Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day. 

Travis is home, and my parents are babysitting.

We get to leave for a few hours and spend some time together.

We may even go to a movie.

A full priced movie!

In the theaters!

NOT a dollar theater!

So yeah. It's kind of a big deal. 

Our very first Valentine's day together was three years ago. We had just started dating. We hadn't even been "official" for an entire month. I wasn't really sure what to expect. I'd never had a boyfriend on Valentine's Day, and Travis isn't exactly a big spender or an expert-gift chooser. 

He's gotten SO much better at giving gifts. For my 20th birthday, he gave me a CF card reader. I mean, really? But for Christmas, just a few months later he gave a thumb drive with my first set of Photoshop Actions on it. 

So yeah, he's definitely got the "random pieces of technology" thing going, but at least by the time we'd been together a year, he was better at choosing random pieces of technology that I would enjoy...

But I digress. 

I was telling you about our first Valentine's Day.

It was easily the most elaborate and jam-packed of all our days and dates together, probably to date.

Travis showed up early in the morning with simple pretty flowers and built an elaborate fort in my living room.  This served the dual purpose of being awesome, and also a private place to make out without my roommates giving us dirty looks and repeatedly asking Travis to please leave.

Then, because he was in the midst of reading all the Harry Potter books (because having read them was a requirement for dating me), we spent a long time eating snacks and reading the books aloud to each other in our best impressions of British accents.

We got lunch... somewhere or another.... (I guess I don't remember) and then embarked on our first (and very mini) road trip.  We were driving about two hours away to pick up "my gift," which was secret. We drove and talked and sang along to the music loudly, and finally arrived on the border of Wyoming to pick up a pair of matching "his and her" beach cruisers.

I don't love bikes. 

I never have.

But those bikes were so blasted adorable, and he bought them for me. FOR US. 

It was so sweet.

I loved them. I still have mine, although his was stolen recently. (Sad face.)

Then we took a long ride home, and probably played and kissed in our fort for a while longer before we went out for dinner. We went to Gloria's Little Italy, which was my favorite restaurant at the time.

I wore a dress. 

We ate fancy Italian food. 

I'm pretty sure that we were serenaded a little and that I was given more flowers.

I took some pictures, and I found this one:

 This is 19 year old Becky.

Yeah, she is wearing a denim half-jacket. Don't judge.

When dinner was over we packed up all our excess food (aka desserts) and walked a few blocks to Velour and went to a concert that our friend Maude was performing. I think. 

I'm like 70% sure that Maudie was playing, although there's a chance that it was just a random concert. We met up with all our friends and Travis' sister and it was just... perfect.

I didn't want candles. I didn't want roses. I required only a small amount of chocolate (in cake version.)

But I definitely needed a concert, silly voices, a fort, a long car ride, lots of kissing, Harry Potter, a bike, some time with my friends, a pink dress, and... 

It was perfect.

It was my first real Valentine's Day, and it was completely perfect.

And now, three years and two babies later.... I think that a trip to the mall for something pretty to wear, a round of pasta nachos at Ciao Mambos and This is War without my babies sounds perfect.

Even if it is almost a week late. 

I hope your weekend is lovely. 

Mine will be.

I know this, because I can see the future.

And also, because my husband is the best ever and he's finally home.