The Sweetest Thing

Today, while Raf was opening his plethora of birthday cards and Valentine wishes over his morning coffee, I got choked up.  Not just about how much I adore him, or how good our life together is, or how I'm happy he's my Valentine, but how much I'll miss them while I'm in Italy for the next two weeks.  I leave in the morning.  


As I wiped a stray tear away and gulped my coffee (caffeine always makes it better, doesn't it?), he said, "You have to go.  This is what you love."


I didn't seem convinced and he let this doozy fly:


"You know, each of the five of us has a life separate from the other four.  It's important that we pursue what we love individually, or else it will ultimately be bad for all of us."


When we make a wish, it may affect everyone... but maybe for the best.

Valentines Day "Craft Stew"

To counteract the testoterone content of the Super Bowl, my crafty friend suggested a pre-SB "craft stew," in which we glittered and glitzed our way through a few fun projects. I made these Valentine shadowboxes for my girls.

Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day. I do. It's not just a celebration of love, but of all things sparkly, red, tacky, feathery, glitzy, pink and gaudy. It's also my husband's birthday and thus, the day the love of my life was born.

To honor Valentine's Day, one must call on all the Muses and the Crafty Gods to create something suitably spectacular for loved ones. My own mother used to create treasure hunts for us when we were kids, so my brother and I would come home from school and have to dash from here to there (under couch cushions and in cabinets, under the sink and outside by a tree) to locate our valentines. I've done this with my own kids, too, and it was really fun during their "Dora the Explorer" fixation -- "First we go to the piano bench... next comes the guinea pig cage... and finally, the computer desk!" I also like treasure maps, but sometimes my inability to draw straight lines gets in the way.

I prefer to craft up a card or two for my kids instead, but sometimes even that seems to lack a little zazz. This year, I made shadowbox Valentines.