valentimes

♥♡♥♡♥
It's been a week, but HusBen kept asking if I was going to post about it, which I consider rare enough to oblige—despite the grainy photos. I'm a big fan of love, so it is fun to celebrate. I laughed when Ben came home a few days before V-day, admitting his ponderings that we should know each other's expectations for this holiday. "Are we going to boycott the commercialization or. . . get super into it?" This is certainly not our first Valentine's Day together, so I'm not sure why it came up now, but I took advantage to let him know I didn't expect to watch a Jazz game. ;)

When the day came, it was the final kick in the pants I needed to get that tidy house I lied about! I thought it would be the best surprise for Ben, and considered it a near-miracle to finish all I did (the miracle included Cohen napping well) before he walked in the door that evening. I fed Cohen dinner as Ben began prepping our dinner of fresh spring rolls with the ingredients he stopped for on the way home. He brought me home a bunch of tulips-to-be and my 2 bottles of my favorite treat (Odwalla Superfood)! Hiding behind the love note I forgot to remove is my other favorite lately—CHOCOLATE. Cliché, I know, but I can't help it. Ben went straight to the top with a bag of Ghirardelli "Intense Dark Twilight Delight 72% Cacao" squares. I couldn't have asked for more.

I'm glad he found his own favorite treat as well, being that my only offering was the tidy surroundings. He loves big buckets of lychee jellies! He treated us to a plethora of asian beverages too. My favorite was the white (green?) grape juice with whole grapes in it. We topped off our night watching Adam, having remembered that our last Valentine's Day movie was Temple Grandin. It was a good day of love.

P.S. Before the tulips arrived, there was a bright red camellia adorning the table, which fell to its death just as we set the table. I felt extra romantic spreading the petals across the table, but get this—they were greasy! Weird.
P.P.S. I missed taking a photo of the 'budding' stage, when we were guessing the blooms would be white, but by Monday, we had a bunch of precious pastel pink in the window!