Happy Valentine's Day!

I love love and I love holidays (including the made-up versions) so, naturally, I'm a fan of Valentine's Day. It's not the commercialized version I like as much as just the extra excuse to party and celebrate love. Since Matt and I don't play into the Hallmark side of the holiday, we typically don't even celebrate it on Feb. 14th. This time, we commemorated another year of love two weeks early with a romantic picnic at our favorite beach.

We indulged in mouthwatering Nadia cupcakes and sipped sparkling cider as we watched the sun dip into the ocean. Matt even surprised me with a few new songs he'd learned on the guitar. It was perfect, really.

Once it was good and dark, we headed out to a nice mall in the area. After all, what says "love" like shopping? I kid, I kid. But instead of buying each other gifts this year, we had decided to pick out one new pair of shoes each. I'm in love with my new Toms! (Matt went with Sanuks. We have to fit in here in California, you know.) Then we enjoyed a very late dinner at Cheesecake Factory, which just never gets old.

Due to work schedules, it was impossible to do anything tonight, so instead Matt and I got up early and made a big breakfast together. We ate delicious waffles with cool whip and fresh strawberries, and had eggs and bacon on the side. It was amazing! I think we have a new favorite Valentine's Day tradition.

I hope you've all had a wonderful holiday with the ones you love!


*Also, an update: Remember that one time our bumper randomly flew off the back of our car on the freeway? That was on our way to our romantic Valentine's date. And remember how I said it was going to cost an arm and a leg to repair? Yeah, we got quotes upwards of $900. And remember how Matt is the best husband ever? He got creative and fixed it to the tune of $4.95. Hooray!