Valentines Day Resources

In this month’s Inspired Room article from Christian Women Online, Melissa outlines some ideas for creating a Valentine’s Day “get away” in your own home.

Who says a date night has to involve consuming big bucks in a crowded restaurant? Why do we torture ourselves into thinking romance has to include over-priced handpicked chocolates, $100 worth of roses or glittering heart-shaped diamonds? Why not make the best of what we have–a roof over our head and a little ingenuity–to create a memorable evening for any occasion. A home shouldn’t just be a place to store our things. Our homes provide an opportunity to create the life we really want. Everyday life might not seem romantic, but it is all in the perspective. Life doesn’t always hand us our dreams on a silver platter, but with a little creative energy we can imagine life to be just about anything we want it to be. Work with what you have to create your dreams under your own roof.

The thing that I love about celebrating a holiday in my own home is that I can create traditions that will follow us wherever life takes us.

The first Valentine’s day after Brenton and I were married, we were overwhelmed by college and short on both time and money. Fancy gifts or an expensive date night were out of the question. I searched around the internet and found a recipe for a cheesecake that looked pretty good. I think I spend $20 on the ingredients, but the look on Brenton’s face when he took the first bite was well worth the time and money spent.

That cheesecake, White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake (watch for that recipe here tomorrow), is a once a year dessert, and we have made it every year for Valentine’s.

Actually, after that first Valentines, Brenton has taken over the job of making the Valentine’s Cheesecake. I spend my time on creating ambiance–votive candles, hearts cut from coffee filters and dyed with red food coloring, music playing softly in the background.

There are a few tricks to creating a romantic haven in your own home. The most important, in my opinion is to clear away the things that remind you of your “to-do.” The second trick is to work with what you have and don’t over-do it. This is your home, not a restaurant. Create a peaceful setting, but don’t get so caught up in creating the perfect setting that you spend $100 to get that romantic feel. Finally, eat off the good dishes, pull out the crystal goblets, it’s a special occasion.

Enjoy your new traditions, and always love your spouse.

Tags: Inspiration

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 at 10:46 am and is filed under Recipes, Relationships. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.