February this and that...

Still February, so I thought I'd post some random going ons lately:

Made these: Strawberry Heart Oreos

recipe and picture from here

My sister Bethany and I visited a mutual friend who is going through a really hard time two weekends ago.  Without getting into details, it was clear that she needed a girls' day, so we drove to her and spent the afternoon eating Mexican and downing margaritas.  I also baked and brought her a batch of these ridiculously fattening heart cookies.

Mine didn't look as good as the above ones, but they were still fun to make:

Watching this soon: Downton Abbey

via here

My friend Missy leant me her BluRay.  I have to balance out all the episodes of The Bachelor that Dan and I have been watching.  Is it as good as everyone says?  Weigh in if you've seen it!

Added these:  Lights to guest room

No more lopsidedness:

Thank you, Target!

Tried this: Traveling journal


Dan and I started a new Valentine's idea: the traveling journal! I heard about this online: grab an old journal, write your husband a love note, leave it somewhere with a pen and a note that says "Read me! Write me one back on the next page whenever you want and leave it somewhere for me to find." I had a journal someone gifted me at Christmas that actually said travel on it and we put it to good use.





We've written about a dozen notes back and forth, mostly inside jokes and quoting our favorite lines from Parks and Rec. I'm thinking it will be a February tradition so we don't put too much pressure on ourselves to keep it up all year. 

How was everyone's Valentine's Day?  Ours was nice: I actually made dinner and dessert, and Dan surprised me with an enormous, fluffy robe from the hotel where we spent our wedding night!  I might not ever take it off...

It's heart work

That's my worst pun ever.

Not much going on here, so I thought I'd post a bit of a blog heart attack: Heart Valentine decor, a heart wreath, and Baby Hart :)

This post is a bit of a lovefest, so skip it if you are one of those people who says things like, "I hate Valentine's Day because it's just a Hallmark holiday!"

Okay, you cynics, don't skip it because I have something for you too:

There you go: some inappropriate Valentine humor!

But back to my decor...

Dan teases me about being all about a mantlescape.  It's kind of my secret shame, but I love it like that awful Sandra Lee likes her tablescapes.  It's full-on cheesy and Martha Stewarty, but I love 'em!  At least I limit them to just Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Oh, and now Valentine's Day:

I decided to go with red and tan, instead of the usual pink action.

$2 Target bowl filled with Dan's favorite chocolates:

I got crafty this month! 

First, I made these Cupid arrows with dowels, felt, and a couple feathers.  I borrowed the idea from here, and I love them!  Somewhere a fat baby is missing his ammo...

Aren't they cute??

I threw a couple of cards in old frames:

Second craft:  I made this romantic eye chart (ripped off from here on Pinterest).  It was super easy; I used Arial font and put the lines in varying sizes and printed it in color.

For the banner, I just took some clothes pins that I used to display pictures at our wedding and clipped up some tiny Valentine's day cards:

 Lastly, I got crafty by making this argyle heart wreath!!

It was basically a ton of wrapping yarn around the wreath.  I wrapped for an entire episode of Parks and Rec and Office.  Then, I just cut out the hearts and criss crossed them with more yarn.

For full directions, you can go to the website where I blatantly stole nicely borrowed (and gave credit) the idea from: here.

Thank goodness for creative people on the interweb for giving the rest of us good ideas! :)

My friend Mali had her baby!  Her last name is "Hart", so I ran with the theme and made her a little "Hospital Survival Kit" in a sparkly heart pail.

Nothing fancy: just healthy snacks, comfy socks, and an eye mask to use when in the recovery room (she had to have a scheduled c-section).

Mali waited to find out if it was a boy or a girl. And she had... little Miss Ruby Elizabeth Hart.  Ruby Hart!  I think my gift was definitely appropriate!  Mom and baby are doing great.  It was over-whelming (so many emotions: wistful, happy, in awe) and wonderful seeing her as a mom when we visited. 

I have to include the below picture because Dan decided to hold her but was scared of her flimsy baby neck and had his arms uncomfortable propped up around her in the most awkward way.  The usually quiet Miss Ruby started wailing.  I think she could sense his fear, like a dog.

He got the hang of it after a minute or two though!

Dan and I tried a new Valentine tradition that I'll share later this week.

Until then, I'll leave you with one more snarky Valentine pin:

Via here

Valentine wh*re card via here