Our first Valentine's Day

Neither one of us made a really big deal about Valentine's Day this year, but it ended up being a great day, the second best Valentine's Day I've ever had.  My very favorite Valentine's Day was February 14, 2008.  Kevin and I had gone on our very first date a few days before, and I was trying to avoid that akward "we just went on our first date and now it's Valentine's day and we're not even officially dating" so I had already made plans to go to a Valentine's day techno dance party at Slowdown with a bunch of friends.  Well, I ended up having a terrible day at work, and the last thing I wanted to do was go to a dance party.  I called Kevin and told him I had changed my mind about Slowdown and he invited me to his house to hang out.  I met Kevin's roomates for the first time, and then since I was still in my work clothes he offered me some sweat pants and a tee shirt.  I changed into his comfy clothes and we had a glass of wine and talked and watched TV.  I remember feeling like we had been dating for years instead of like our second date.  As cheesy as I know it sounds it just felt right. 

So here we are three years later  :)

Instead of going out we decided we'd make dinner at home.  We made a wedge lettuce salad, 3 pounds of crab legs, pototoes, brussel sprouts, and uncorked one of the bottles of wine that we got last year in Italy on our honeymoon.  My parents use to do this a lot when we were little.  With four small kids sometimes a babysitter and fancy dinner wasn't in the budget so they'd put us to bed and have their own home date.

Kevin and I make dinner at home quite a bit, but normally we eat in about 15 minutes and then jump up right away to start doing dishes and getting on with our evening.  For this dinner we put on some music, lit a candle, and didn't leave the table until we had finished our bottle of wine.  It was so relaxing and the perfect way to celebrate Valentine's day.  Not to mention the whole dinner cost us under fifty bucks and the crab legs were absolutely amazing.  Who knew that crab legs were so easy?  All you have to do is boil them for 3 - 5 minutes, clarify some butter (here's how to do it), and grab a lemon wedge. 

 

Just for fun - here are some picture from the vineyard in Italy where we got this wine. 

      

  

If you're ever in Tuscany I'd recommend this vineyard.  The castle and vineyard date back to the 1400's and it was a really interesting tour with great wine.  The picture of the vineyard is from their website.  Check out all the info on the vineyard here.

After dinner we exchanged our gifts.  I got Kevin a shirt and watch from a new store that opened in Midtown called Republic of Couture (which by the way is a very cool store).  Then of course Kevin completely outdid my gift and gave me and iPad.  AHHHH!!!  An iPad!!!!  I could not stop hugging it and jumping up and down.  I've been using it constantly and let me tell you, it is freakin sweet.  I've wanted one for awhile and even blogged about it back in September, but couldn't justify such an expensive toy.  He completely surprised me with it.

All around a great first Valentine's day.