still feelin' the love...

As you might imagine...
I was definitely feelin' the love yesterday from the surprise I found yesterday from Clara.

So although Valentine's Day is over...
I want to spread a little more love your way and share a quick recap of some things that took place around here.
The ideas I'm about to share can transition nicely into any holiday or celebration.
So you can either tuck these ideas away into your "to-try" file for next Valentine's Day...
or you can plan to incorporate them into something you've got coming up!

Let's begin....

We had basic spaghetti for our Valentine's Day dinner - (along with garlic bread and caesar salad).
Not very exciting.
No big deal.
• the color of the sauce is festive for the occasion...
• I always think of Lady and the Tramp eating their romantic spaghetti dinner together...
• it's something easy which allowed me to focus on my favorite part: DESSERTS!!!

Yes...the desserts.
I didn't really intend on making 3 different desserts...
It just sort of happened.
really.

My original idea was to make some mini cakes for everyone.
Who doesn't LOVE their own personal pint-sized cake?
Something to be enjoyed for a few days vs. one night...
Perfect.

I went with a super-easy strawberry cake with strawberry frosting

using a recipe I've had for years

These 4" cakes weren't just cute...they were delicious!!

I also planned on having some ice cream to go along with the cake - just plain vanilla.
Right before dinner was served, I got the notion to make it even more special!

heart-shaped ice cream with a few Valentine's sprinkles...simple enough!

(And SO darling...it was actually Clara's favorite dessert of the night because she said it was so simple and so cute).

And then...
after seeing the "Oreo Truffles" last week that I shared with you on Monday...
well I just HAD to make those too.

simple and divine...

I admit it...
probably a bit too much sugar going on for my little family of 5.
I tend to get over-zealous when it comes to desserts.
I just can't help myself.

Think about it though.
For St. Patty's day coming up...
you could try the ice cream idea using a shamrock-shaped cookie cutter.
And those oreo truffles would be perfect using the vanilla creme sandwich cookies, white dipping chocolate, and green sprinkles or drizzles.

I do hope you are inspired to try something new!

In other news...
I'm gearing up for our Central Florida Martha Stewart Dreamers Into Doers meeting on Saturday.
I'm just SO excited to be meeting about 20 other local "Dreamers"!
I've got a few surprises up my sleeve for the group but I dare not reveal them yet. (you never know who's reading).

I'm also VERY excited to be getting closer to revealing the patent-pending party product I'm getting ready to release!
I'm a bit nervous about the response I'll receive...
I of course want everyone as equally excited about it as I've been but there's no guarantees.

And finally...
For all of the "promise ME" peeps...
Just in case you missed it...
I've created a separate "promise ME" page  located in the menu bar on the blog.
So now not only can you stay updated on my adventure...
It's also the perfect place to go to leave me updates on how you're doing on your own personal journey!
I'm SO enjoying this.
It's amazing to me how things related to helping me reach my goals just seem to gravitate towards me after having written them down and announced them to the world.
There's serious power behind doing that!
I hope you are finding the same thing happening in your own world!!

Enjoy your Wednesday everyone!
And thank you SO much for all of the sweet comments you left for Clara yesterday.

KEEPING IT REAL
I was fighting back tears as I was finalizing our Valentine's Day dinner.
I was keeping hope alive that Jay would've somehow rationalized surprising me with flowers this year.
(He's no-nonsense, frugal-minded and doesn't see the sense in spending money on something that will be gone in a few days - aside from food). *wink*
My heart raced a bit when I saw a florist delivery vehicle drive by.
But Jay quickly extinguished any further hope with a comment confirming there would be no flowers this year.
With me having tender feelings leftover from the romantic picnic dinner I prepared for us in our living room on Saturday night...
the picnic that turned out to be anything BUT romantic aside from the candles and the fire glowing in the fireplace...
You might say I was quite sensitive.
That's where the tear-fighting came into play during dinner prep on Monday night.
I'm a hopeless romantic...
so I was feeling like the young princess maiden longing for her prince to come sweep her off her feet.

Although I was hiding my tears...
Jay happened into the kitchen and caught me teary-eyed.
I confirmed to him I was upset through a couple of comments about
"wishing he'd put as much effort into the romantic part of our relationship as he does into his work."

And then...
after dinner...
I had to eat my words.
He surprised me with a really beautiful necklace.
I really hate feeling guilty.
And I REALLY felt guilty.
(especially after he mentioned how difficult it was for him to hold off giving it to me...knowing I was upset).

After that I pretty much felt like a "spoiled-rotten" princess maiden that should be left in the tower. *wink*

Don't you love it when I keep things real?! *blushing*