Valentine's Day 2013

The day before Valentine's Day Mark comes home and says:

"I've got all three meals planned for tomorrow."

"All three? Why?" I ask.

"For Valentine's Day." He exclaimed.

This took me by surprise because up to this point we hadn't even so much as mentioned the holiday. I was/am ok not celebrating. Was I aware Valentine's Day was the next day? Yes. Was I hoping and praying for flowers, chocolates, or a card? No. His announcement made me giddy nonetheless. Anytime he goes out of his way to do something nice is always appreciated.

So I asked what we were doing for breakfast and he told me we would be eating downtown. I inquired as to where we would be eating and he sent the following text:

Cute, right?

Valentine's Day morning I went into work early to make sure we would have time to meet up. Luckily, I correctly deciphered the text and we headed to the Classic Cookie Company for some sugary goodness. I was excited because we had talked about going since Mark first noticed the place a few months prior. In the morning they have muffins, but in the afternoon they have cookies. What's not to love?!

When we got there we noticed that they had a special Valentine's Day treat: heart-shaped caramel rolls, which Mark promptly ordered. It was thick and gooey. The caramel sauce wasn't too heavy, and the walnuts on top were the perfect touch. I got a cinnamon sugar muffin, and woah baby was it good. For starters, the cinnamon sugar top was crispy and delicious, the middle was chewy without being gummy and the portion was well worth the $1.50 price tag. At first I thought there wasn't any way this would be a sufficient breakfast to get me through to lunch, but boy was I wrong. Nutritionally sound, no, but more importantly taste bud satisfaction was achieved.

Mark's was in a heart-shape, but he just couldn't wait to take a bite

After breakfast we went our separate ways to go to work. On my walk back I received the following text:

Right away I knew it was The Oceanaire! Not only was it the closest seafood place but I had been craving their clam chowder soup for weeks! I was excited, to say the least. However Mark couldn't remember what time he had made the reservations for and told me he would text. But guess who walked into the bank a little after noon to tell me we had a 2:30 pm reservation with a cappuccino in hand?

He came and met me around 2:20 pm and we walked together over to the restaurant. Me, wanting to look cute, continued to wear the 5 inch heels I had worn at work all day. This turned out to be problematic because I almost fell a couple times on the slippery, wood floor of the Oceanaire. But like any real lady, I made it through.

Since we were still kind of full from breakfast we didn't get any fancy extras for lunch. I went with the Oceanaire soup and salad. It was everything I wanted: the clam chowder soup and some veggies. The soup was exactly as I remembered it being. Thick and creamy with chucks of potato and clam. Perfection! Mark got the blackened fish tacos with fries. They were so good that he didn't even mind the coleslaw that came layered on the tortillas. The fries were also delicious, but very filling.

A little salad with my dressing you ask? Don't mind if I do.

Once lunch ended Mark gave me my final riddle. Instead of texting me, he handed me a piece of paper:

This one stumped me. We live next to a train museum so I was pretty sure the second part of the riddle had something to do with that, I mean what other word comes after "freight"? The first part though, that was a doozy. I showed everyone I could the clue and asked if they had any idea as to solving the riddle with no luck.

It wasn't until we had dinner that I realized my suspicions about the train museum were right all along. He made me a dinner with a mix of black beans and quinoa, the ancient GRAIN. While he cooking he forbid me from the kitchen, something I think all ladies could appreciate. Of course it was delicious. I had the leftovers the next day for lunch :).

After dinner we watched Parks & Rec and The Office before heading out to find my Valentine's Day gift. Yes, there was a gift on top of everything else! Mark was nice enough to let Chloe "lead" me to the front of the model train by sniffing out my gift. From there I looked around and climbed up to find this:

AHHHHH! So excited! It's a massage for when we are in Florida next month on vacation. I can't wait. This was beyond a perfect Valentine's Day. I felt so bad for not getting him anything or planning anything. Hopefully I will remember everything he did this year and repay him next year.

Thank you Mark for making our first Valentine's Day as a married couple memorable. Heres to many more.

I love you.