Happy Friday, Penny Darlings!
It’s currently after midnight and I am still up click clacking away while Harvey takes a little snooze next to me, New Girl plays in the background, and my Redbull is keeping me company!
So let’s see, what else? Hmm, blah, blah, blah, – check me out on Instagram here! I also started a Twitter account! Find that here! Follow Preston’s brand new fashion Instagram here! I also have a selling Instagram page where I sell some of my old clothes/styles so that I don’t drown in my own wardrobe. I just listed a few new things – so check that out!
But, as everyone knows, one of my fave (everyone knows Christmas is truly where my heart lay) holidays is coming up next week! Leif Erikson day! Just kidding, Valentine’s Day!
Now, I’ve been with Preston for three Valentine’s days so far and this one will be our fourth! As two people who are saving for a wedding, we didn’t want to do anything super extravagant – but we knew we wanted to do something special for our only Valentine’s Day as fiances!
However, after all of these years, we wanted to do something a little different and as we continue our lives together, I don’t want us to be stuck thinking of what to do every year! So we decided to go totally outside the box, I wanted to share some tips of how to keep Valentine’s Day exciting when you’ve been together (and will be together!) forever!
1.) Think Outside the Box
After the first year of heading to a nice restaurant and a show, the second year of being SO broke that all we could do was get chinese food from the grocery store, and a third year hitting the movies and dessert, we felt like we had already done all the tropes!
So we decided (after having TERRIBLE cabin-fever!) after all the snow this week, we decided to have an outdoor picnic….IN THE SNOW! We grabbed some Miesse’s chocolates, some champagne, some flowers, and set up to have a little picnic and toast our engagement!
2.) Go Extra on the Sweets!
We are in the middle of planning a wedding which means extra trips to the gym, cleaner eating, healthier choices (which are all good things!) but for Valentine’s Day, we went full on classic! We stopped at Miesse’s Candies in downtown Lancaster! Because if we’re going sweet – we want the best! Miesse’s is a mom & pop candy shop in our town, who have been in business for more than 140 years! They use all natural ingredients with real cream, real butter, real cocoa, and no preservatives! It’s so creamy and rich!
We couldn’t help but grab a few chocolate covered pretzels, non-pareil heart pops, sea salt chocolate, and so many more! (Bonus: the gorgeous doll who works there is as sweet as the chocolate!) Check them out here! And double bonus: this sweet factory is working with the local theatre (where Preston & I met & got engaged!) to make WONKA BARS for the kids’ production of Willy Wonka with real golden tickets- how cute is that?
In fact, we couldn’t stop munching on these during the shoot! The dark chocolate was keeping us a little toastier! Sea salt caramels with dark chocolate and the sea salt dark chocolate pretzels are my fave! Preston loved the buttercream and the espresso! Yum!
3.) Dress Up a Little!
Most people think that Preston & are fashionable 24/7, but many days when I have nowhere to be, I leave my hair in a messy bun, throw on my jumpsuit and a hoodie, and put no make up on! Preston usually dresses down to a big fuzzy cardigan. When we go out and do work things, we’re usually dressed up – but hardly ever dress up for each other! After seeing each other with zits or sweaty or when we just woke up or eating Chipotle really fast – you can get used to seeing your partner in their ‘natural’ form! It can be nice to show off for them a little!
It was easy to pair my tutu with this burgundy sweetheart top and Preston schooched into his pink sweater & bowtie (as my constantly perfect Ken to my Barbie!) and it was so nice to see each other dressed up as opposed to dressed for work or totally dressed down! I think he looks totally handsome!
4.) Don’t Take Any of it Too Seriously
Remember to make each other laugh. There’s nothing more fun that doing something a little zany (like having a picnic in 20 degree weather!) and being able to make each other laugh! It’s fun to reminisce about bad Valentine’s days, silly dates we’ve been on, inside jokes, quoting The Office, and teasing each other about who ate more chocolate!
Preston chuckling made me start giggling and just a few moments later – we were both in full on laughing fits! We make each other laugh! That’s one of my favorite things about Preston! No matter how crabby I am, he can always make me smile!
5.) Remember to Share
Remember to share the laughs, share the smiles, share the chocolate (these Miesse nonpareil pops were tough to want to share!), share the champagne, and share the love!
We plan on sharing our lives together, so sharing these special moments are what makes it all a worthwhile holiday!
*This post in sponsored by Miesse’s Candies and the items used were gifted to me, however all thoughts & opinions are my own! This post may also contain affiliate links, but alas, also, all thoughts & opinions are my own!*
SO HERE’S THE “END OF BLOG” SPIEL!
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Thank you for all that you do. You are truly extraordinary.
Love all you wonderful ladies (and gents!) out there!
How Very,
Abby
Penny Darling 