Valentines

This year I had the best Valentines I think I've ever had. We didn't do anything big or fancy, but at the end of the day Nathan and I couldn't stop talking about how nice of a time we had. Since Nathan was in school Monday, we did our thing on Saturday. Lucky for me, I had Monday off, which really helped me relax and just enjoy the day. Normally Saturdays are completely consumed with cooking, cleaning, and grading, so it was nice to have the time to focus just on us.

I did run some errands in the morning, but that afternoon we went to tour Lula's Chocolate Factory. They make premium chocolates. Now, I thought Lindor Truffles were the best stuff on earth--I had no idea what a limited world-view that was! It cost us, but we bought some truffles and sea-salt caramels. I have had so much trying things like Cinnamon Truffles and Chili Verde Caramel, especially since I'm addicted to cooking competitions that have things like that but I of course can't try through my tv screen. They are amazing, and I don't know how I will ever go back to lesser, more affordable chocolate. Oh wait--I'm Amanda. I'll figure out a way somehow!

After that, we went to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner. I got a $25 gift card for a restaurant there that I paid $3 for. In all, I think we ended up paying $40 for a $60-ish meal. Not too bad! It was yummy too. Nathan had halibut and I had smoked salmon ravioli. I did decide that in the future I should stick to regular old salmon fillets. It may be boring, but every time I branch and try something new, it never is as good to me as plain old salmon.

After that, we opened our presents. One of the weirdest/coolest things of the day was how much we were on the same wavelength, which was manifested at the gift giving. First, Nathan and I are not card people, but we both randomly picked one up at the store while running errands that morning. Not strange, you say? Well, out of a pretty extensive Valentines card selection at Target, Nathan got a card for me that I had REALLY wanted to get him except it says "To My Wife" on the front. I almost got it anyway, crossed out wife, and wrote in husband. I ended up choosing a different one, but it really blew me away when I saw the card he chose for me.

The second one happened while I was at Borders getting his gift. I had been wanting to try the new Hazelnut Lindor truffles, and Borders sells them individually. I knew I was going to the chocolate factory later, so I almost ignored the display, but I'm rarely in Borders so I decided to go ahead and get one little truffle. Later that evening, to my great surprise, Nathan bought me a whole bag of Hazelnut chocolates! It's good thing I ended up loving them! It was also sweet of him to remember I wanted to try them, because I think I mentioned it once the one other time we were in Borders about a month ago. We were so connected that day!

Us at the end of our tour at the chocolate factory. I felt like Lucy in the hairnet/cap thingy! (I REALLY need to figure out how to get the time stamp off!)

Our spoils. Yum!

I'm definitely not known for being a picture-taker in my family, so occasionally I do try to be a little better about it. So here are the presents wrapped...

And here they are unwrapped! (Along with all the junk on the spool. I cleaned later.)

And my pretty flowers. I don't really like roses very much. Tulips have become my favorite flower. So Nathan got me a tulip/iris arrangement that is beautiful. The flowers didn't fit very well in the vase I usually use, so I broke this out for the first time since we got it 4 1/2 years ago for our wedding. The candles were absolutely beautiful. Until I realized they were making the flowers wilt. After taking the picture I quickly blew them back out!