Valentine's Day 2020

Love Day celebrations for us this year were a little delayed and definitely low-key with having spent the actual day at my grandmothers funeral. But since we had traveled out of town for the service, we tried to make the most of it and gave ourselves some time to explore Charlotte North Carolina before making the long drive back home. 

heartfelt

Friday Favorites 02.16.18

This was a tough week, coming back late and jet-lagged to a mountain of work. Just one last hurtle for the day, I have a conference to attend. I've been annoyed all week about the fact that I've been mandated to attend, but now that I'm suffering from dehydration (they don't allow us to have water during the 7+hours we are clinic), I'm actually looking forward to because it will be a break. 

On that cheery note, here are a few favorites from this week...from when I wasn't too exhausted to enjoy life a little. 

Valentine's Day...by the Numbers

Am I the only one who wishes that Valentiene's Day could forever be like grade school where we all put paper valentines into decorated cardboard boxes? Instead we grow up to become cynical adults that think of Valentine's Day as the cheesiest holiday. Personally, I'm always on board with celebrating love in all of its forms. 

I may have been apart from my Valentine today, but overall Valentine's Day 2018, or rather the two weeks I've spent celebrating it, was filled with love. 

a rainy day Philadelphia Valentine

Last year, we celebrated love day in the big apple with an NYC Valentine. The year before, we were in Boston. And this year we celebrated in Philadelphia. It’s become an inadvertent tradition to celebrate Valentine’s Day in a different city every year and this makes for one very happy love day. But this year in Philly was extra special because...

Mütter Medical Museum

This is what happens when your Valentine wants to take you somewhere special, but you're kind of into some weird stuff so you end up at a museum of medical oddities. Learning about conjoined twins and shrunken heads may not fit everyone's date list, but I thought that it was the perfect way to celebrate Valentine's Day. 

dear february

dear february, please slow down. You are already too short and I want to make the most of you, but you're zipping right by. 

Friday Favorites 02.09.18

happy friday dear ones. 

Boy am I thankful to be saying that. It felt like I was trying to climb Everest all week so I'm always happy to take a few moments to sit down and reflect on the positives. Here are my five for this week, what are yours? 

Pie Hearts

Stress Baking + Stress Eating = BFF's

Woke up this morning and started going over today's to-do list, at which point I immediately needed a few "me" moments. Its been one of those weeks where nothing I did felt enjoyable, more like everything was a chore that I needed to get done. And while the week is coming to an end, the to-do list is as long as ever. So on a whim, I decided to carve out a little time for myself this morning to de-stress doing one of my favorite things...baking. 

 Best part of this recipe is how completely simple and quick it is. I had time to make it, bake it, eat it, and share it all before my morning class and a full day of clinic today. If you're always on the go like me, but want a little something special to add to your list of treats, this is it. 

central park in the winter

I like to think of myself as a relatively well-traveled person, but I had never been to Central Park. Hard to believe it I know. I've been to New York more times than I can count, but when I lived up North, I didn't appreciate it fully. Now that I don't live so close, I'm realizing there are too many iconic NY spots that people travel the world to see, yet I've been up the street and didn't bother. So I desperately need to remedy this starting with Central Park. 

I was hesitant to visit during our Valentine's Day weekend because well it's winter time. I figured everything would be dead and no one would be out. And that's not the way I wanted to remember the famous Central Park. But we ventured there anyway and so glad that we did because Central Park is stunning in the winter.

 The park is just as lively as ever during winter time with children sledding, couples skating, and an army of snow men greeting you at every turn. 

a rainy day at MoMa

Rainy days are my all time favorite! 

So when I woke up to the pitter-pattering of lots and lots of rain on our last day in New York, I was one happy girl. The snow and hail from the night before had mellowed into a rainy day, which made it a perfect time for a museum visit. And since we visited a fine arts museum last Valentine's day (here), we figured we would see some modern art this time around. 

While we're not normally the biggest fans of modern art, MoMa is so well done. It's massive with six floors and each floor is organized into a time period/style of art. Plus, MoMa features quite a few of the modern classics with artists like Van Gough, Dali, and Picasso. Add in a few Jackson Polluck's and a little bit of Andy Warhol, and you've got yourself a fun date for a rainy afternoon. 

My NYC Valentine

Happy Valentine’s Day Eve!

 Unfortunately, I won’t get to see my Valentine on the actual day, but we more than made up for it by celebrating a little early this past weekend. We gave each other the best gift possible for Valentine's Day by spending a bit of time together in New York. 

Thanks to all the snow storms that hit the northeast last week, we were worried that this Valentine’s Day wouldn’t happen for us. With living 700 miles apart, the plan was for us to fly into New York separately and meet up for the weekend. But things were looking pretty grim. We both had lots of delays and complications, but somehow both made it to New York safely late Friday night early Saturday morning.

when jasmine finds Aladdin

this Jasmine has found her Aladdin! 

Celebrating a special occasion with a broadway show seems to be our thing (here & here). So gifting each other tickets to Aladdin while in New York for Valentine's Day totally fit us.The unlikely story of two people from very different worlds coming together and falling in love....sounds all too familiar. So we had to see this show! 

Winter Love Letters

Dear Winter,
I'm falling in love with you. It's true that our relationship hasn't always been the greatest. Well, things are different this time around. I'm sorry that I haven't always appreciated you, but now I'm realizing how truly beautiful you are. 

Love & Travel

With love day right around the corner, I've been thinking a lot lately about all the reasons I love to travel with my husband. But more than that is how traveling together has improved our marriage and helped our communication. The skills we've picked up while traveling together have truly translated into our everyday lives. So in honor of Valentine's Day, here are just a few reasons to travel with your love. 

Toronto Stole our Hearts

valentine's day 2016

After having to spend last Valentine's Day apart, we were grateful for the chance to celebrate together this year. Even so, we wanted to keep things low-key. We decided not to exchange gifts. Instead we agreed to simply focus on spending time together. Here's how we celebrated Valentine's Day 2016.

all you need is love…and art

We have been staying in a lot lately to help fend off this winter weather. But Valentine's Day really pushed us to get out of the house {even if it was -9 degrees outside}. We decided that it was a perfect opportunity to cross another item off our Boston Bucket List by visiting the Museum of Fine Arts. 

We spent a night at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art a few months ago and adored every minute of it. Since we prefer classical art to modern, we knew that we would love the museum of fine arts even more. And it did not disappoint! There were so many pieces from our favorites…Monet, De Gule, Picasso. We were actually a bit overwhelmed.  

We decided to start with one of the museum's many free tours. Our tour guide was a nice elderly gentleman with a Harvard PhD. He was so knowledgeable and showed us some exhibits that we might have otherwise skipped. It was a perfect way to get our bearings {because this museum is massive} and determine which exhibits were worth revisiting once the tour ended. 

These flowers were definitely one of the pieces we revisited…I could stare at these gorgeous beauties all day

 I'm a fan of all things impressionist 

  Me + Monet

A few other favorites included the music exhibit 

and the pieces from the ancient worlds of Egypt and Greece

Plus we were able to see the visiting Picasso exhibit 

But without a doubt, our absolute favorite was this red room that housed some of the Art of Europe. Husband wants the red damask wallpaper in our future home 

while I wanted to take this tea service 

The Boston MFA has been open for over 100 years, which has given them plenty of time to collect thousands of pieces to the art. We loved that we spent Valentine's Day here because now we have something extra special to remember it by. 

The Details 

Time: 3-4 hours 

Cost: Adult $25 (free to Boston students)

Featured Collections: European Art, Egyptian Art, Greek Art, Contemporary, Japanese Art, Art of the Americas 

tips for a low-key valentine's day

Around here, we make a big deal about almost every holiday, but February 14th isn't one of them. It's not that we are cynical about it or anything. Having a day set apart to show how much you care is a good thing. But at some point, the cheesy gifts and over-the-top proposals get to be a bit much. 

The fact that our dating anniversary was at the beginning of February and Husband's birthday is towards the end of the month is what initially curbed our enthusiasm about this holiday. For us, Valentine's Day quickly became the middle child of February. We still wanted to celebrate, but always kept things simple. While we now celebrate our anniversary in a different month, we still like to keep things low-key. 

Skip the Restaurant 

We've all done it. You go out for a romantic dinner, but what you actually get is overpriced specials and an overly crowded dining room. The tables are too close for comfort and your romantic evening involves long waits for your dinner plate. Try making a special dinner at home, but still make the extra effort to dress up pretty. If you must go out, do brunch instead. It will be much less crowded {and less expensive}, but just as romantic. 

Take a Raincheck 

Having spent so much time dating long distance, Tom and I became accustomed to celebrating holidays on our own schedule. Consider celebrating Valentine's Day next weekend. You will be much more likely to have a date night all to yourself. Plus you can have all the discounted Valentine's Day candy that you can eat.   

Ditch the Crap 

On average, Americans are expected to spend roughly $135 per person on gifts for Valentine's Day. A lot of that includes things that will inevitably end up in the trash next week. So ditch the oversized stuffed animals and the tacky cards. Find something thoughtful to gift your love. Or you could be like us and ditch the gifts all together to focus on spending time together. 

How do you celebrate your Valentine's Day? 

LOVELY

How can you go wrong with dressing for the season? You can't! So when there are back to back snow storms in February, it's time to reach for my red wool coat. I spent 3 years searching for the perfect red coat and now that I've finally found mine, I'm wearing it every chance I get. I feel like this OOTD says that it's February and that's a lovely place to be. 

J Crew Tissue Turtleneck|| J Crew Factory Lovely Sweatshirt|| Articles of Society Sarah Jeans|| J Crew Pearls similar||Frye Boots similar||

Land's End Luxe Wool Scoopneck Coat similar on sale|| Express Scarf|| Chiara Mente Beanie|| Anthropologie First Snow Mittens||

Ironically, this is a complete 180 from what I wore Saturday. But both OOTDs scream Jasmine in different ways. Am I the only one who has dual personalities when it comes to their wardrobe?

Linking in with thepleatedpoppy//   

Gift Guide: Valentine's Day for Him

Ok ladies, Valentine's Day is just around the corner. While some may view it as a holiday for women, I happen to think that the men in our lives deserve a little love too! But men can sometimes be difficult to shop for so I took care of the work for you. Here are my gift suggestions for every kind of guy.