow in Washington D.C.

So this version of Thankful Fridays is brought to you by a slightly bitter wife.  It happens.

1. For love.  Yeah, yeah.  But it's Valentine's Day and I'm married to the greatest guy in the world and I love him. 

2.  My littlest Valentine. 

Little love of my life, right here.

3. Getting to see my family.  While my husband is stuck in an airport, I've been able to catch up with my family.  It's always fun to get to share conversation over home cooked meals. 

4. Fireplaces.  I'm currently sitting next to one at my parent's house, and it is lovely.  Why oh why does my apartment not come with one of these?

5. Coffee.  And a second cup of coffee.  And a third.  Because when your husband is stuck in an airport somewhere, you don't sleep very good. 

Happy day of love!  I hope you all have the best weekend ever. Pop some bubbly and eat candy hearts until you feel sick. I'll just be over here, bitter at the snow.  Xoxo.

PS:  I'm looking for a few bloggers to review the March mystery package from my shop.  Let me know if you're interested! xo