13 Feb
Brain Dump II
The reaction to my last scattered post like this one was good and I think I’ll make it a regular Saturday occurrence.
Stretch Marks
They’ve arrived. My belly/thighs/arms/breasts already had them from my rapid weight gain a few years ago, so I’m not worried about my body being “ruined” since it never looked that great to being with, but the reddish/purple tiger stripes are still pretty shocking to see.
Antique E-ring and Band
I have a complicated engagement story. To sum things up in a sentence or two, TH and I decided we were getting married, but I told him he could “officially” propose anytime he wanted before I returned to Washington in August to finish wedding planning. This meant I went several months without a ring on my finger while officially planning a wedding. During that time my mom and sister visited an antique store in Spokane and picked up this set for $300. They had no idea if the the stones and metals are real, but they figured that the set was aesthetically pleasing enough that I might like to have it. I chose to go with a different antique ring instead, and now I have these two pretty rings sitting in my closet.
What would you do? I don’t know any jewelers in Dallas personally, otherwise I would have the set appraised to find out its worth. Unfortunately I’m not sure if I want to take gamble of getting it appraised because it if’s worth less than $300 then we just paid someone to tell us we are going to lose money. Do you think it would be possible to find someone who would be interested in buying without an appraisal? Where would you list it?
Speaking of selling things, my Canon Rebel sold really quickly. Thanks so much for those who responded and told me their stories. It made me a little sad not to be able to provide a camera to everyone who wants one, but so many of you said that you would buy from me because you trust me because of the things you read here. What a wonderful compliment.
Maternity Shoot
We postponed until Tuesday because we thought the snow would melt (the weatherman certainly made it sound like it would) and I didn’t want to take pictures in a pile of dirty slush. I tried not to cry as I looked out the window at 4:00 and saw perfectly preserved snow that would have looked SO good with what I have planned for these portraits. My makeup/hair artist canceled on me though and I really wanted to get all gussied up for the shoot so I held myself back from calling Bethany and begging her to go ahead with the shoot anyway. Such is life, and I’m sure it will still be awesome.
Connecting
Lately That Husband and I have been spending more time just sitting in the living room talking (and not about birth if you can believe it!), with no tv, no laptops, no distractions. It strengthens our relationship and gives us the chance to bond emotionally than we have been for the past few months. Tonight he helped me mash the potatoes for dinner and I realized how much I appreciate his help. I want to find ways to reach out and help him with his marital responsibilities a little bit more as well. I don’t think we are going to do anything for Valentines Day, other than a dessert night with a group of couples on the 14th. I’d like to have some kind of tradition, but I can’t think of any that I find really appealing (or that don’t feel extremely commercial or cliche in some way). What are your v-day traditions?
Also:
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
I had a ring appraised at a few places. There’s no chance they will steal the diamond, as they look at the ring in front of you. You’d be safe to take it to a local place, just check on yelp for one that comes highly recommended. My appraisal was free.
Sarah B. Reply:
February 14th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
We also had a ring appraised at a major jewelery store for no charge. They were a little snobbish about it because diamonds don’t “appraise” for anywhere NEAR what they’re sold for. Ours would sell for around $1000 but was only appraised at $150… basically the price of the gold at the time. I totally don’t get that. But those rings are SO beautiful! I’m from Spokane, where did they pick them up? I’d love to take a look there sometime.
Jenna Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 7:19 pm
I’ll ask my mom, but she’s ummm…. not very good at replying to my emails.
This will be our seventh V-day, and our only tradition is that we don’t really have a tradition (like we do for so many other things, like Fridays - Champagne Friday…). We will probably cook together and then watch a movie. I’m looking forward to a quiet weekend.
2Chris and I started “really” dating shortly before Valentine’s Day… but I had class on V-Day and couldn’t make the hour drive up to see him, so we celebrated on the 13th instead, and that’s become our tradition. Some people celebrate on a different day because of convenience reasons, we celebrate (doing whatever, but it usually involves sweets and yummy food) on the 13th because it’s our tradition. =)
3This is our sixth Valentine’s Day together, and the first one we’ve ever had where we’re actually going to go out and do anything. And honestly… that’s just because we want to see “The Wolfman”, and had an offer for babysitting from grandparents, and I’m craving potato soup from a specific restaurant.
4We were the first of any of our friends to get married, so for a while, we threw a huge party at our place and wore “Single In Solidarity” t-shirts and hosted kind of a mixer. That was always the most fun…
I would take it to an appraiser - they can tell you offhand, without an official appraisal, how much it is worth and if it’s worth getting appraised. I’d rather have it appraise for less than I thought than sell it for a lot less than it’s worth!
5Here is a neat little thing that me and my hubby are starting this year. Writing a card or a letter to each other talking about what you enjoyed the past year- the things you love about each other, and what you think the future will hold.
Then seal it up and put them away to be read NEXT Valentines Day. Kinda like a time capsule. Then it becomes a tradition out of necessity! And watch your love (and baby) Grow!!!
6I’m excited to read everyone’s traditions since I’m not really a fan of V-day (though I imagine it will be much more fun when you have children). We don’t really plan on doing anything…maybe next weekend we’ll go out to dinner, but nothing this weekend besides Church activities.
7My rings came from my husband’s grandmother - they look almost identical to yours. Mine were appraised at $2,000. I know that doesn’t mean yours are also worth that much, but it is worth checking!
CharChar Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Same here, my rings are from my great grandmother, very very similar to this set - they appraised at $2000.
Def worth having them checked out!
We don’t celebrate anything on the 14th itself. We call the 13th “I Love You Just Because Day” and we usually make some sort of special dinner together and just enjoy each others’ company. This year, it’s mussels, leg of lamb, a zucchini/squash/corn/hominy casserole, a cherry pie, and Blue Bell ice cream. We’ll also probably open one of the bottles of wine we have around the house - I’d wager our favorite, Mavrodaphne of Patras.
Then on the 15th, it’s “Fancy Chocolate for Really Cheap Day” since all the V-day chocolate goes on sale for 50-75% off. We hit up Target and a grocery store and come home with a big ol’ pile of chocolate to last me the rest of the year.
Christiana Reply:
February 14th, 2010 at 5:12 pm
wow, you have the best traditions!
The wife of a friend of mine is a jeweler. I can get you her contact info, if you want. (I live in Dallas)
10We keep our V-Day plans low key. Our tradition is that we go ice-skating at a free city rink (only $5 for skate rentals) and have a heart-shaped pizza at a nearby restaurant. It’s sort of cheesy and fun, and it’s great to just enjoy each other’s company without any grand gestures or expectations.
And I hear you on the “just talking” thing — sometimes it is so nice to just sit and talk and catch up with our spouses!
11Our first date was on February 16th, so we usually do something for that instead of actually celebrating V-day.
This year we went out to eat last night, sort of for V-day, but mostly because we just needed to get out after a week of being snowbound. The food was literally inedible, so we’re making lasagna tomorrow to purge the memory.
Really we just try to do something a little special in the general vicinity of V-day/anniversary, it doesn’t really matter what it is or when it happens. Maybe when we have kids we’ll do some sort of fun traditions, but for now I’m happy with our token observation.
12That ring set is gorgeous. I’ll be picking out my own ring and I’m looking for something vintage, antique.. mostly just unique. I like stuff I see in stores but not as much as I’d like something old. Art deco is usually what I search for, at least on the Internet.
We don’t have any traditions really. My boyfriend isn’t huge into romance but knows I am so we decided to trade years. It’s his this year so I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see.
Last year I surprised him with chocolate fondue. It came in a heart-shaped ceramic bowl & I served pineapple, strawberries & walnuts with it - very tasty! 
We live with his parents so we ate it at the dining room table w/ people all around. Not very private but we still had fun. 
13We started a tradition of going out the day before or after V-Day, to avoid overpriced Prie Fixe menus and crowds; on Valentine’s Day itself we make a delicious homecooked meal together that we pick out of a cookbook. It has to be something we’ve never made before, and it has to be something we both want. (Although tomorrow we might cheat and make sushi, which we have made before but we might make a different kind than what we have done.)
Cooking together is one of our favorite things to do, even if all one of us is doing is fixing a salad or doing/putting away dishes or stirring the pot.
14Year 1: nothing, we were an ocean appart, unless we sent each other cards? Not sure
Year 2 : Same as above
Year 3: a few days before V-day I got an other “no we can’t hire you because you don’t have the right visa” so he came home with a teddy bear and a bouquet. It made my da.
On V-day, well he made spaghetti. I was upset because I felt he could have cooked something more special or a least put candles on the table.
I had no job and no money so I gave him home-made coupons for” a dinner of his choice”. “a massage”, “a special evening” he loved it.
Year 4: Still no job. I made homemade chocolate covered candied orange.
He brought me cookies from work.
Year 5: He showed up a work on the 13th with a bouquet in his hands. I didn’t recognize him at first and though the flowers were for my colleague, until I looked at this face properly.
This year. Well to be honest, working in hospitality makes me think of all the V-day cliche + we both work.
15I’d like us to make a homemade sushi meal together sometimes this week to celebrate though.
He also made me a martini last night and we went on a really nice walk today. All the quality time we had makes it a wonderful V-day weekend for me.
We have no traditions, other than making sure to get each other a little card. This year I made heart shaped cupcakes. He loved it. (So did our extended family, who we are visiting!)
16We love going out to eat and have fun date nights almost any other night of the year, but valentine’s we’ve learned in our last 8years just isn’t the best day to go out- overpriced, overcrowded. So, we do candlelit pizza at home. It has two benefits- no dishes and no crowds. it’s actually one of our favorite traditions cause it’s kinda cheesy but it can be super romantic at the same time- we usually exchange cards also.
17I decided that in the morning I’m going to make heart-shaped french toast, bacon, and eggs for breakfast! That’s about as far as I got so far though :).
18Any chance you would want to keep the rings and have them changed into something else like a necklace or earrings? I had my grandmother’s engagement ring turned into a pendant which I wore on my wedding day.
We celebrated last night at a yummy restaurant where I had (vegetarian) sushi (I miss the real stuff!) and a movie on the couch. Today we’re hanging out together and will probably take Kodiak for a long walk. It’s the simple stuff, you know?
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Jenna Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 7:18 pm
If the set had any sentimental value I would, but it’s just an extra $300 I would need to pay my mom for something I don’t really need, you know?
My husband and I have been doing more “connecting” too. Isn’t it funny how much closer you feel when the TV is off and you are just concentrating on each other?
Happy Valentine’s Day to you and TH!
20oh that is such a gorgeous ring set!
we went out for dinner the day before valentine’s day. that might be something that we start doing every year b/c it’s nice to avoid the crowds and the inflated prices. something we just decided on this year was that each of us was going to take turns being the event organizer each valentine’s day.
21This was our 8th Valentine’s together. Our 3rd as a married couple. We never plan much of anything. But this year we were going to go to a restaurant that I’ve been dying to try for a long time. How was it??
I don’t know. Leaks in our apt roof and a dead TV made us have to rearrange our plans. Since we now need to budget for a new TV, a fancy dinner out just didn’t seem right. So Hubby bought steaks. I made potatoes.
This past week with all the frustration of an unresponsive landlord/no TV/etc has given us time to just sit and talk. I am thankful that we have been able to connect again, just like you and TH. If that deeper connection and a new TV is the only good thing we get out of this situation, I can be happy with that.
So glad your V-Day was better than ours.
22I have that set… it was from my great-grandmother. (She left it to me before she died when I was 8.) I haven’t had it appraised yet, either. But I have had jewelers look at it during cleaning and mention that I should get it appraised and insured. Just a thought.
23I hope you enjoyed your valentine’s day! We don’t have any traditions (yet), but each vday together has been unique in it’s own way. 2 years ago, we had just met & weren’t even dating yet. I invited him out to a local place to shoot pool, just as friends. We flirted a lot that night & started dating a week later. Last year was our first “official” vday together, and we were recently engaged. We went to dinner at the restaurant where we had our first date, then went to the same bar as the year before to shoot pool. This year we took a romantic trip to Gatlinburg, TN and spent vday at the aquarium, went to a wine tasting, and ate at a local steakhouse in the smoky mountains. They’ve all been great, and I can’t wait to see what we come up with in the future!
24We’ve been dating for four years and three Valentine’s Days. We always cook a new recipe together on Valentine’s and on our anniversary. And then we picnic on the living room floor and watch a movie or play a game, because that’s what we did for our first date.
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