happy day of love

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've always liked Valentine's Day. It's a low-key holiday without any expectations (we don't exchange gifts), but a fun day to "celebrate" with extra love. 

I enjoy putting touches of heart decor around the house at this time of year, too. I think it adds some cheer to the usually dismal month of February. Though this year we've been lucky with a decent amount of sunshine and mild temps.

Do you remember the "Love is" comic strip? It was created in the 1960's by New Zealander, Kim Grove-Casali for her then-boyfriend and then appeared in newspapers in 1970. When Brian and I were dating (and maybe first married, too; I don't remember), we used to cut out the comic from the newspaper and give to each other if it pertained to us. 💗 I still have a bunch of them. 

I found this mug in an antique shop a few years ago and had to get it.

I like making a special dinner for Valentine's Day, too. When my kids were little, I'd make a heart-shaped meatloaf. Tonight for Brian and I, it's a lovely Bolognese sauce that I've had simmering on the stove all day ~ will boil some wide-tube pasta at the last minute; a tossed, green salad with various, crunchy veggies and a homemade Italian dressing; and a fresh baguette that I'll make into garlic bread. I also made one of Brian's favorite desserts: molasses cookies. Just pulled the cookies out of the oven and between the smell of those and the Bolognese sauce, my house smells amazing! 

Sending all of you LOVE.

hearts and love

I know I'm late in posting this for Valentine's Day because it's now evening, but I suppose it's never too late to send a little love to my blogging friends. 💓

I've always liked this holiday because it's non-commital. Brian and I exchange cards, but that's it. We don't buy each other gifts for Valentine's Day or go out to eat. Fill my car up with gas when it needs it? Make my tea in the morning? Now that's love. Though we do all have our own love language and maybe one of mine is gifts of service. (It's been so long since I've taken that test, that I can't remember.) I do like presents and going out to eat, but not on "Hallmark" holidays.

(Hearts made by various friends; photo by my friend, Hilary Packard.)

Brian doesn't get home from work until later this evening anyway, and he will be exhausted from his 12-hour shift. We'll have a little quiet time together before he crashes. 

A couple of other tidbits:

I treated myself to a lovely package of ephemera from Creative Yellow Pen. (You have to love yourself, too...and if one of those ways is buying yourself a present, then go for it.)

What a great haul! If you're at all into art or junk journaling, I highly recommend this etsy seller. She has sales, so watch for them.

To go along with the heart and love theme, this book. I'm an avid reader and admittedly, a picky one when it comes to fiction. Once in awhile I read a book that leaves me saying at the end, "Now THAT was good writing." This was one of those books. Beautiful prose, not a word wasted, intriguing plot, every character well developed. I never thought I'd like a dystopian novel, but this was so close to reality, it was frightening.

I'll leave you with this poem, from an account on Instagram.

the heart of winter

We got walloped by another snowstorm on Sunday. I know...it's "nothing" compared to what the east coast just got. But we're making up for lost time here in Illinois, with January packing over 20" of snow. 

As much as I don't like winter, I have to admit, the fresh snow is pretty.

Even prettier, Mr. Cardinal peeking out of the snowy arborvitaes in our backyard. 

Looking down our street...

Pretty to look at - yes. Fun to shovel - no. Especially when the snow is wet and heavy like it was. I'm just thankful Brian had the day off of work.

The days after snowstorms aren't so pretty. Reality sets in. Cars are covered in road salt, the snow piles on the sides of the road are slushy and black from all the dirt, and even the bird feeders take a beating. I went outside and broke off these icicles for the poor little birdies.

So now it's February which brings Valentine's Day. One of my favorite holidays as it's no-frills, just cheery pops of red and pink in the middle of a dull, cold month. As a side note, this plant in the white pot is the newest to join my household. I found it at Trader Joe's ~ ceramic pot included. I believe it's English Ivy. The plant didn't have an ID tag. 

In Brian's office...

A vintage bowl on the table at the end of the hallway holds some handmade (not by me!) hearts.

Just a few heart touches on and in the china cabinet...

Speaking of china cabinets, in my last post I had talked about looking for a hutch for my kitchen and getting rid of the china cabinet. I explained that this skinny cabinet had sentimental value, as Brian and I bought it when we were first married. A few of you said that maybe I could find somewhere else in my house for it. 

Backtracking a moment, here is the hutch I saw on FB Marketplace that was listed for only $50. While I was thinking about it, it sold right away. 

Back to finding another place in my home where I could put my skinny cabinet...

Our house is small. The only place it could possibly go is the living room. There's no room in any of the small bedrooms. This corner and the wall to the right is currently a work-in-progress anyway. The cheap, ugly IKEA chair you partially see is just temporary. We desperately need a nice armchair for that wall. I've been looking for a deep blue velvet one. They're out there but wow, are they expensive! There are cheap ones, but we don't want a cheap one. We are looking for a quality piece of furniture that's going to last. Our second choice is leather. In the meantime, to fill in this space, I ordered that tall shelving unit from Target. It doesn't do a lot for me. This whole space is just "off". I'm leaving it alone until we find an armchair. Anywho...maybe the skinny hutch would indeed look good in this corner? Only time will tell. First things first: finding a new hutch for the kitchen and an armchair for the living room.

In the happy news department, Tim is flying in from California on Thursday for a quick visit. We're due for some more snow on Thursday, so I hope his plane isn't delayed. Of course, as a mom, these kinds of things worry me. And doesn't it just figure...we're in for an Arctic blast this weekend, with wind chills up to -30F! I'm sure he won't miss this weather one bit by the time he flies back to California. 

Stay well and safe. 💓

love and staying warm

Hello, friends from brrr cold Illinois! Fresh snow greeted us yesterday and then the temps dropped to -6F with the wind chill this morning.

We've actually had a mild winter up until today, so guess I can't complain. In the meantime, we'll just keep warm in our own ways.

Making warm, comfort food such as chicken pot pie helps on cold evenings.

Or, a pot of black bean and sweet potato chili.

I found a cute shelf for my kitchen wall at Hobby Lobby. I've tried various pieces of artwork here over the years and nothing really worked. Sometimes it takes awhile to find just the right thing.

And I added this sweet paper banner to my kitchen window for a little cheer. It's from Susan Branch (I'm a huge fan of hers!), handmade by one of her staff. 

 Today is Valentine's Day ~ do you have any special plans? Brian and I don't make a big deal out of this day, but we'll have a nice dinner at home with a glass of wine and then perhaps watch a movie. It's too cold to go out, anyway! That's an old photo of us in the frame below. It was taken when we were in Cancun, Mexico 16 years ago.

LOVE TO YOU ALL!

💓

gloomy weather, cheery valentine's day decor

This is what it's looked like here for days on end. Dreary, gray, depressing. Perfect recipe for Cabin Fever and Seasonal Affective Disorder. Looking ahead at the weather forecast, we're supposed to have one day of sunshine tomorrow ~ and it will be 48 degrees! That's a heatwave for us in January. Last year at this time, we were at -50 with the wind chill factor. I will definitely be opening some windows and airing the house out tomorrow.

I don't do much seasonal decorating anymore, but I do like to add little touches around the house. I like Valentine's day because the red and pink add touches of color to the gray winter landscape, there's no expectations with this holiday (we do not exchange gifts or go out to dinner), and HEARTS, of course! 

On the dresser in the spare room...

At the end of the hallway...

In our bedroom...

Hearts in the main bathroom...

In the kitchen, the china cabinet gets some Valentine's Day decor...

And the kitchen table is all set for a snack...

Do you decorate for Valentine's Day or celebrate it in any way?

💓💓💓