Valentine’s Day is a month away! Here is a gallery of past Valentine ideas from around here – click on the picture to take you to the post:

I found these Christmas popcorn canisters at a warehouse for 25 cents each. Someone must have eaten all of the popcorn, perhaps that is why they were so inexpensive?( for locals, it was at NPS Market Square.)

I spray painted them with Rustoleum spray paint in heirloom white (this is still my favorite spray paint: love the nozzle, the coverage, the colors, the way the spray comes out and they aren’t paying me to say any of that) Since this is thin tin, it won’t absorb any of the paint, so be sure to spray very light coats, let dry, spray some more. If you spray too much, it will run.

Happy 2014! The break went by way too fast for me. In fact, I *assumed* Christmas break lasts until the Monday after New Years, right? Wrong! We got the automated phone call from the school on Thursday morning wondering where our kids were when we were lounging around in our pajamas watching dumb youtube videos and making some important cleaning/ laundry plans for the day. I had to double check the school website to make sure it wasn’t a cruel joke and then scrambled to get everyone dressed, somewhat presentable and out the door, kind of like a Home Alone “we slept in!” We are still adjusting to this place.

We gorged ourselves in December with holiday treats and festivities and eating out on vacation while visiting Grandma and Grandpa, but we are trying a no sugar January – the whole family! Right now, I’m wondering whose dumb idea this was anyway but mostly I want a nice soft warm chocolate chip cookie (or the dough!) more than about anything.  I tried a skinny frosty shake that I had pinned that was supposed to taste JUST like a real frosty, but I am sad to report that it did NOT.  It wasn’t bad, but to say it tasted just like a Frosty was kind of blasphemous. The good news is that fruit has never tasted so good, so maybe this will have a happy ending when we see how addicted to sugar we are and we begin to make some some healthier choices.