Valentine’s Day 2014

This year, Valentine’s Day was a bit out of sorts. I mostly blame Mother Nature, who delivered two snow days last week and a whopping foot and a half of snow, and I think a delayed opening or two. Honestly, it’s just all a blur at this point.

And then Nick had plans at a teen event with friends on Friday night, which only compounded the out of sorts feeling, leaving Madeline and I to our own devices.

And since I thought the holiday was so off, I called for a redo, which we did last night, celebrating again with friends.

On the real Valentine’s Day, as opposed to my self-imposed do over, Madeline declared “Valentine’s Day is like Christmas. Only with love. And I love drawing hearts, so it’s my favorite.” And, of course, I couldn’t agree more. She loved the day, and getting a second crack at it, and loves love as much as her Mom. Which couldn’t make me happier. Growing up, my parents always made a big deal out of Valentine’s Day, and I have continued to do the same with Nick and Madeline. Because I want them to know that Valentine’s Day is far more than an over-commercialized holiday for Hallmark and your local florist. It’s a day to celebrate love. But not just love of a significant other. Love of family, friends, everybody, and everything. And more importantly, perhaps, is the fact that love can be celebrated all throughout the year, not just on February 14th. And since Madeline loves the holiday, love, and finding random hearts as much as I do, I’d say I’m doing a bang-up job of driving that point home.

Hope your Valentine’s Day was filled with love and an overindulgence of sweets. Just like ours.

Tomorrow? A new recipe.
Thursday? January Instagram in Review.