Hearts, Flowers and Chocolate

Some say Valentine's Day is a contrived holiday, one not worth acknowledging. But give me any reason to celebrate, especially in the middle of February (one of the toughest months of the year for me) and I will gladly take it. And when we are celebrating the people we love the most, celebrating love itself, how can you complain? Especially when the holiday specifically calls for eating chocolate.

Yes, there were hearts. Many of them. I'm certain with more time we could have cut out even more hearts and found creative ways to hang them throughout our house. But we did the best we could. As Ava was going to sleep the night before Valentine's Day she said, "perhaps tomorrow we can hang more hearts...." That's my girl. You can never have too many hearts on Valentine's Day. 

Yes, there was chocolate. Lots of chocolate. If you've never realized how easy it is to make truffles, I warn you not to look at the recipe; you may never stop eating them. Making truffles has become something of a Valentine's Day tradition for me, so I was already planning on whipping up a batch. Then as I was looking through my dessert recipe stash I found one for whoopie pies adapted from Zingerman's Bakehouse in Ann Arbor. I felt I had to make them too as a way to incorporate our beloved old town into our Minneapolis Valentine's celebration. 

Will actually got a bit miffed when he found out I was making both truffles and whoopie pies for dessert. In his defense, he was tired, hungry and dinner was running a tad late because I was busy adding sticks of butter by the half tablespoonful to the buttercream filling, whipping it constantly as I prepared our feast (yes, I say "sticks" of butter - I won't dare tell how many went into the whoopie pies). I assure you, I heard no complaints while he was eating them. 

And, of course, there was Valentine's Day crafting. I found these irresistible heart barrettes from Purl Soho. A perfect project to use up all of those felt scraps leftover from cutting out hearts.

We had a love-filled, admittedly a bit hectic, Valentine's Day. Not all of us made it through to the end of the night - the boy has had quite a cough and was not in the mood for exclaiming "whoopie" at his dessert along with the rest of us. But amidst the fatigue and crankiness, the coughing and sniffles, the rushed dinner, the abundant cards and gifts, Will and I reminded ourselves that some Valentine's Day in the future (perhaps 30 years from now) we may find ourselves sitting at a quiet table feeling just slightly bored. And while today there is some small part inside of us that longs for a reminder of what it actually feels like to be bored, I know when it comes we will be thinking back to these days of abundance as precious fleeting times. So today we celebrate and rejoice in the fullness of our home, our family, our lives, our loves.

I hope you all had a sweet, love-filled Valentine's Day.