Birthday Celebrations!

I started out the day early... exercising with my friend Kathee. (We've been working out hard trying to get in better shape and loose weight. Last Saturday we hiked through the snow to the Squaw Peak Overlook. About 4 miles one way.)

After exercising we went back to her house and had whole wheat pancakes with turkey bacon and pure maple syrup. It was delicious.

Dana and Heidi kidnapped me to take me out to lunch at Zuppas. These girls are amazing. They can do just about anything literally. (They gave me a butane stove and 4 canisters of butane for my emergency preparedness stuff. They are emergency preparedness experts. If we have the giant earthquake here, I'm going to go to one of their houses.)
We look the same age don't we? Hah!
This is what I had for lunch; it was delicious. And, good thing I had salad for lunch because my husband took Eli, Brenna, my MIL, and me to Outback Steak House for dinner.

I had phone calls from my children, parents, and friends. I felt loved.

P.S. My MIL gave me a pineapple with a ribbon tied on it for my present. She said if you want a present for your birthday, you have to give her two weeks notice. We are still laughing about that one. I've been married for 32 years and known my husband since I was four, you think she would at least know that my birthday is in February. She is a feisty lady and we all love her!

Stephanie's 2010 Valentine's Party

Steph made lots of sugar cookies and had three different kinds of icing...vanilla, strawberry, and creme cheese. Every one was able to make and decorate sugar cookies to eat and take home.
Two kinds of sugar cookies no less.
Steph even had fruit for those of us not eating sugar. Yum. And here is her hostess flower bouquet.
Of course you know how Steph always has to color coordinate her drinks and straws. She even provided those cute little baskets for us to take our gifts home in. Notice this year's Valentine pictures in the frames. She's a very clever girl.
Creed sampling the fruit.
A close up of the flower arrangement.
Lots of different toppings to decorate the sugar cookies.
Creed coming back for more.

Annie checking out the fruit.
There was lots of visiting. (And yes, Steph is due Feb. 27. We think she will come early. That baby boy has already dropped. Any ideas for names? They are still trying to decide what to call him.)
And here is a picture of all the things everyone brought to exchange. So much fun! Steph had everyone do speed dating to exchange gifts. Each person visited for about 3 minutes, exchanged gifts, and then moved on to someone else until you talked to everyone.
Melinda brought a little loaf of bread with honey butter.
Eva forgot to bring hers and so we will each receive a Valentine surprise in the mail. Since she owns Sycamore Street Press, I'm hoping it's something letter pressed.
My husband gave me a little embossing/letter press machine for Christmas so I decided to use it to make my Valentine gift. I made a variety of cards. (I forgot that Eva would be there so I was a little embarrassed to present her with my attempt at letter press.) I also made a ribbon book mark with metal finding crimped on and bead/pearls wired on the end.


Lisa, above, made these magnets. So cool!
Annie used wool roving that she dyed to cover a bar of soap. It works as an exfolient and is supposed to have antibacterial properties.


How sweet is this cupcake with rolled fondant roses? Marta made these.

Rachael made these pins that she learned how to make from the internet. I think I want to try my hand at these.
Faith made a variety of pins. Mine is pictured above and Faith is pictured below.

This is a closeup of Rachael's pin.

Steph made surprise balls. Want to see what is inside? I'll show you. It took forever to make each one. I believe it too because it was a bit of work to get it unwrapped. You should have seen the confetti fly when I unwrapped that layer.





Stephanie also made a miniature heart garland and included that in each ball. Unfortunately, she ended up with one ball where the garland was left out. It just happened to be mine but I'm going to collect because I know where she lives. Hee Hee A list of surprises: heart garland, confetti, heart stickers, a heart balloon, a candy necklace, 4 heart shaped paper clips, two Dove heart shaped chocolates, a popper, a heart shaped ring, 4 heart shaped brads, a heart shaped tablet, and a bottle of red finger nail polish. Notice the giant ball of crate paper.

Two girls gave felt fortune cookies.

Amanda made this fortune cookie.
Liz gave little flower pots.
I haven't planted my little plant yet. It's in a tiny little pot. It's so nice to grow things in the dead of winter. It gives me hope that spring will come.
Thank you Steph for inviting me to come and be with you and all of your friends. Read Steph's post here.

I hope all of you had a happy Valentine's day. I had a wonderful day with my sweetheart.

I'll post pictures of my party soon.

More Valentine Love

Stephanie sent me the link to the tutorial to make this on Sew Mama Sew. Think of the possibilities.
Thimbleanna made these crocheted Valentine cards last year and shared her instructions. I've yet to meet her but one of these days it's going to happen. Until then, I just enjoy her blog.
Thimbleanna also made these adorable "penny pockets" last year. I'm so jealous of her embroidery sewing machine. (I told my husband that I wanted one for my birthday but he just asked where I would put it. I told him I would find a place but I don't think it is going to happen.) She makes some of the most beautiful things and her work is perfection. Look at the perfect crochet. Read her post to be linked to the penny pocket instructions so you can make your own.
Don't these Cinnamon flavored caramels sound good? Too bad I'm off sugar or I would give them a try. Here is the recipe from Make It Do's site if you would like to try them.
How about these cute fabric mailboxes for you Valentines. Our Scoop shows them off here with a tutorial of how to make them. I want one for every chair. Too bad my babies aren't small. How great would this be for your kids to find on their chairs full of Valentine treats on Valentine's day?
Ok, this may not be Valentine love but these are amazing aren't they? I don't know if I would have enough patience to make these but I might just try next Halloween courtesy of Sweetopia.
She probably has some Valentine cookies on her site but I loved these.

Want to learn how to crochet a heart. Check out this video from Little Birdie Secrets and you will be able to make these too.

Do you have any Valentine favorites you've found? I'd love to see or hear about them. Please share.

(Thanks Dana for giving me links to some of these cute ideas. Steph, now I have lots of ideas for next year's Valentine's exchange. So, please invite me again. I'll even start early.)