VALENTINE'S DAY | 2018

Back tracking a little here, but we celebrated Valentine's Day the weekend before the 14th, and I am so glad we did. Fighting crowds and going downtown on a work night is not our ideal kind of date, ha!

Matthew planned Valentine's last year so it was my turn this year. I made reservations at The Old Spaghetti Factory downtown for dinner. Sadly, the service and food weren't as good as we were hoping for, but it was still a fun night out!

I saw a cotton candy limeade on the menu and was intrigued so I ordered it, and it literally came out with a puff of cotton candy on the straw! Definitely worth it.

It was a messy and rainy night, so instead of going to see a movie we went home and changed into comfy clothes and watched Parenthood. We're so predictable ;)

Valentine's Day landed on a Wednesday this year, so I decided to make one of The Pioneer Woman's 20 minute recipe, Bowtie Chicken Alfredo. It is one of our favorites for a quick meal!

aaaand then around 9:30 I woke up to Matthew standing over me taking a Snapchat lol. #noshame I was exhausted and could hardly keep my eyes open after 9:00pm.

Very low key Valentine's Day this year, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

 I am so lucky to have my sweet husband and adorable puppy!

Valentine's Day | 2017

Valentine's Day | 2016

Valentine's Day | 2014

Valentine's Day | 2013

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VALENTINE'S DAY | 2018

VALENTINE'S DAY | HOME TOUR

It's no secret that I love decorating. I love the pops of color for each season and trying to get creative with things we already have and then finding a few new pieces that are within budget. And a lot of that comes from the good ole Target dollar section, ha! I don't decorate the whole house for each season, but I love adding some seasonal decor to the areas we are in the most, which would be the kitchen and living room. So here is our home decorated for Valentine's....

The living room

 I picked up the heart doilies at Dollar Tree and already had some red and white twine that I thread through them to make a cute and really cheap banner! The only thing with the doilies is that the heat from our fire place made them crinkle up a bit....as you can tell in the picture below, so I just took a few more doilies and put behind them to make them thicker and that helped for the most part! A few crinkled hearts didn't bother me too bad lol.

 The kitchen 

So, so excited to update this chalkboard every season or for special occasions!

Our coffee bar even got a small touch!

 My absolute favorite milk glass dish, ever. It was used in our wedding and I think it will always have a home on our kitchen table. I love filling it with small seasonal decor (lemons in the summer, pumpkins in the fall, pine cones or ornaments at Christmas, etc.). 

I LOVE IT.

And I found this sign at Dollar Tree that I threw up on the door in the hall way.

And our dining room...I shared our Valentine's Day tablescape, here.

That's it! Just a few small touches can make such a big difference. We are keeping all things red and pink up until the end of the month and then it's all things SPRING!

And since everyone should have already received their Valentine's card, we sent this to all of Reagan's puppy friends lol.

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VALENTINE'S DAY | HOME TOUR

VALENTINE'S DAY | 2017

Our second married Valentine's Day is in the books and it was so sweet and fun, and since this is my online scrapbook/diary I wanted to document it.

I loved seeing everyone's Valentine's Day posts yesterday, they were all so sappy and sweet and I LOVED them! I had planned on waking up early and making Matthew a special Valentine's Day breakfast, but our alarm didn't go off for some reason so we over slept a little bit, so sadly we didn't have time for a breakfast together. I told him I would make it up to him this weekend! 

After work Matthew picked me up at my office and our best friends, Ethan and Rachel, met us as well and we all headed to dinner. Matthew and Ethan got together back before Christmas and planned to take me and Rachel to see the play, The Sound Of Music, at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) here in Nashville on Valentine's Day. So when I opened my stocking on Christmas I found the tickets and we have been counting down the days since then!

We ate at Amerigo, a delicious Italian restaurant, that we all love (and go to often lol) for dinner and then headed downtown for the play. Rachel's mom was able to get us a parking pass in the parking garage (for free!) right across from TPAC, which was absolutely great because it was pouring down rain after the show. We had plenty of time after dinner before the show started so we walked around the capitol hotel/building and grabbed a few pictures!

The play was absolutely incredible and now I want to watch the movie again! I could not get over how beautiful the backdrops were throughout the entire show. I love The Sound of Music movie with Julie Andrews, and now that I have seen the play I love it even more. I also want to watch the one that Carrie Underwood did a few years ago. 

It was a wonderful show and we had the best time! Matthew gave me a beautiful necklace for Valentine's Day and I gave him a new phone case and new toiletry bag. Matthew definitely went with a traditional Valentine's Day gift and I went for the more practical-non-romantic gift this year lol.

I love you always and all ways, Valentine!

Valentine's Day | 2016

Valentine's Day | 2014 

Valentine's Day | 2013

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VALENTINE'S DAY | 2017

VALENTINE'S DAY: A LOOK BACK

Today marks mine and Matthew's 7th Valentine's Day together and I thought it would be fun to look back on our previous Valentines together.

We started dating in May of 2010, so our first Valentine's Day that we celebrated together was in 2011. It was my senior year of high school and I was still living at home and Matthew was in his freshmen year of college, living in Cookeville. After Matthew's classes he drove and hour home and took me out to dinner, and I think we went to see a movie but I can't remember, and then he drove an hour back that night because he had class the next morning. It was so fun to see him on a week night, because during that time we only saw each other on the weekends.

2011

In 2012 I was still living at home and Matthew drove home from Cookeville again. We went out to dinner and then to the movies to see The Vow. I also made him a no-bake cheesecake. He said he loved it but I tried it and it was pretty gross lol.

2012

The next year was my last Valentine's Day at home and Matthew's last year of having to drive an hour to take me out! We went to dinner and then saw Safe Haven (one of my absolute favorite movies).

2013

The next year I was living in Cookeville with two of my friends from church. Matthew and I went out to dinner in Cookeville and then went back to my apartment and I made him dessert, oreo pie, and we watched a movie. The next day I went over to Matthew's apartment and we left bright and early for a day trip to Chattanooga. It was a really fun day and I'll always remember our spontaneous day trip that year!

2014

Sadly, I don't think I got a picture of us on Valentine's Day in 2015, or if I did I can't find it. We were knee deep in wedding planning so I remember we kept it very low-key. 

Last year was our first married Valentine's Day! It landed on a Sunday so we celebrated with a fancy dinner out on Friday night, where I had the best steak of my entire life. Matthew woke up early on Sunday morning and made me the cutest breakfast in bed before church.

2016

And this year, we get to celebrate with this sweet girl!

Happy Valentine's Day, friends! 

I hope whatever you do today or whoever you celebrate with that you feel loved!

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VALENTINE'S DAY: A LOOK BACK

VALENTINE'S DAY TABLESCAPE

I love tablescapes! I love looking at them on Pinterest, I love going to someone's house and seeing theirs, and I love creating one for our home. I also think it's fun to change up our tablescape every season. So when I was decorating our home for Valentine's Day I looked for ways to add some Valentine's Day decor in our tablescape.

I picked up some heart shaped doilies at Dollar Tree and used them for a banner on our mantel (more of that to come later) and ended up having a lot left because so many come in a pack. So I decided to add them to our gold chargers we already had on hand. It is basically the same tablescape from Friendsgiving, I just added the heart doilies to our gold chargers. 

 So in all it cost me around $4 for our Valentine's Day tablescape...woo hoo!

P.S. That chandelier used the be gold and we spray painted it. And I love it!

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VALENTINE'S DAY TABLESCAPE

WEEKEND RECAP: VALENTINE'S DAY EDITION

We ended up deciding to go out for Valentine's Day and I'm glad we did. It's fun getting dressed up and going out with my man! We went to a new restaurant Friday night called Connors that just opened last week and it was SO GOOD. Matthew went to the one in Knoxville when he was on his business trip and really liked it so he wanted to take me to try it. Needless to say, it was the best steak I've ever had, and the atmosphere was great, too!

I found this dress last month on sale for $15 and just couldn't pass it up. I love the scallop style!

Matthew had to work Saturday morning so I went to my sister's championship basketball game and they won! Saturday afternoon we worked around the house. Unpacking boxes and cleaning out the garage so Matthew could park his car in there too. There were some cabinets left in the garage from the previous owner but they were in pretty bad shape so we took them down. There is so much more room without them!

Sunday morning Matthew woke up early and surprised me with breakfast in bed. The heart bacon was just too cute lol

We went to church and then met Matthew's parents for lunch and then spent the afternoon visiting with them. Sunday night we had crockpot cheesy chicken and rice! I love being able to come home to our meal already finished lol. Matthew wasn't a big fan of it, but I thought it was pretty good. Just a little tip- this is not like the cheesy chicken and rice you get at Mexican restaurants, but it is still good.

I carry your heart with me, I carry it in my heart. LOVE my sweet Valentine! 

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WEEKEND RECAP: VALENTINE'S DAY EDITION

Happy 5 & Friday!

1. This week has seemed a little longer than usual. It never fails I would look up at the clock at work and it seems like every single day this week when I would check it would only be 12:45...so weird!! So to say I'm so glad Friday is here is an understatement (not like it's different any other week lol)
2. I might also be a little more eager for this weekend than usual because I am (finally) going to look at dresses!!!!! I am so excited! I have put it off for as long as I can, hoping to drop a couple of pounds before I went and tried them on. I'm 8lbs down so I'll take it!! I honestly have been a little worried because when I have told people I wasn't going to look at dresses until mid to late February (I have an appt next Saturday with David's Bridal, too) they thought I was crazy for waiting so long.  I mentioned before but my aunt's mom owns and runs the dress shop we are going to this Sunday. They are open Monday-Saturdays and so she is coming in on Sunday to open the shop up just for us. I still can't believe it, we are so lucky, and I am incredibly thankful for their kindness!! I am just going with family this Sunday and next weekend Matthew's mom and some of my bridal party will go. I'm really excited and grateful that BOTH of my grandmothers are going this Sunday! I just know this will be a special day.  I decided not to let my dad go with us Sunday. Which was a little tough for me, I'm a daddy's girl through and through. I would love for my dad to be there but Matthew and I have decided not to do a first look, so I am doing a first look with my dad on our wedding day instead.  I tear up every single time I think about it. 
3. Valentine's Day is almost here! Although I completely agree that you should love on your spouse/significant other everyday, as well as show appreciation and respect, I'm not all anti celebrating Valentine's Day. We still enjoy celebrating it, but don't get too crazy. A dinner out somewhere where we don't have to make reservations is what we usually do, low key is best for us to avoid large crowds. I have always made dessert for us and I am making it again this year! In the past I have made a no bake cheesecake and Oreo balls, this year I am going to make a cookie/brownie thing and we'll pick up some ice cream at Kroger to go with it!
4. In order to save a little money we decided to just exchange cards this year! I got really excited to pick out Matthew's card and was also a little proud of myself for picking it up earlier this week instead of waiting until the day before like I did last year. I was the only one in the card aisle at Walgreens so I was able to take my time and not move around people, best thing ever! I started reading some and goodness gracious I don't know what is wrong with me but I got SO emotional. As in tearing up at almost every card. Then I saw the "husband" cards and realized that next Valentine's Day I will get to buy a husband card...had to walk out of the aisle to collect myself.  I don't know who I am anymore lol.
5. Since #4 turned into a little cry fest here are some funny things from Pinterest this week!

YES

Have a great weekend!! 

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Happy 5 & Friday!

February 14th

(Self timer at it's finest y'all. Let's just pretend the lighting is good in my apartment)   This year for Valentine's Day we wanted to keep it kinda low key. We usually do dinner and a movie and whatever else we find to do but this year we just went to dinner. Matthew had made reservations a few weeks in advance so we didn't have to worry about waiting for hours like other people.     Matthew showed up at my door to pick me up with an umbrella in one hand and a dozen red roses in the other hand. I had told him multiple times not to buy me roses since they shoot the price up to an unreasonable price the week of the 14th but he obviously didn't listen lol. I very much appreciated my roses because I know how stinkin expensive they were...they are sat on my desk for a couple of weeks because I hated to throw them out as soon as they died.  

  We ate at a local place here in Cookeville called Nicks and it was delicious! We had gone there once before for an accounting banquet back in December for all the graduating accountants and knew we needed a good excuse to go back and we both agreed that night that we wanted to go there for Valentines.   After dinner we stopped at Redbox and grabbed a movie and headed back to my apartment. I made Matthew a small no bake Oreo cheesecake so we had that for dessert and watched the movie. I am so glad we decided to skip going to a movie and fighting the crowds this year, the older we get I think the more we just enjoy sitting on the couch with comfy clothes on watching a movie. Don't get me wrong we love going to the movies but not when everyone else in town is there. Plus we like going early in the afternoon so we can get a cheaper ticket price ;)   We exchanged our Valentine's Day presents early this year so here's the picture of him with his present back in late January (I wasn't joking when I said early!!)   

 

and here is what I had waiting on the counter for him at my apartment! That little toolbox actually had nothing in it. I gave him a real toolbox a couple of years ago for his birthday and then I gave him this Bar-B-Q "toolbox" for Valentine's Day so when I saw that small one at the store like the day before and it was on sale for .50 I had to get it!! I was going to put candy in it but I decided to get his favorite candy...Buncha Crunch. We both cracked up at the empty little toolbox.

      Four Valentine's Day celebrations later and he is still my favorite. I love being his girlfriend! 

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February 14th