Kyle & Kylie: A Bittersweet Valentine's Day

So let's start with the SWEET stuff from this Valentine's Day...I happen to love Valentine's Day (maybe because my birthday is the day after? :)...and I know a lot of people who don't; who have the it's-just-a-commercial-holiday view of it; which to a degree, I understand. But to me it's not about the oh-it's-Valentine's Day-so-I-better-buy-my-significant-other-something-to-show-them-I-love-them viewpoint...the way I see it, it's a day to celebrate love ;) Love in all forms, whether it's romantic or not...I think of Valentine's Day as an opportunity to show the people in your life that you care about them. We should really be doing that every day, right? But it's always fun to have a special day to do something special for those you love. Mom, dad, sister, brother, friend, dog, cat.... ;) You get the idea ;)

And this Valentine's day was especially sweet since it was Kyle and my first married Valentine's Day...awwww ;) We both got each other "husband" and "wife" Valentine's Day cards...it's crazy to shop for those now! I was so used to shopping in the "love" or "significant other" section at Hallmark...now I feel like there are so many more options! ;)

So maybe I'm a little funny, but ever since Kyle and I got married and we've had our OWN place..to ourselves..just ours..I have this thing that I love to do. It's really not a big deal, I guess, to some..but I love putting a fresh flowers on our dining room table. I take great joy in going to the grocery store, and picking up a bouquet of roses or gerber daisies or lilies or whatever strikes me when I am getting my "every day" groceries. It's a little thrill I get ;) Whether we are having people come over or not, I love the feeling of walking through the front door and seeing a beautiful arrangement greeting me. It's like its saying, "Welcome home" to me each time I see it...like it's reminding me of how special this place is.

So anyways...now you know ;) And lately I have been taking pictures of some of the prettier bouquets...so I just thought I'd share what our dining room table looked like before Valentine's Day...

I found this gorgeous bouquet of corally-pink roses at Vons..the petals are tipped in an orangey-yellow.

And now getting ready for Valentine's Day...I switched it out for some festive pink tulips ;)

And speaking of SWEETS {!} I decided to make Kyle some red velvet cupcakes.

And set the table with some candy hearts, some red votives, and my favorite Martha Stewart cake stands.

So this is something I learned from Martha Stewart magazine...and I knew I had to try it on my red velvet cupcakes.

Chocolate abstracts.

That's right.

Little delicate pieces of artwork adorning your cupcakes..made out of..what else..chocolate :)

(I knew Kyle would take them off, since he doesn't like chocolate, but I still wanted the presentation factor)

They are super easy to make! All you do is melt some semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave and add in a touch of vegetable oil.

Turn a cookie sheet over (so it's upside down) and lay a piece of parchment paper down.

Then what I did is put the melted chocolate mixture (careful not to burn yourself) into a baggie, snipped the corner, then carefully piped chocolate hearts onto the parchment paper.

They do not need to be perfect...in fact, the less perfect, and more artsy-abstract they look, the better ;)

What do you think? :)

I love dessert! ;)

And now for the bitterness of this Valentine's Day...the week before (V-Day was on a Sunday), Kyle's dear sweet grandmother Betty had been going through a few health problems. She had taken a fall, and was in an assisted care facility. Kyle got a call on Tuesday from his mom that his grandmother wasn't doing very well, so he left work and went down to Menifee where she was staying. Unfortunately before he got there, he got another call from his mom...it was the news that Betty had gone to be with the Lord.

That was such a hard day...Tuesday, February 9th...it was rather unexpected, and I know Kyle was hoping he could get there in time. I was at work, trying to fight tears as Kyle called me with the news.

We were very thankful that the weekend before we had stopped to see Betty in the hospital and visit with her. We were able to spend some time just talking with her. I will always remember our conversation; how she was sick of the food there (she said it "had no flavor," and I said, "I bet, you need some of your homemade macaroni and cheese"..mmmm), and how she seemed in good spirits, despite being in pain. She told me that I was a very special person.

We miss Betty greatly. I always will admire the woman that she was...a woman of faith, a woman who loved and treasured her husband and family, a wonderful friend to so many people, a woman who took pride and joy in her home, and a woman with some serious skill in the kitchen ;) She is everything I could hope to be when I get to be her age, and her life is one that we can all strive for...to look back one day on all the love you have given, and to leave that legacy of love with others. We will always hold memories of Betty dear in our hearts.