12 Days of Valentine's Day:Day 9: Dinner by Candlelight

12 Days of Valentine’s Day: Day 9: Candlelight. No matter what you’re having for dinner, it will taste better in candlelight. Happy Day 9. And as a friend pointed out on Facebook, we all look more beautiful by candlelight too. Can't hurt! Relax, breathe and enjoy the flicker.

#12daysofvalentinesday #imhavingcauliflowerpizza #valentinesday #beautyofeveryday #candlelight

12 Days of Valentine’s Day: Day 6: Shop For Heart Bedecked Paper Goods

12 Days of Valentine’s Day: Day 6: Shop for Paper Goods  I meant to post a suggestion for the 12 Day of Valentine’s Day earlier, but I left my phone at home! I was out all day with my husband running errands, drinking lattes and buying stuff @homedepot . So today’s  suggestion could be to “invite someone you enjoy to pal around with you all day.” I’ll share my original suggestion too. Buy heart-bedecked paper goods and use them! I’m co-hosting a #Galentines party next week and these are the plates & napkins I found. 

#12daysofvalentinesday #valentinesday #day6 #party #beautyofeverydaylife

12 Days of Valentine's Day: Celebrate the Joy of Loving So Many People in Your Life

Today is the first day of The 12 Days of Valentine’s Day! It’s a time when you do little things to show love for family, friends and yourself. Wear something red, set the table with pink place mats, put sprinkles on your kids' pancakes. Everything “counts” when you are celebrating the fact that you love a lot of people.

When someone notices, tell them about the 12 Days of Valentine’s Day and encourage them to find their own way of expressing love over the next 12 days. It's so fun. Today I am going to find something festive to hang in my front door. Tomorrow I will be mailing Valentines to a few old friends. 

This is how I celebrate the beauty of every day life. Join me? I'd love to hear how you are celebrating.

*How did this come to be? In February 2008, I had all of my heart-shaped cake pans out on the kitchen counter. I had pink carnations in a vase in the kitchen and was plotting all kinds of baking fun for the week. When I brought up which night we should order heart-shaped pizza (because they only make it for the 3 days leading up to Valentines Day) Dan blurted out, "What is this, the 12 Days of Valentine's Day?" and I stopped in my tracks. What an awesome name for what I had always done: the joy of celebrating Valentines Day for 2 weeks. It's impossible to get all of the heart-shaped food and decorations into one day, so why not spread it out over 12 days and share the fun with everyone you love.

#12daysofvalentinesday #beautyofeverydaylife #finddelight #givetoothers #sharethelove #itssofun #winwin #makeyourhearthappy

Darling Valentine Strawberries at Fred Meyer

Our local Fred Meyer superstore had a really fun approach to Valentine's Day this year. In addition to aisles of paper valentines, heart-bedecked housewares for your kitchen and a special floral department set up to make and wrap arrangements, they had a chocolate-dipped strawberry station. 

I took a great photo of the large "long stemmed" strawberries (is there such a description?) and they were so red and beautiful, they could have been sold as is. But, the attraction was 2 gloved ladies from the bakery department in charge of dipping the strawberries in white or dark chocolate and then adding a sprinkle of red heart jimmies, sparkling pink sugar or a mixture of both. I didn't manage to get a picture of the final product as it was a well-oiled machine and I didn't want to interrupt. Once the lid was snapped on for sale, the magic was gone and the image would not have captured you, so I moved on.

I took a few photos and I wanted to share because it was all of the things Valentine's Day should be for adults. It was fun, pretty, delicious and spontaneous. I'm sure a lot of dads out there dashed into Fred Meyer to grab flowers or a card and were rewarded with a really cool, really memorable treat for his loved ones. Way to go, Fred Meyer!

#fredmeyer #onestopshop #issaquahwa #valentinesday #strawberrylove #strawberryfields #chocolate

Krispy Kreme Salutes Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! Join me in thanking Krispy Kreme doughnuts for being so darn whimsical and cute. They made heart-shaped doughnuts in honor of Valentine's Day and are selling them for the 2 weeks leading up to the big day. We went on Feb 13th when the store was just about to close. The staff must not have had the energy to pipe Sweet Thing or Kiss Me onto their conversation heart doughnuts before they closed for the night. We didn't mind! We ate one on site and had the second one with coffee in the morning. Remember when I got these darling plates?

#happyvalentinesday #12daysofvalentinesday #krispykreme #doughnuts #seattleblogger #valentinesday #conversationhearts #sweethearts 

12 Days of Valentine's Day starts today!

I think you should have fun for 12 days straight. I know, we don't always look at things that way, but that is the beauty of celebrating the "12 Days of Valentine's Day". You decide what fun little thing you want to do each day in honor of Valentine's Day and the people that you love in your life.

Celebrating the 12 Days of Valentine's Day helps make lovely gestures a habit. It's a time when you do little things to show love for family, friends and yourself. Wear a pink sweater one day, put red food coloring in your cake batter, set the table with red place mats - everything counts when you are celebrating the fact that you love a lot of people.

There is no set schedule. There isn't a "number" relationship between the days (meaning you don't have to sneak 10 Hershey kisses into a loved one's pocket just because it is Day 10).  Nope, you just do what feels right and fits into your schedule on any particular day leading up to Valentine's Day.  

When someone compliments your pink scarf, just smile and say that its in honor of the 12 Days of Valentine's Day.  If your neighbor questions your sudden gift of 6 muffins, tell her it's The 12 Days of Valentine's Day.  Have fun with it. And let me know how your coworkers and friends respond.

My suggestion for today is order a rose bush for your garden. You will never regret the day-after-day beauty you will enjoy this summer.

#12daysofvalentinesday #valentinesday #celebratelove #beautyofeverydaylife #momentsofdelight #finddelight #valentine #bemyvalentine #bemine

Top 100 Romantic Restaurants in USA: Montalcino Ristorante in Issaquah, WA

I knew I loved this place! I am happy to share that local gem, Montalcino Ristorante was named to Open Table's 2017 Top 100 most romantic restaurants in the United States. 

Do you use Open Table to make reservations and research dining options? I have relied on this company for years and love using their app to secure a table when the occasion arises.

After the monumental task of moving across the country, we have lived in our new home for just one month. When I thought about plans for Valentine's Day, I knew that we needed to go out for a lovely meal and toast our sucess.

The best meal I have had in years was at Montalcino Ristorante in Issaquah, so I used Open Table to made a reservation for the week of Valentine's Day.

We both ordered halibut in a herb-infused cream sauce. It was topped with a seared prawn and scallop was served with homemade risotto and roasted vegetables. Swoon. It was perfect. The sauce was delicious - flavored with a touch of lemon, a few capers and dose of Italian magic that makes something taste rich and complex.  We ate every bite of our generous meal and still had room to share a tiramisu. Eyelashes flutter.

The candles, the acoustic singer (who doesn't want to hear Volare sung in Italian?), the touch of dessert wine provided at the end of the meal - it all felt authentic and wonderful. 

Good job, Open Table, you are on point. I too highly recommend Montalcino Ristorante for a romantic dinner just 20 min East of Seattle. 

Happy Valentine's Day: Cookie Decorating

Happy Valentine's Day! This day holds a special day in my heart as it was the day in school that we celebrated my August birthday. I was always in charge of the class treats and I loved it.

This past Sunday, I attended a cookie decorating experience that I had signed up for on a whim. I am very new to my area and I thought that an hour of cookie decorating could help me to meet some people who live nearby. 

The brainchild behind "come use our frosting and sprinkles to make some sweet treats for your family" is Katie from Steve's Doughnuts in Snoqualmie. She had everything ready and we could make 6 masterpieces for $5. These are my edible works of art. 

It was fun, unexpected and delightful. I met 3 nice women in the area and I the cookies were delish. Thanks, Katie.