Valentines Day 2009

This was Lorne and my 8th Valentines Day as a couple and I just couldn't believe it. We had a truly wonderful day together as a family. Since we had Jasmine, we like to be together on Valentines Day although I think when the kids are older we may try to have a one on one dinner every so often as it is hard to be romantic when you have your 3 and half year old demanding all your attention. But we love her and she is out Valentine too, so we include her!
My day began as my cute little family woke me up with a gigantic balloon, 2 dozen roses and a big box of chocolates. Then Lorne took Jasmine off to ballet so I could wait for the last few customers to pick up their orders. The day before I had also received a dozen roses with a card (to read the card, just click on the pic to make it bigger) from my daughters - how sweet was that! Even my unborn was professing her love to me!We all got dressed for the day and had a lunch date with my cousin Natalia. We decided to eat at the Olive Garden and had a delicious lunch of soup, salad and bread sticks. It was lovely to spend quality time with Natalia before we all jumped in our cars and went to visit Abuela Meme together. We were there for a few hours and had a great time chatting, joking and enjoying each others company. Abuela Meme didn't know that Lorne, Jasmine and I were coming so it was a big surprise for her and I think she was very happy to see us. We also brought Abuela and Natalia some of our baked goodies and that made everyone happy too!Next, we headed off to my parents house to wish them a Happy Love Day and take them some Valentines. They gave Jasmine her own Heart shaped box of chocolate and you have never seen a child so excited. I think Jasmine's favorite thing is chocolate. We spent some time with them talking and laughing before we had to head off to dinner.We had reservations at a little restaurant in Del Ray called Del Merei Grille. It is a nice little place that was offering some yummy food for Valentines Day and we had never been there I try to choose a different place each year so we never go to the same place twice on February 14th.
Jasmine wanted to have the chicken fingers for dinner with mashed potatoes and chocolate milk. Lorne and I shared an appetizer of a crab and artichoke dip, which was good but we would have made it differently. For our main course, Lorne had a New York Strip with mashed potatoes and Bearnaise sauce and creamed spinach and I had an amazing dish - cheesy grits with jumbo shrimp and an andouille sausage and mushroom saute with a creole sauce. It was amazing. I would totally go back just to eat that again. The only thing is I will wait until I am not pregnant as the spicy food was tough on my body later! We also gave Jasmine her Valentines treats from us which included a bunch of fun stuff in a bag with some candy too. Jamsine and I gave Lorne his Valentines gifts as well, which included chocolates, more chocolates and a voice recording device that attaches to an iPod. Since it was a celebration day, we had dessert. Lorne had a donut with ice cream and caramel sauce and I had crepes filled with a sweet cheese and topped with chocolate sauce and strawberry sauce. The desserts were fair, but not the best we had ever had. Jasmine was content to munch on a candy necklace for dessert and her chocolates from her grandparents in the car on the way home!It was a nice day and evening and I was so happy to get home and relish in the day we had just had. It was just how I like it - surrounded by people I love who love me too!