valentine's day à la tiny prints.

i've professed my love for tiny prints before and, here i am, professing my love for their super cute, personalized cards once again. valentine's day is fast approaching and i love being able to send my children to school with sweet notes and cards for their classmates and teachers. personally, if you ask me, i think valentine's day is overrated, but it think it's such a fun holiday for children.

ask anyone who is a fan of tiny prints and they'll tell you: the selection of cards is amazing. once again, tiny prints has outdone themselves with their section of valentine cards. tiny prints doesn't just offer valentine's day greeting cards, but you can also get photo cards and party invitations, too, each with a valentine's day theme.

it's hard to choose just one card that would be perfect for either of my children's classmates, but here are a few of the designs that we are currently in love with...

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my daughter is quite the baker and is in love with cupcakes, so this would be the perfect card for her to share with her classmates this valentine's day. 

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and another valentine's day card contender...another cupcake themed card! the simplicity of this design is perfect for exchanging with classmates.

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this option is great for my son who isn't quite into all of the lovey-dovey valentine's day cards. i like that this card - in addition to all of the tiny prints valentine's day cards - is different from what you'll find in your nearest discount store.

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and we just loved this fortune cookie valentine's day card. it's perfect for both my daughter & son to share with their classmates.  

like what you're seeing? then i urge you to check out all of the valentine's day cards that tiny prints has to offer.  in addition, you can follow tiny prints on twitter, facebook & pinterest. check them out!

disclaimer: in exchange for a blog post showcasing their valentine's day collection, tiny prints is giving me 50 free kids valentine's day cards of my choice. all opinions in this post are my own & tiny prints did not influence my opinion or the wording of this blog post.

valentine's day...

...should be every day, right?  i mean, it's nice to be caring, loving & wonderful all year long, but the real reason is because everybody needs a few of these in their lives:

good thing {our local} strawberry season is just a couple of months away!

love. speed. luck.

3 things:

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HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY...
to you & your's.

i hope you have a wonderfully red, heart-filled day. valentine's day isn't that big of a deal in our home. no gifts. no cards. just some hugs & kisses. oh, and chocolate-covered strawberries...lots of chocolate-covered strawberries {homemade, of course!}.

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boogity, boogity, boogity...
let's go racing, boys!

today is the 52nd running of the daytona 500. our guy, dale earnhardt, jr., is starting in second. let's hope this is his year to win some races & maybe even the championship!

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gung hay fat choy!

today we are celebrating the lunar new year.

it's chinese new year in our home. today we are ringing in the year of the tiger together...my parents came down on saturday afternoon.

on the menu is peking duck, a whole steamed fish, turnip cakes, steamed pork buns {char siu bao}, sauteed baby bok choy & other dim sum yumminess that my not-even-close-to-being-chinese husband creates {he's been dubbed an honorary chinese guy, though...he fits right in with my mom's side of the family!}.

i ♥ you.

{us on Ocracoke Island,NC - July 2009}

...Seems like everywhere I go,
The more I see, the less I know.
But I know one thing,
That I love you.

I love you. I love you.

I love you.

lyrics from Say Hey (I love you) by Michael Franti & Spearhead

Happy Valentine's Day (a day early)

The Voice of Reason

Said no. Or, that I shouldn't.

http://www.cache.com/cache/control/product/~category_id=0120/~product_id=05044B22040411

It's so pretty...and it looks so good on. And it only needs minor alterations (the straps would need to be taken in just a bit so it's an easy alteration). And it would work with my black peep toe pumps and black clutch.

Needless to say, I decided NOT to have my ball gown altered & dry cleaned on the fly -- the price alone (which I'm not even sure of) scares me. I mean, to rush something like that would cost extra. There's no doubt in my mind about that.

So, for now I'm going to drop my other two dresses off at the dry cleaners and just go with it. I have a feeling I'll purchase the dress despite what my voice of reason says...maybe. We'll see.

I have decided...

That I am buying myself a new dress for the formal we are attending on Saturday. I think.

In all honesty, I really DON'T need a new dress -- I have two perfectly good (black) dresses here at the house that I can wear. All I need to do is have both dresses dry cleaned. The dress I really, really, REALLY wanted to wear I've worn only once. Back in 2002. Even back then I had to have the dress altered in order to fit my body (I guess I gotta thank years of competitive swimming for my semi-broad shoulders and expanded rib cage??).

I tried on the dress tonight. I knew what the outcome would be. I mean, the last time I needed a formal dress I tried it on and it the fit was no bueno. The dress needs to be altered AGAIN in the same place it was altered the one and only time it was worn! It's also in bad need of cleaning. Had I planned a bit more efficiently -- wait, I only found out about this formal last week -- then maybe the dress would have worked. Of course, it's still quite the possibility if I can find a combo tailor/dry cleaner who would make the dress work for me. Hmmm...it WOULD be nice to wear it again. It's so damn pretty. Hmmm...

Well, maybe instead of buying a new dress I'll just see what can be done about this one. I just hope that whomever can do the rush job can take out the freakin' chocolate stains on the back of it. Yes, chocolate. That's what I get for asking my somewhat ding-dong of a husband to help me zip up the dress. I mean, really, what are you thinking? You're going to eat a chocolate covered pretzel WHILE you zip up my black and WHITE dress?? Yikes.

Oh, gee...now that I've typed that my indecisive mind has once again toggled back and forth from buy new to redo to buy new again. Maybe it's in my best interest to just buy a new dress. *sigh*

Gosh, I was skinny back then (about 20 pounds lighter than I am now...seriously) and so tan. But I lurves that dress! *sniffle*

V-Day Cookies

The kids bought me a double heart-shaped cookie cutter from Crate & Barrel while they were at my parents house over winter break and last night we made sugar cookies and the kids decorated them.

Malia's cookie:

Malia's finished decorating & Aidan's getting a little "heavy handed" with the sugar sprinkles:

Aidan's cookie (he wrote "i heart u" on it):

Enjoying the finished product!

Fun with Funfetti

Since I'm sick (and because I'm feeling sorry for myself) I purchased a little gift for myself at Target while I was waiting for my 'script to be filled:

Mmm...funfetti. Valentine's Day funfetti. It's not chocolate, but who cares...it's funfetti. I even bought cute little Valentine's Day cupcake liners, too.

I'm gonna pop those Zithromax pills and commence to baking. I just hope I don't fall asleep while they are baking in the oven. :)

BEHOLD!! The yumminess that is funfetti cuppycakes:

Be my Valentine?

It's almost Valentine's Day. The kids have been coming home from school with information about the school dance (held on, of all days, Friday the 13th). Information about class parties will start coming home which means I will be headed to the store to buy pre-made cupcakes and cookies (even though I love to bake I do look for the easy way out sometimes!).

The kids will also exchange Valentine's with their classmates. A list of names has already come home. Wait, make that TWO lists. I haven't received a third one...yet. Perhaps we won't. Anyway, my point is this -- the kids are encouraged to write their friends' names on the cards themselves. One name caught my eye....I'm sure it will catch yours, too:

Abcde

(I was shocked to hear how it is pronounced and even more shocked that I know someone who has even heard of the name....I'm just sayin'.......)