The day of hearts…

Forgive me for borrowing a line from the very first OLD Star Wars movie, but it’s what comes to mind as I prepare this post.  Do you remember when Luke was trying to convince Han Solo that they needed to rescue princess Leia?  He promises Solo that if they rescue her, there will be a reward.  This gets Han’s attention and he asks about the reward, to which Luke (who is not nearly as world-wise as Solo is) says, “More than you can imagine.”  And here’s the line that runs through my head.  Solo says, “I can imagine a LOT.”

When it comes to planning many things, I have Han Solo’s problem.  I can imagine a lot.

What actually happens NEVER COMES CLOSE to what I can imagine.  This has always been frustrating to me, but I’ve learned over the years to handle it better, reminding myself that I’m usually the only one who is disappointed.  After all, no one else lives inside my head and sees the things I can dream up.  I remind myself that whatever actually gets done is usually just fine.  And then I move on and start imagining something else.

With that thought in mind, here’s what I managed to pull off on Valentine’s Day.   It was a crazy day, with a few hours spent at the school and a few hours of after school driving to do, but it worked.  It turned out to be a fun day, and my family seemed happy, which is really all I wanted.


cookie dough…


valentines for the kids…


Valentine dinner table complete with Pop Shoppe bottles and red striped straws…


vintage trophy shaped sugar bowls with little candy…


huge heart-shaped English toffee with pistachios for my husband…


Valentine table with balloons…


these sugar bowls make my heart happy…


experimenting with ombre in arranging balloons…


My favorite Marghab pattern, the Jacaranda tree, in pink on a napkin from Vera Marghab’s collection…


I always love the Valentine’s day m&m’s colors…


vintage pink basket with large glitter hearts…


And then the day was over.  I cooked ribs for dinner, one of our favorites.  It was a wonderful, busy, messy, sugar-filled day.  My list is tucked away for next year so I can review my ideas and go from there.  In all, it turned out great.  What I did was far enough out of our daily routine that my children felt like it was a special night.

Life is good, isn’t it?

HH

Study Little Things



“It is by studying little things, that we attain the great art of having as little misery, and as much happiness as possible.” -Samuel Johnson I feel like I’ve been studying a lot of big things lately, big things that leave me exhausted and trembling.  It’s time to take a step back and study some little things.


It’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow.

I have a lovely list of things I wanted to accomplish before this holiday hit.  Some really fun ideas, some really thoughtful ones too.  But as happens all too often, life got in the way.  I remind myself that this really isn’t as big a holiday as the stores would have us think.  I didn’t want to do it to impress anybody,  only to bring to life ideas I have flitting around in my head, and to express my love for my family in fun ways.

As I sat with my hot chocolate and heart shaped marshmallows, I said good-bye to the big plans I’d made, and decided that tomorrow will be a day of little things.  Little things done with love.


Jennifer

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