Bitten...

...by the love bug.
I really love Valentine's Day. I've always loved it, as long as I can remember. I just love it.
I wouldn't really want to over do it on those wonderful red and pink decorations that indicate this time of year, and I've got to leave some room for whatever Hubs gets me on VDay to make an impact, but I do like to break out a little love-liness before the big day- because it's always here and gone so fast.
I admit, we bought and broke out the Necco hearts two weeks ago. But I waited until last week to really show some love.
I found this great bevelled glass tray, or whatever I would call it, on clearance at Target. It was $10, but there was only one left, you know, and it has a really fancy feel, with great potential for Valentine's Day, Christmas, and the occasional other types of things when you need a little shimmer... so it was really worth it to me. And the rest of the year it could be propped up somewhere in my house as a mirror. Love it.

The flowers- oh, I love these. Do you call them Alstromeria, or however you spell it, or do you call them African Lilies? I call them both, and get them often in winter when we don't have flowers of our own outside. So many colors, so cheap (always around $5 for a big bunch) and they last for weeks. Usually about 3 weeks for me, and they're fantastic. I just change the water every couple of days.If you're running out to get flowers any time in winter, never forget to cover them up really well before you take them out into the frigid air! You have to do it yourself at the grocery store, they will never think to tell you that. Also never forget to trim them under water at an angle as you prepare them for your vase...and take off any leaves that would be underwater...so they don't rot. Your flowers will last a lot longer that way. And after a week or so, if the ends look a little discolored, when you change the water you can trim the ends a tad, too, and that will keep things fresh. The rest of this stuff was from around my house.

Even Jim noticed this right away when he got home, which is rare. He said it was pretty, right away, ladies! Sometimes it takes him weeks to notice that I changed something. He's not trying to not pay attention...he's just paying attention to other things...like he always checks the tire pressure and makes sure the oil gets changed etc. in our cars...I never think of that! Priorities.
The girls got some fun new plates at Target on the same day (they bought them with their own money- no WAY would I have gotten them $4 plates on my own if it wasn't a gift!), so, we're all about the love at our house now. Every single meal is eaten on these. Of course.

Oh, and they bought place mats too. I think every little girl just instinctively loves Valentine's Day for all that wonderful pink-ness and romance.
Lily and Patience loved the owl. One of the pictures on the plates has two owls and says Owl [heart] you forever. Ha ha. So cute. I'm all over it.
My lover- of -order Grace got the place mat that looks the most like her plate, so they could match as much as possible. And she adores that the food can be separate now, not touching at all, and then can be sorted again by size or color or shape, as desire demands, because there are so many sections.

I completely understand where she is coming from.
And here is Hudson, for good measure.

I can't believe you got here, to the end, of this post all about a tray...or whatever I should call it. Clearly, you love Valentine's Day as much as me.