best thing i got in charleston

no 

no official valentine's day post

(sorry bout that)

thought this was fitting, though

 

as a psuedo one,

as a two-days-after-valentine's-day-post

so what does this have to do with 

my south carolina trip?

keep reading...

it's silly 

and 

simple

i read it 

word for word 

to my husband as

he listened over 

miles and miles 

of war zone.

he agrees. 

he thinks it's pretty cool, too.

for all those in married land,

or want to be,

or know someone who is

 

the best thing i got 

in charleston, south carolina

was

 a business card.

yes.  

business card, 

from this

 restaurant

i know.

who would have thought?

 

it's not like any business card though.

well, the front is.

you've got your name,

address, number, etc,

but then you turn it over and there is the gold.

on the back,

written in small font.

 

check this out.

 

not kidding.

been married almost 20 years 

and have to say

this is some of the 

best 

simple 

advice 

out there 

when it comes to 

healthy habits in marriage.

so that's it folks.

you can now find this little 

card in my purse.

carried with me at all times.

easy reference, ya know.

so happy hubs liked it too.

he's such a good egg 

and i'm lucky to have him.

hope you liked me 

charleston find.

all you  married veterans out there,

do you agree with 

mr. business card?

would love to hear.

 

Happy Valentines Day

Happy V-Day to you!

Not sure about you,
but Valentine's Day
"Brookes style"
usually involves
home made:

home made cards,
home made food,
home made celebration.

As you can see from last year,
I do not tell a lie.

This is what the girls and I woke up to this morning.

4 Valentines Day cards
AND
our coveted morning note.

That's bonus noteage around here.
(Did I just make up a word?)

What a good man.

Made one of our favorite dinners last night,
Roasted Paprika Chicken
(you can find the recipe in this post,
if you are interested)

Then the fam enjoyed some
after-dinner, fresh from the oven,
warm sprinkle brownies
especially made by teenage daughter.

Can you say "hit"?
Because they were.

Simple chocolate goodness.

Perfect.

As you can see,
we ate them so fast,
I didn't even have time
to get a "before" picture.

That's okay.
You get the gist.

So where's
the romancy-schmancy part on
the biggest "love" day of the year?

Okay.
Hubs and I might have snuck in a bubble bath
after the family soccer game in the park and
before mamma made dinner.
Don't worry.
That's all the detail you will get on that one.

So that was it.
No real hoopla, but plenty of goodness.

Now let me hear about YOUR V-day?

How did you celebrate?

Stay home and watch a romantic comedy while eating ice cream from the carton? Night out to your favorite restaurant with your Valentine? Exchange love notes and make your most tasty home cooked favorite?

We had lots of plans...but none of them happened...which isn't a bad thing around here.
Madison, my true crafter, stayed in, amid the snowball throwing and snowman building to make these for her sisters...
She also made an array of hand crafted cards to send to her friends, new and old (per the suggestion from Aunt Heather...thanks, Aunt Heathie).

She made this one, up top. I liked it so much I asked her if I could use it to give to daddy this year...She proudly obliged.


Our big date night had to get postponed. Mr. Brookes came home feeling more than a bit under the weather. He came home from work (yes, you work on Saturday when you are at the Pentagon) and went straight to bed for a 2 hour nap.

Even though Mr. Brookes was feeling crumby, he still brought home these...




At this point, I have a hard time wondering which I would prefer...

A romantic date with Mr. Brookes coupled with old friends in the heart of Old Town Alexandria eating a delicious shi shi meal.

Or bringing home Boston Market after two indoor soccer games (sans husband) only to crowd around our teeny kitchen table sharing our highlights of the day while passing out homemade Valentines.

Good thing I actually like my children at this point.

The girls even got their parents some trinkets for V-day.

Daddy got a whoppee cushion for hours of 13 year old fun.

Mommy got two awesome Frommer's guides, both of which I think I will find more useful than not.

Like I said, I do like my children and their company.


How did you celebrate? I love goofy stories and some even not so goofy.