Valentine, You Sparkle!

Another Valentine's Day card for clients!

A Gratitude Valentine

This is a big year of gratitude for one of my clients. Her team of realtors is having 52 Weeks of Gratitude! Each week they are having a drawing for a fun prize for one lucky client and this week all their clients will get a Valentine! Awwww, so sweet! Did you notice that fabulous logo? I love it!

Last year I sent Valentine's Day cards to some special clients, including this special gal, and that's when she decided she needed to do the same so it was added to her 52 Weeks of Gratitude line-up.

All Sweethearts Deserve a Valentine

Valentine's Day is not just for lovers. It can also be a day to recognize the kindness of a friend or neighbor or other real sweethearts in your life. This year I have decided to send a Valentine to a handful of clients as a thank you for their business. They have trusted me with creating something for a special event in their lives and that was SWEET!

Party of Two

My sweet husband and I haven't gone out on Valentine's Day for dinner in many years. And last night was no exception. It was "just the two of us" but instead of our same old casual thing I decided we needed to have a cozy table by the fireplace and music instead of the TV in the background! I pulled out some linens that don't get enough use, clipped some flowers from the yard for our centerpiece, pulled Cupid out of the cupboard, made a small "love" bunting, printed the menu, cooked everything except the German Chocolate cupcakes (Elizabethan Desserts, yummmm!) and lit some candles. I think I took him by surprise!

Labor of Love

While pawing through my Valentine file I found an article from the February 1998 Food & Wine magazine that I had saved. It was written by the famous chef Julia Child. In 1948 Julia and her husband Paul began a tradition of sending personalized Valentine's Day cards to their friends. After a move to Paris the prior December they knew they wouldn't make the Christmas card deadline so Paul suggested "Why not send out Valentines?" And so for the next 25 years Paul produced a new card to send to their friends. No great surprise... Julia was in charge of the special Valentine's Day dinner!

I don't know if this will become a tradition for me, but I thought it would be a great way to let friends know I've started something new.