My Funny Valentine

Trevor,

It's not just some cliche Valentine's phrase when I say that I don't know what I would do without you. Sometimes it feels as though we've meshed into one self, leaving me so lost when we're apart. I always worried that you'd grow bored of me - bored of having to always eat dinner with the same girl, bored of always having to read my blog, bored of having to always shut the kitchen cabinets behind me - but you never did. Growing bored with you has never crossed my mind, as you make me laugh, learn and grow everyday. There is nothing I love more than being at your side.

I feel so honored to be the one who gets to share breakfast with you, the one who gets to bake you peanut butter cookies, the one who gets to hear you sing in the morning, the one who gets to indulge your love for Magnum P.I.. I consider myself so lucky to learn more about you everyday, and to love you more with every moment. There is no one I would rather snuggle, laugh and dream with. No one who could take care of me better than you do.

I couldn't think of anything better to do with my life than to spend it exploring with you.
Here's to all of the adventures we've shared, and to all of the adventures the future holds for us.

I love you so much, my funny Valentine.

xo.

Ten on Tuesday | Valentine's Gifts for Him

I may or may not have just gotten around to buying Trevor a Valentine's Day gift today. Worse yet, I  may have found said gift while researching for this post - but don't worry, I didn't ruin the surprise. That being said, maybe you've waited to find the perfect gift, too. If so, you're in luck as today's Ten on Tuesday features non-traditional gift ideas for the man you're shopping for - most of which are Trevor approved (except maybe the whiskey stones, since those are actually on my wish list). There's still time to order online but if you're nervous about the deadline, perhaps this list will inspire your own shopping trip this week. I'd love to know what you choose.

1 // A Crosby portable record player is a great gift for any man who has a passion for music. Plus, hunting for vinyl together at local thrift stores is always a fun weekend hobby. As I mentioned in my goals post this weekend, putting a record player in our house is on the top of my to-do list.

2 // Trevor was the inspiration behind this pick since he's in need of a new alarm clock. Cell phones are great for a lot of things but one of those is not checking the time in the middle of the night. While the clap-on, clap-off feature is a bit of a novelty, this clock has a fun wooden design and it runs on batteries.

3 // These magnets are an ode to both loves in my life. Perhaps Buddy isn't quite bright enough to recognize magnets in his honor but they'd still provide a good laugh on our fridge. If your love doesn't happen to love Pit Bulls, Fab.com features magnets for other dog breeds, too.

4 // A new watch is perhaps the most classic gift on the list. That being said, this watch from Red Line is a little edgier than most with its black and red features. It just so happens that these colors happen to be Trevor's favorite.

5 // If your guy loves sports, but you aren't up for watching or attending his favorite game as part of a Valentine's Gift this year, a LeRoy Neiman print might be the best compromise. Art and sports - the best of both worlds.

6 // I happen to live with a chef who would find new kitchen knives to be a great gift (in fact, that's what I got for our first Christmas). If your guy is into cooking, or maybe you just want him to be more into cooking, this knife set is a comical and perfect addition to a bachelor's kitchen. While most guys love chrome, other colors are available too.

7 // While there is no link for this one, a bottle of his favorite liquor makes a great gift. If I was shopping, it'd definitely be for a bottle of Pernod, an anise liquor from France. (And if you aren't celebrating Valentine's Day with a guy this year, consider a bottle swap with the ladies in your life. If you do, make sure to include me on your list.)

8 // Trevor happens to be a coffee connoisseur and I know he would love a bag of french roast coffee beans from Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Perhaps your beau has a favorite roaster or a favorite flavor of coffee, too - even his favorite K-Cups make for a thoughtful and fairly inexpensive gift.

9 // As I mentioned, I've been eyeing up these whiskey stones for that bar cart I've been dreaming of. Any guy is sure to love these as they are able to keep drinks cool without absorbing or diluting any flavor. Plus, these allow you to skip my least favorite task - filling ice cube trays.

10 // Most guys aren't thrilled with the idea of his and hers pillow cases, these caught my eye. Lately, we seem to choose The Dark Knight Rises over any other movie in our collection and so for us, these pillows are the perfect fit. It also helps that my guy has a total crush on cat woman. 


So tell me, have you already finished shopping and planning for Valentine's Day? Or perhaps you haven't even started? If you've found the perfect gift for the guy in your life, do share in the comments - I'd love to know what's been on his wish list. After all, May isn't far away.

Dreaming of Dresses

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On Tuesday, I mentioned that Valentine's Day is one of my least favorite holidays. That being said, shortly after writing that post, I started thinking more about the holiday and trying to reason why exactly it falls so short on my list of holidays. It's not that I've ever been one to sulk about not having a Valentine or that I've ever had high expectations and then been disappointed by the day. Let's be real here people. Once a boy bought me a chocolate pig filled with red pink and white candy corn -- I'm terrified of pigs. The next year, I got this video game. I will say that Trevor did the day justice last year with Starbucks in bed, though.

Really it just seems to have a day dedicated to saying "I love you" and eating chocolate when I try to make both of those habit in my life, every day. What can I say? I love chocolate. But I did a little more thinking about the way holidays work and I suppose if you want to make a holiday out of sweets, hearts, and perhaps a fancy dinner and a bottle of wine? Well, I'm okay with that.

That being said, our holiday will probably be low-key as our little town lacks in that "fancy dinner and bottle of wine department." (Plus, it's a little too cold in Montana for any of the dresses above). But if you're going to go out to celebrate, you should do so in real Valentine's fashion. 

Since we're already being honest here, I have to admit that between ModCloth's Cabin Fever Sale and the cute inventory at Kintage,  I've been spending too much time browsing online this week. The good news is that I've already picked out the perfect Valentine's dress for you, though. 

For fancier occasions, I can't get enough of the Queen of Hearts Dress with it's heart-shaped cutout and sweetheart neckline. I know that Trevor would love the color - his favorite. And in my head, I've already dressed it up with the perfect black heels. As for the second dress, I've really fallen for the high-low trend.

For more casual Valentine's plans, I've included two less formal dresses in my choices. These would also work well into the spring and summer. After all, chevron seems to be all the rage these days. And the floral print dress? It's on sale! And, to sweeten the deal, Kintage has offered my readers an additional 40% off all sale products! Just use the code "SALE40" when checking out.! That means you could have the perfect dress for your plans for just $13.20 - you're welcome.  

So tell me, what are your plans for Valentine's Day?

Ten on Tuesday: Valentine's Day

Let's start off with the obvious - it's currently, actually, 10:03 on Wednesday the 15th of February. Clearly, I was too caught up in Valentine's celebrations to make time for a Ten on Tuesday post to honor the holiday. Instead, you'll get the left over version. It's just like the Reese's hearts I bought tonight, half price and just as sweet. Okay, the "just as sweet" part applies, at least!

Yesterday would have been a much better time to write this post, perhaps while I was still high off of chocolate, doughnuts and Valentine's day romance. Now? My boyfriend is angry with me and I feel really terrible about it so, I'm trying even harder to make sure this post tells you just how great he is.

Typically, Ten on Tuesday is easy for me to accomplish. I'm stuck on campus from 11 until 4 and I've got plenty of time to sneak in a little post. Yesterday, that wasn't the case. On Friday, my cardiologist decided to change my heart medication and there was simply no way I could attend school all day and then work a busy, crowded evening at the Blue Heron. So, I compromised.

I woke up yesterday to a chocolate dipped doughnut on a popsicle stick. Better yet, it was adorned with little sprinkle hearts, and the word "luv". I almost demanded a new one due to the poor spelling choice but it was so delicious, I didn't mind after the first bite.

Apparently, Trevor snuck out of bed early in the morning to make it to Starbucks and Maple Doughnuts without me waking up. Breakfast in bed. And better yet, a breakfast that I don't normally allow myself. My doctor insists that I stop eating chocolate and we all know that doughnuts are made from wheat, plus caffeine is a no, too. But...Valentine's comes only once a year.

After indulging, we may or may not have overslept until 10:00. (Oops.)

As a kid, I loved the holiday. There was nothing more exciting than picking out Valentine's cards, scribbling a list of names on them and decorating your mailbox for the party at school. As a teenager, I grew to hate it. Once, I was given a chocolate pig filled with red and pink candy corn. Another time? A video game. The whole thing just seems so silly to me. Despite that, I enjoyed my morning date. (And my valentine? he loved his Ferrero Rocher.. even if it fell off of the roof of my car while I was driving forty miles per hour. Seriously.)

In honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I would tell you ten reasons why I absolutely adore Trevor. Cheesy? Probably. Like me? Not at all. But hey, this one's different.

1. He calls pizza crusts, "pizza bones". 
If you didn't put it together yet, Trevor has a wonderful, giant, Pit Bull - Buddy. Once upon a time, before January 1st of 2012, Buddy could eat lots and lots of people food. Luckily for Buddy, Trevor is not a fan of pizza crusts. One day, while eating pizza, Trevor told Buddy to go lay down, he could have the pizza bones when we were done. Of course I died of laughter. Pizza bones? I'd never heard the term. According to Trevor, if you have a dog, you know the term. My sources disagree. Never the less, I have to think about "pizza bones" anytime I'm eating pizza.

2. He's a chef!
This is an obvious reason to love anyone, right? For special occasions, Trevor always creates beautiful and delicious meals for us! For my birthday, we had fire roasted pork with mango salsa, roasted asparagus and white chocolate mousse. Just last week, he made gorgeous "Superbowl sandwiches" with a wonderful side of greens and potato salad. What I enjoy more than the food he makes is watching him cook. I miss having him at work where I got to see it more often but there's nothing more exciting than being kicked out of the kitchen when Trevor wants to concentrate or surprise me. I also love when we get to cook together, even if its just midnight pancakes.

In case you couldn't decipher, this is Trevor cooking for my birthday - a day when I was banned from the kitchen.

3. He looks so cute, I mean seriously cute, when he sleeps.
I may or may not have an entire collection of iPhone photos of Trevor and Buddy sleeping. (Is that creepy?) I would be more than happy to show you evidence of just how cute he looks but, he knows this URL and I can't begin to imagine how upset he would be to see a photograph of himself sleeping posted on the world wide web.

4. I've never seen a guy love his dog so much.
And it's so endearing. Buddy is essentially a toddler and Trevor treats him as his own son.. or best friend.. or worst enemy. It really depends on the day. I do know though that Trevor loves Buddy more than anything and I think the feeling is mutual. We tuck him in every night with his own blanket, he only gets small bags of dog food so that it stays fresh, we let him take people showers with us. He's loved. 

Bathtime.

5.  He sets every Sunday aside to spend a special, lazy, day with me. And only me.
Trevor and I cherish our Sundays together. If you've ever tried to make Sunday plans with me, you know that I will always turn them down. Our busy work schedules prevent us from spending too many daylight hours together and we usually make it through the week on late night dinners, Chelsea Lately, and sleeping together. When Sunday rolls around, we spend the day sleeping in, taking Buddy to run silly errands, always eating at one of our favorite places, and doing pretty much nothing else. We usually manage to sneak in a nap, too. Today, I'm craving a Sunday. Sleeping in on Valentine's Day was such a tease!

Sunday Brunch at John Wright.

6. He hates York, Pennsylvania as much as I do.
I know that seems like a silly reason to love someone but, there's logic behind it, I swear. I love being with someone who likes to travel, experience new places, and eat local cuisine from many different areas. I also like being able to lay in bed together and daydream about all the other places we could live. Perhaps one day it will be Montana. Or Arizona. Or New Mexico. If Trevor gets his way, Arizona will be off the list, though.

7. He takes good care of me when I'm sick... which is essentially every day. 
If you've ever dealt with any scary emotional or physical illness, you know that being alone sometimes makes it worse. Trevor is wonderful about checking on me when I'm not feeling well, picking me up from the hospital, reminding me to take my medicine, not letting me run at the gym, and always sleeping with me when I've had a bad or off day. (If you couldn't tell, sleeping is really important to us. We love it.) I think that my mom loves him for this reason, perhaps even more than I do.

8. He cleans a lot.
I guess that's sort of a brief summary of my point. I love that my boyfriend is neat and tidy! I know that seems silly but when you hang out in a place called "the third floor man cave", you never know what to expect. I never have to worry, though. Trevor is always cleaning and rearranging. (He's also a self-proclaimed furniture whore.) My favorite cleaning fact has got to be that Trevor chooses to vacuum his couch without a hose. Instead, he uses the whole vacuum. (This picture still makes me smile months later.)

9. He always makes time to talk to me and to see me, too. 
I suppose this goes hand in hand with our special Sunday plans, or no-plans, rather but, Trevor always makes it a priority to spend time with me. We don't do a lot of "dates". Last time, and actually the first time, we went to the movies, I slept through the entire thing! Instead, we laid in bed after and watched it snow. If we both have busy days, Trevor will insist that we go grab breakfast. If I've worked late? We'll go for a late dinner at Round the Clock. He will even put up with me talking super fast and non-stop while he tries to finish paperwork after work. Likewise, Trevor also makes it a point to talk to me during our busy days. At least once, if not twice, each day, Trevor calls me just to say hi and to see how my day is going. Yesterday? He called to say, and I quote, "Happy Valentine's Day! I love Dillsburg and I love you!". These phone calls are the highlight of my afternoons!

10. The reason why I adore Trevor the most is because I could go on and on with this list and never run out of reasons to adore him! I know that sounds cliche but it's entirely true. Did I tell you that he writes? Or perhaps that he is really good at rubbing my back? Or how about the week when I had a non-stop migraine and he drove the whole way to my apartment for ice packs and a heating pad? I wouldn't be exaggerating if I told you he's the best thing that's ever happened to me. And if you know anything about me, you know that I don't say cheesy things like that about guys very often, if ever.

I hope that you had a perfect Valentine's Day with the one you love! Perhaps one filled with lots of hearts and chocolate, too. If that didn't happen for you this year, let me tell you - finding a guy this good? It's well worth the wait.