Favorite Things - Valentine's Edition

First, let me get this off my chest. My Mom pronounces certain words in her own special way. It's part of why we love her. Sometimes we will go around the table and think of how many we can name. It's fun. Well, for us. Maybe not for Mom. But my whole life, she called Valentine's day Valentimes. Like hello? It's TIME for some VALENTIMES. So Mike and I have always called it Valentimes. It's weird for me when people say it right. So there. I just had to issue this disclaimer before I start.

• Do something that matters on Valentimes this year. Everyone can buy roses, chocolates, go out to dinner blah blah blah. How about a nice back rub, or clean the house or suggest doing something you hate but your spouse loves. Like for instance, for this Valentimes I am going to do all the laundry in the house and put it all away (this is normally Mike's job) so when Feb 14th dawns, his chore is done. I am going to make cioppino or steamed crab for dinner because it's his favorite. I am handmaking the Valentimes cards with the girls. That sort of thing. Mike, if you are reading this, I would love it if you cleaned out my van and had the carpets shampooed, programed my radio in my van so when I push the buttons it goes to actual stations and rubbed my left hand side teresmajor muscle for twenty minutes. This will cost less than a dozen roses by the way. And will make me every bit as happy.
• Two books that are great reads, G rated and full of love. The Guernsey Potato Peel Pie Society and Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart. Wonderful wonderful wonderful!!!
• Watching the Bachelor this season. Look haters...I haven't watched it since Trista and Ryan okay? But Jake....ooooohhhh Jake. He has the whole adonis this going for him, but he is basically a clean cut, smart nerd who is religious and nice. I like those types of boys. I find that by watching Jake, I think about love and romance more often and I think about falling in love with Mike Meeker and that makes me that much nicer to be around.
• An apple/peeler/corer/slicer. I just got this from Bed, Bath and Beyond yesterday. One of the moms from preschool brought apples to the park that she had peeled and cored and sliced. I always thought about getting one of these from Pampered Chef but I'm not a pie baker so I figured I just wouldn't use it that often. But did you know these little suckers peel POTATOES? Oh how I hate peeling potatoes. You have no idea how much I hate it. It's why we have pasta and rice more often than potatoes by like twelve times. The one from BB&B has this suction cup thing that holds on to the counter top where as the Pampered Chef variety has a clampy thing.
• Parisenne perfume by Yves Saint Lauren. It was new this holiday season and the girls bought me some for Christmas. It's pricey. Cheaper than Chanel but more expensive than say Estee Lauder. But it's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.
• Ellen as the new American Idol judge. You can't go buy her or anything like the books or perfume but she is going to be great.
• Roasted Shrimp cocktail. I have always boiled my shrimp in salt water with celery. But Barefoot Contessa showed how to roast the shrimp in the oven. Little olive oil, salt and pepper, 400 for like 8 to 10 minutes. So much better than boiling. But the shrimp will continue to cook so take them out when almost done but not quite. Did my first batch for 8 mins, second batch for 10 and the 8 min batch was way more tender and not rubbery.
• The movie Couples Therapy. It got crappy reviews and it is sort of a crappy movie. But Vince Vaughn is just funny in everything he does. I think this movie will make you glad for who you are married to. It's all about understanding that it's a lot easier to work on a marriage than to chuck it all and start over with somebody new. No matter how shiny and new that somebody might look. PG-13 and I would say it probably should have been rated R for adult content even though there isn't nudity or violence in it. I would not feel comfortable watching it with my 13 year old daughter.
• Frosted Flakes - Jessica asked if she could have Tiger cereal the other day at the store. They get "cartoon" cereal on Saturdays. I forgot how AMAZING frosted flakes are. Oh my heavens! Simple, but astounding.
• glitter glue, card stock paper, white paper lace doilies, markers and stickers. This combination makes the best Valentimes cards in the world. The girls and I will be knee deep in these supplies this morning.
• Saying "I Love You". Except for saying it to Mike and the girls, I am really bad at this one. My sister in law Amber is great at it. I always think that if something ever happened to me or Amber that the last thing we most likely would have said to each other is I Love You. This is because of Amber. I think it's worth trying to say it more. It's awkward to start, but I think if you just take a breath and jump into it, that it would get easier over time.