Happy Friday! So tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and I have no idea how that snuck up on me, given that Ute and I are hosting an exchange for this very day. I just found out that my SVE partner got her gift early (!!) and I’m beyond impressed with Switzerland’s postal system, but then again, I should have expected that from the country that gave us the Swiss watch. I plan on doing more of an extensive recap in a week or two, but check out #2015sve on instagram and our Flickr pool — I’m not ashamed to admit that tears welled up while looking through the thoughtful and beautifully made gifts!
Don’t worry if gifts haven’t arrived yet. We have so many international participants, it would have been shocking if every gift made it on time. Thank you, everyone, for yet another successful and inspiring Secret Valentine Exchange!
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If you’re looking for last minute Valentines to print up, here are a few I’ve created in the past:
For K, I made a stamp with her name (there’s an “i” in her name and it’s dotted with a heart), and we’ll use that along with the froggy and heart stamps to make Valentine’s for her class. Attaching cricket-shaped candy would have been funny and okay, gross — of course, it would have been a huge hit with the third-graders. Sorry about that visual, let’s think about a field of blushing peonies instead.
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Happy weekend, my friends!
What to do for M?
Boxers were a disaster*
He’s sworn off candy**
*My last foray into boxer-making didn’t go so well…
**M’s been trying out the Paleo diet, so sweets are out, which was always my default gift. Hmmmm…I have 24 hours to come up with something….
Re: M’s gift: 101 Cookbook’s ‘Nikki’s Healthy Cookies’? Only sweetener is banana and they are flourless. While not Paleo (they have some oats and high cacao chocolate) they might work as a Paleo-dieter’s guilty pleasure 🙂
Happy Valentine’s Day! Thanks for creating such a lovely blog!
Oooh, good idea Kris! I ended up gifting him some books, but I think I’ll need to make those cookies for myself! Thank you 🙂
A nice juicy steak?
Haha! Good one! He’s more of a gyros guy than a steak guy, but I did consider it! Thank you, Max!
Thanks again to you and Ute for organizing the SVE swap for another year! So many lovely creations in the Flickr pool.
As for a gift for M, perhaps go simple with a heartfelt, handmade card? Or an article of clothing that he might not normally buy for himself? Not sure of the budget, but I bought my husband a pair of LuluLemon “yoga” (translate: lounge) pants for Christmas that have probably been worn almost every day since. But if you don’t have a local LuluLemon, time is tight. Of course, you are only 2+ hours from the heart of LuluLemon land:)
Whatever you do decide to do, I hope the three of you enjoy a lovely Valentines Day together!
So glad you joined in again, Lucinda! I didn’t know there were LuluLemon pants for men – this goes to show you how out of the loop I am with ready-to-wear clothes. We had a fantastic Valentine’s weekend and he got what he (and I) love most: books :-). Thanks, Lucinda!
Make him an apron! We follow a paleo diet and spend hours preparing food. Better still, prep loads of veg, make some meatballs and put it all in the fridge. He’ll be pleased not to have to start from scratch, for breakfast in particular.
I’m trying to remember the last time M cooked…K just reminded me it was when he and K made me a Mother’s Day breakfast bonanza last year. They accidentally used salt instead of sugar for the pancakes, which made for a surprising flavor! I could use an apron, though! Thanks Julia!
Wishing the three of you a wonderful Valentine’s day tomorrow! Being together is probably the best gift, isn’t it? I had to laugh at Max’s comment, because my first reaction was steak too 😉 So, take him out to dinner!
I had to wipe many happy tears from my eyes as well, receiving and giving my gift and seeing all the beautiful creations is quite emotional! Thanks for doing this again with me!
Thank you, Ute! I hope you had a wonderful Valentine’s weekend as well. I am so behind, behind, behind. I want to respond to all the amazing instagram comments and get a recap going….thank you for being so on top of everything and making our second annual SVE such a remarkable experience. You are truly the best, Ute! 2016 SVE, here we come!!! xoxo
Free range bacon!
Oh so funny, yes, free range bacon would have gone over really well with M! I love all the suggestions!! Of course, I promptly went out and got books as soon as I published this post, but I will keep all these ideas on file for next year! Thank you, Sarah!