Yesterday was Valentine's Day!! Happy Day of Love, everyone!
Yes yes, I know, yesterday was the 16th, not the 14th of February - Adam and I in the past have always made a big deal of Valentine's Day, starting with the first date excursion back in '06 when I actually started to like him (like, like him). That day was as red-letter (or pink-letter) as it gets - he took me to the circus as a surprise and he wore pink and we stayed up waaaay too late talking in a Steak 'n' Shake in Atlanta, and it was the first time I felt those little flitting butterflies in my stomach when I looked at him.
So this year, we decided to have OUR Valentine's Day on our day off, in order to get the most out of our V-day celebrations. This romantic day also happens to be the anniversary of Adam's marriage proposal in 2009, that led to our wedding 7.5 months later. Obviously, The Day of Luve is a meaningful day for us, and we go all out every year. :)
And if you're thinking right now, "jeez, can she get any gushier and mushier?" you should probably just stop reading, because I can, and I'm about to.
I warned you.
We started off bright and early... by sleeping in.
I was too excited to sleep too late and slipped out before Adam woke. I was treated to a style-fabulous hair-straightening by our lovely housekeeper, Jess, who had brought her flat iron to work for the occasion. I also wore a skirt, which Adam pointed out was the same skirt I wore to our Circus V-day 4 years before.
Once Adam woke (and oohed and aahhed appropriately over my shiny hair), our day progressed in a blissful stream of wind and sun and mushiness. We hopped onto Jem and ate at one of my ALL-TIME FAVORITE restaurants, La Madeleine. *drooling, just thinking about it...* Then we scooted to NOLA's massive City Park and rode through, over, under and around the whole park. At one point I saw horses and shrieked at Adam to pull over so we could see them. They turned out to be Police horses, and the police officer on-duty turned out to be super proud of his stables and showed us every horse in there, leading some out of their stalls to show them off and let us stroke their silky sides and soft noses. They were all Percherons, and most of them were MASSIVE. The best part was watching 3 of them race around the arena out front, kicking up dirt clods and bucking and kicking. Glorious:
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| "Trouble" |
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| "Trouble", "Eclipse" and "Gypsy" |
After the horse-y side trip, we found a cozy patch of roots next to a pond and dozed a while in the sunshine:
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| Relaxed Adam |
We headed back to town and ate dinner at one of the ritziest digs in town, Irene's. I swear, they put some kind of magic pixie dust, or maybe drugs into that sauce on their veal marsala. I. JUST. CAN'T. GET. ENOUGH. *more drooling*
But I did get more than enough, and felt stuffed to bursting - Adam too, after his excellent bistecca (well, he thought it was excellent, I thought I could still hear it mooing.).
We collapsed back in our little loft and fell enchanted, under the spell of the animated film, "The Secret of Kells."
In the telling, it sounds like any regular Wednesday off we might have. But it wasn't - it was special and beautiful in a way those other beautiful days were not. What was the difference? What turns a normal day off into a Valentine's Day? There were... extra sixteenth notes of love we wove and laced throughout the span of the day, slipping them in at every opportunity:
...building up the day with our words in advance, verbally anticipating the fun of it
...being so in sync with each other that we purchased the exact same gifts for each other
...Having a fabulous excuse for any/all indulgences, and thus avoiding all guilt/concern over spending money
We had all those notes and more (including a love letter "note" by my pillow when I first awoke, so glowing with love it about blinded me), and when they were all strung together, they composed something more special and joyful than the regular, daily tune.
I warned you it was going to get mushier. I'll save you from the ending I considered (briefly) about those notes "equaling a symphony still playing in my heart, etc."
You know what really made it special? It wasn't that Adam and I suddenly started acting like we love each other for the one day; it was a magnification of the love we act out for each other on a daily basis, just in a super-concentrated dose.
There. That's as mushy as I can get without feeling nauseous myself.
Love,
Anna
