Jennifer Michie

Tag: valentine’s day (page 3 of 5)

February 13, 2013 / 2 Comments

A Valentine’s Day Round-Up & Lenten Thoughts

This will be a post in two parts today since I just have so much to say! Firstly, today we walk into the first day of Lent. I know that this is a period of reflection and abstaining. I have spoken about this before and I shall speak about it again this year.

In my family we had the tradition of adding something to our daily lives, instead of subtracting it. We still gave up things (and if you chose to give up chocolate, what a blessed morning Easter Sunday was because it meant you could finally touch it again and oh boy did you hope that the Easter Bunny left you plenty in your basket!), but my parents always made sure that we added something to our daily/weekly lives that would be to the benefit of others.

I am going to get on my soap box for a moment here and say that I have always felt it is wonderful to give of oneself; it is marvelous that Church organizations and charity organizations help so many people around the world. I grew up in the South and I was always amazed at how many churches in my town took trips to Mexico, South America, Haiti, Cuba and Africa.  Those were extremely valuable trips for all involved, but I think it is just as important to know where we are from, to teach your children and others what is around them as well.

You don’t have to go far to help someone in need. Not only were there people who needed help within my own community, you only had to drive a few hours into the mountains and there were families that would have benefited from a little extra help as well.  Start in your own backyard, so to speak and branch out.

I had the great fortune to meet Mother Teresa when I was in High School and I read an article recently that quoted her; it sums up my thoughts, better than I could:

“Stay where you are. Find your own Calcutta. Find the sick, the suffering and the lonely right there where you are — in your own homes and in your own families, in your workplaces and in your schools. … You can find Calcutta all over the world, if you have the eyes to see. Everywhere, wherever you go, you find people who are unwanted, unloved, uncared for, just rejected by society — completely forgotten, completely left alone.”

I want to make it clear now that I am in no way demeaning the work that others do, to give of your heart and of yourself in any capacity is a wonderful act. I just think that sometimes we might need to be reminded we can still make a difference just where we are right now, we can make a difference in the place that we call HOME.
 
Secondly, we sit on the Eve of St. Valentine’s Day today and I thought I would do a last minute Valentine’s round-up. I have breakfast planned for Mr. Michie, I will be making homemade doughnuts tonight and working on my dessert for our Valentine’s dinner, but I will share more of that later.

In case you need a few last minute ideas, this is for you:

These cookies from the lovely Sweetopia Blog are just too SWEET! Learn how to make them here:
 
 
For those classroom Valentine’s where teachers won’t let you give out candy, Inchmark has come up with adorable bookmarks instead:
 
The House that Lars Built, shows you a cute way to make your own wrapping paper, to make that special gift, extra special:
 
 
The lovely I am Baker blog, shared these Neapolitan Spritz Cookies this week and they look like a very scrumptious box of goodies for a Valentine to receive:
 
 
These “Sealed with A Kiss” waxed lips from Oh Happy Day, are a sweet and funny way to pass out Valentine Cards. Who doesn’t have fun playing with waxed lips?:


And last but not least, via Martha Stewart, you can give your Valentine a tied posy in a flower cone. These would be sweet to give to friends at a little Valentine Day Luncheon:

 
 
{all images are copyright their respective blogs}
February 7, 2013 / 2 Comments

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String

“Brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things!” I don’t care how old you are, Julie Andrews belted it out correctly when she sang that line in The Sound of Music, packages are wonderful scrumptious surprises.

There was a package waiting for me yesterday. It was from my adorable sister and some extra treats hidden inside from my very sweet mom.  I am telling you, that just made my day!

Yesterday was a day and a half! My Monday misadventures seem to be carrying me through the week. I have my own little uniform that I wear to work, because I normally come home covered in paint, dust, dirt… you name it, it is probably somewhere on me. So, I never wear anything that is that nice, because of course, it will get ruined. But, yesterday I wore my favorite pair of mustard colored pants with a little white top (white in the Cupboard, what was I thinking?) and a cute green with white polka dot sweater I got when I went shopping with my sister at Target. She got the orange one and I got the green one, that is just plain simple sisterly shopping happiness!

I was setting up for Life Drawing and when I walked back into my room, I noticed that right across my upper legs were two perfectly huge lines of thick black paint. I scrubbed and scrubbed and sprayed and washed, but it is still faintly there, only now it is the color of charcoal. I have one last hope in some magic stuff my mom uses, but if all else fails, I shall cut them up and make something out of them. I haven’t made anything from my stuffed animal book yet, and the pants would make a cute tiger or cat or pony.

It is a sorry thing to be sad over, I know. I am not materialistic, I just really loved these pants. But, the package that was waiting for me, definitely improved my mood! Inside it was a plethora of pink and red and cupcake designed paper. It was Valentine’s in a box!

There was candy for me and for Mr. Michie. There was a cute cupcake tea towel and adorable sweet treat erasers, that I think Gigi and Foxy might just enjoy playing with and heart garland ribbon and a Valentine framed picture of my sweetie pie niece, who I could gobble up and a cute Valentine’s storage container. It made me so very happy. Even better, I got to open it and talk to my sister at the same time via Skype! I am very blessed!

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this:

One of these little candy dishes jumped in my cart at Target to live at my sister’s house and she surprised me with one. So now one is living in my house too:

The goods:

No package from my sister’s house would be complete without a Luna hair or two. Luna is the most beautiful Lab lady in the world. She is a black Labrador that could be an Eddie Bauer model:

As always, my family was too generous! That package made me the happiest lady in the world last night! I munched on Dove chocolates and read a most delicious book!

January 23, 2013 / 1 Comment

Twinkling

Well, my friends, I have a secret, I am not even embarrassed about it and I have admitted it here and there in some of my January posts: I still have all of my Christmas decorations up.

Okay, I am now giving you a moment to gasp and compose yourself again.

Moment over, here is my reasoning: it is dark when we leave for school in the morning, dark when we come home at night. The cupboard has no windows, so I rarely get natural light within my day. So, the thought of coming home to the warm twinkling glow of lights, makes me smile.

We came home tonight and laid in bed with our little Christmas tree on, watching big fat flakes of snow billow around outside. It was heaven!

I will work on starting to take everything down this weekend, giving the cottage a truly good “Spring Cleaning” and decorate for Valentine’s Day.

However, I have one little tree that is too cute to put away. It shall stand with its white lights and I will hang Valentine hearts on it.

I read a very dear someone’s blog today and I am delighted to know that I am not the only one with a hint of Christmas still up (although mine is much more than a hint)!

Twinkle lights are good for you, they are good for the soul, don’t let anyone tell you any different!

February 20, 2012 / 1 Comment

What A Weekend!

Oh what a weekend this has been! Mr. Michie took me to see “The Muppets”! I loved it, I have always loved them, I wasn’t sure how much of the original Muppet music they would use and I couldn’t believe when they sang, “The Rainbow Connection”! That is my favorite Muppet song!

Now, I want to make these from Bakerella and have a party:

I got ready for our date, by putting on a layer of “rainbow connection” glittery nail polish over my red nails that Mr. Michie treated me to getting done for Valentine’s Day. The glittery nail polish was courtesy of my Mom and I love it, I feel like I should be going out to a party with it on, it is just so FUN!

We went out to dinner after “The Muppets” to finish our date night and then spent the rest of weekend, resting, cleaning, writing, cooking, baking and munching on Valentine’s candy. We also drank plenty of tea and hot chocolate out of our Valentine’s Day surprises.

Mr. Michie took me to Emma Bridgewater and I bought him the “Red Fox” mug and he got me the “Pink Hearts” mug. My hot chocolate just tastes better out of it! Of course there are lots of snowmen shaped marshmallows skating on the top of my hot chocolate, again another surprise in my Valentine Care Package from my parents! HEAVEN!

I am teaching a 2 hour evening Photography Class at the moment on Pinhole Photography and dark room techniques. I am loving it! And my feedback from the 20 students who have signed up, is that they are LOVING it too! So, I am very pleased.

I got a head start for my next class and made just over 2 dozen chocolate cupcakes for them to munch on during our break, I will make my Nana’s chocolate coffee icing to frost them with when I get in from school, so they will be ready to go.

I was missing home and had a real hankering for Southern Cooking, so Sunday dinner was iced tea, fried chicken, rice and gravy, green beans, creamed corn and dinner rolls. I even made banana pudding for dessert. While dinner was cooking I did a little “pinning”:

and caught up with some e-mails. I have a few to reply to, you know who you are! I also caught up with my Google Reader and I wished that I was on this starry walk with the lovely Susan Branch, doesn’t it look romantic!

I hope that all of you had a wonderful weekend too!

(All images copyright their respective owners, images link to their respective blogs/sites)


P.S. This is my 500th Post! WOW! Thanks for sticking with me through all my ramblings!

February 14, 2012 / 0 Comments

Happy Valentine’s Day!

GiGi & Foxy VDay 2012Wishing you all a very Happy Valentine’s Day today!

Foxy and I are going in to London. He is taking me to an Art exhibition, down to Marylebone High Street to do a little shopping and then out to dinner.

We haven’t decided where we want eat yet. One of our favorite places is a great hole in the wall diner, that serves the most marvelous hamburgers, but Foxy has mentioned that he might possibly want to go to a Chinese restaurant we love in Soho.

However, the sauce on the noodles always sticks to his whiskers and since he will have on his best bow tie for our evening out, he might not want to get messy, but we shall see…

February 13, 2012 / 0 Comments

The Giant Valentine’s Day Round-Up!

I truly love all Holidays. Christmas more than any other holiday holds a truly special place in my heart. But, the magic of Valentine’s is something special and I don’t think you particularly need a Valentine to spend it with, it can be a bunch of friends, a close family member, even just little old Y-O-U. It is about celebrating love and that can be love in whatever form it comes in.

I also love Valentine’s day, because it is a chance to decorate again, I decorate my house for every holiday you see. After taking down my Christmas decorations (Shh! Mine aren’t all down yet, don’t tell anyone, but I still need my twinkle lights up) and the emptiness that your house feels, it is nice to have a chance to fill it up again with the air of festivities, bustling about in the form of pink and white and red.

Below are some Valentine ideas for you, some from things I have come across on Pinterest, others from some of my favorite blogs. Enjoy! (click on the images to be taken to the relevant site, all images copyright, their respective owners)

Cooking:
 

Serena of the Farm Chicks has created the most adorable cookie flags to decorate your valentine treats. Adorable for classroom party cupcakes!

Jenny has made a lobster mac-n-cheese for a more grown-up Valentine dinner! YUM!

Delicious with a cup of tea, the lovely Susan Branch has made heart shaped orange and chocolate tea biscuits, a lovely way to start the day with your sweetheart over your favorite cuppa.

Sweetopia, shows you how to decorate these adorable Paris inspired cookies! Amour!

 
Making:
 

The Purl Bee does it again with these rose clips. Very sweet for a little Valentine’s hair all dressed up for a party.

Create Valentine Day Crackers with Not Martha! A fun idea to decorate your table with.

Eat Drink Chic created invitations for a Valentine Couch Picnic, an inventive way to spend the evening in, a stack of movies and plenty of delicious snacks to share with your sweetie!

 
Decorating:
 

Hand dye your own ribbon to decorate your Valentine’s gifts with. A romantic touch for the boy or girl in your life.

While looking into each other’s eyes you can sip your Valentine’s Day punch through decorated straws. What is it about pink and red and white that just shouts happiness?

February 23, 2011 / 1 Comment

Love Hearts

Yesterday admidst all my dusting, mopping, pantry tearing apart and vacuuming (with my new hoover), there was a knock on my racing green door and a Valentine’s package was placed into my arms.

It was filled with all kinds of wonderful surprises and too many of them! Including the love hearts above. When one is presented with such a gorgeous Valentine’s surprise, you know it is time to take a cleaning break, tear into that package and just enjoy all that delicious candy before you. A girl’s gotta keep her cleaning strength up, you know!

And, most importantly as you munch away on candy while going through all your surprises, you can’t forgot the “Love Heart Eating Rules”, you have to read what your heart says before eating it, Mr. Michie forgot that part yesterday, but I reminded him!

Thanks Mom, Dad & Maisy, you as always, are too generous! ♥

February 18, 2011 / 0 Comments

Valentine’s Sweets

MMM! Just munching away on these, while I decide what to do for dinner!

It was one of my Valentine’s surprises from Mr. Michie and came from Rococo, one of my favourite chocolate stores! I’m in Heaven!

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