love birds

It just dawned on me that Valentine's Day is the only holiday John Ralph and I will be together for this year.  Birthdays, anniversaries, Thanksgiving and Christmas will all be spent apart, so I've decided to "go big or go home" for Cupid. 

We have never really done a lot for Valentine's day.  When we were in school, he usually had an event or a long weekend somewhere in February, so I would fly up to see him.  That pretty much covered it.  Not to mention, the holiday usually ended up being a little nauseating for my taste.  Too many hearts and cheap chocolates and last minute scrambles for the left over flowers.  Then there is the whole "Shouldn't you love the person every day of the year" argument you have to hear about.  And don't even get me started on stuffed animals.  By the time the actual day rolled around, I was already annoyed with it. 

Well today, I was trying to figure out what year John Ralph and I started dating.  (What?  I'm bad at counting backwards.)  So I was looking for old emails and messages with dates on them and you guys...we used to write really sweet stuff to each other.  I mean, some of it was just silly sounding, but there is something to be said for the whole "courting" peroid of a relationship.  It's so romantic.  John Ralph was really good at it.  I found my self giggling and blushing all over again. 

With sweet little nothings fresh on my mind, I decided that this Valentine's Day is going to blow all other Valentine's Days out of the water.  Cupid isn't going to know what happened.  If I only have one holiday to celebrate, I might as well pull out all the stops, right?

I've found a few cutesy gift ideas on Pinterest.  These are more for me than they are for John Ralph.  Over the years I've always loved doing crafty little presents.  John Ralph usually just laughs at them...but I think deep down inside he actually likes them.  At least, that's what I'm going to keep telling myself.  I still need to figure out what I'm going to give him for his real gift.  So far I have about zero ideas. 

I've decided my color scheme is going to be dusty rose and sage green, giving things a vintage feel.  I already have a few supplies, and I went to the Euro Spots around town today to see what they could offer me.  (By the way, I got 100 tea lights for 6 euro!!  What a deal!)  They just cleared out all of their Christmas stuff, so I think I need to give it another week before they get new stuff in. 

I haven't been able to nail down a menu yet.  I have some REALLY good ideas, but in the event that John Ralph actually reads this blog, I want him to be surprised with the food, so I won't write about those yet.  But I wish I could, because they are GOOD ideas! 

I'm glad I have something to get excited about and plan!  Oh...and even better news...I finally found out about a crafting store!  Hallelujah! 

Anyway, I can't wait to blog about all of the things I'm planning on doing!  Italy is supposed to be a romantic place, so maybe I can channel my inner Italian and get this party started!