sweet sweet valentine

image via studiodiy

we tend to keep our valentine's day celebrations to a minimal. while i thoroughly enjoy this holiday, between my birthday, christmas, and our anniversary, joe and i are fully wined and dined out. so for the last four years, we spend the night together and cook for each other. no reservations, no jewels, no fancy dresses.  just us, hanging with the wiz, exchanging cards and some chocolate fondue. and likely a walking dead marathon this year. 
seriously, we are hooked. 

happy valentine's day!
xoxo

be mine

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite days.  Maybe it is the hopeless romantic in me, but there is nothing wrong with celebrating love, whether you are single or attached. Boyfriend and I usually celebrate Valentine's Day in with a date night in, drinking wine and cooking up something special (think: fancy seafood & thick steaks). But no matter how you celebrate, here are some of my valentine's day favorites! Now pop some champagne and smell the roses! 

Heart Cookie Cutter Set / Girl Boxers / Heart Earrings / Pink Bra  / Guy Boxers 

Bath Salts / Lipstick  / Love Poems Book / Rose Candle /  Robe 

the last

*hands kleenex*

xo

up late

image via london dream

It hasn't happened in a long while but J + I had one of those nights where we stayed up late, laid in bed and just had a long conversation. Our intentions were to fall alseep but instead we talked about family, our friends, our goals, new pets, this new home and other things to fill the quietness of the night. The next thing we knew it was five a.m.

love letters

dear boyfriend,

somewhere around 4AM you woke me up when you crawled into bed (wiz in your arms) after staying up with your buddies. you even tucked Wiz into bed and wouldn't let me move because she was snuggled in. and when my alarm went off at 5AM, i was pretty sleepy+grumpy. but that all changed when i got into work and was looking through my old emails for a file and stumbled upon that graduation letter you wrote me back in 2010. i definitely didn't remember what i was reading -- i almost thought it was something i had secretly written for you. but then i remembered and could only smile. and to think, at that point we'd only been together for a little over a year. and now its almost three. and some of the things you talked about still ring true.

so thank you for that 7AM surprise. though i bet you are still sleeping right now.

i love you.

a wonderful little quiet morning

on new years day, boyfriend and i shared a sweet quiet moment at 7 am. we both woke up unexpectedly and instead of falling back asleep, we cuddled up and chatted for a few minutes. we laughed, reminisced about the night before, and maybe even had a tickle fight. i dont think i can remember everything we said because we eventually fell asleep curled together but all i know is that it was lovely.

it was a great start to a new year.

image via

And it goes to...

ME! For being the worst. blogger. ever. Again, I'm going to play catch up.



For Valentine's Day, hbf and I found a tradition of staying in and making dinner together. Sure, this was only our second V-Day we actually got to spend together, but I'm calling it a tradition anyways :) Last year, we got two nice steaks, I made some delish potatoes and we called it a night. This year, we decided to be a little more adventurous and made lasagna. It was fun - both of us in the kitchen: I made the sauce, Joe made the ricotta mixture, and Wiz.. she got some ricotta on herself and licked it off. The meal was so good, and not as difficult as I thought it would have been. We'll definitly make this again - and I hope we can add some things to it to switch it up!



I knew this meal was coming to I searched online for the best lasagna recipe... then ended up using a variation of what I wrote, and what was on the back of the noodles box. Either way, still a great meal!

Valentine's Day Lasagna

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 T olive oil
1 pkg Italian sausage
2 bottles of pasta sauce
2 T fresh Italian pasley
1 t Italian seasoning
salt and pepper
8 lasanaga noodles (ready to bake)
1 tub (15 oz) ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs

Directions:

Oven at 375 degrees F.

1. Brown meat in olive oil.
2. Once the meat is cooked, add pasta sauce & italian seasoning. Let simmer.
3. Make cheese filling by combining eggs, ricotta, 2/3 Parmesan cheese and parsley . Beat until smooth.
4. In a 9x13 pan, set out all the ingredients in front of you.
5. Now time for layers! 1/2 cup tomato sauce on bottom, then lay four noodles, spread half ricotta mixture and top with 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese. Add 2 cups of meat sauce, four noodles, ricotta mixture, 1/3 of mozzarella cheese, and remainder of the sauce. Top the rest with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
6. Cover with aluminum foil, bake for 50 minutes. Uncover, bake for another 10 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before cutting into.



Definitely going into my recipe binder. Next time, I think I might even add some spinach into the ricotta mixture to make it a little more healthy.  :D

How do you keep your recipies organized? For Christmas, my sister got me a Moleskin Recipe Journal. I love how pretty it is, but haven't found time to sit down and write everything in. So for now, I have a binder filled with print-outs. Maybe some afternoon I'll sit down and jot everything down.

Cheers,
Natalie

love.love.love

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY.

1. I'm a sucker for Valentine's Day. Why not have a day to just remind everyone to celebrate love?
2. I learned last night that I need to perfect my steak-skillet skills. Everytime I make it, I burn it or its not done. In both situations, hbf only ate half of his steak (so sad).
3. Joe and I are celebrating by checking something off my life list: 70. Homemade lasanga.

kisses and hugs,
Natalie