Christmas & A Babymoom

We had a splendid Christmas this year! We decorated, baked, and shopped. We drove through Richmond's Tacky Light Tour and visited the GardenFest of Lights at the botanical gardens. My mom and sister came down from Pittsburgh, and we enjoyed a candlelit Christmas Eve service and a Christmas Day filled with present opening, big meals, napping, and playing with toys. I loved watching Christmas through the eyes of two year old Little Boy. We read a children's version of the Christmas story before bed for over a week, and he insisted on also singing "Jesus songs" as part of the bed time routine! What a joy!

The Saturday after Christmas, I surprised Hubby by picking him up at work and having him follow GPS directions to a surprise location (historic Smithfield, VA) for a one-night, pre-baby getaway! As we drove, he said, "Let me guess! The trunk is full of luggage and we're off to Jamaica for the night!" I said, "Well, the trunk is full of luggage..." and he laughed and said, "Sure it is!" Little did he know I was serious! Eventually he caught on, and we had an extremely relaxing night away while Little Boy spent the time getting spoiled to death by Grammy and Aunt Missy! I doubt he even missed us.

The highlights of our babymoon:
-The peaceful drive through farm land and small towns to reach Smithfield
-Antique shopping on Main Street
-Purchasing two beautiful acrylic paintings for our living room in a quaint store called Perspectives
-Visiting the Olde World Tea Shoppe, smelling canister after canister of aromatic loose leaf teas, and bringing home a black currant tea and a strawberry green tea
-Dinner of soup and salads at the famous Smithfield Inn
-Our queen-sized, jacuzzi suite at the Church Street Inn Bed & Breakfast
-Cookies and hot chocolate by the fire in our room before bed
-Huge, fluffy homemade pancakes and fresh fruit for breakfast
-A quiet, warm, and breezy stroll on Sunday morning looking at historic houses and landmarks in Smithfield; all of the house were decked out in beautiful Christmas garland, bows, and lights
-Visiting the historic St. Luke's Church
-Driving past the Smithfield ham packaging plant; Hubby keeps telling everyone we heard the squealing of pigs in the distance, but we absolutely did not!
-The stunning view of the James River from the Civil War Fort Boykin

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

An At-Home Date Night

Earlier this month, we decided to celebrate Hubby's birthday at home since we knew we'd be dining out several times in the following weeks. Truthfully our at-home date nights almost always consist of crashing on the couch after Little Boy goes to bed, ordering pizza, and watching a movie. Exciting, I know. But lately I've been inspired to try to be more creative with the way we spend our time together.

So I started out thinking that I would just cook Hubby a nicer-than-usual dinner and then maybe we could play games. But once the creative gears in my head started turning, I landed on a more elaborate, more elegant, more romantic, more fun date night plan!

the setting
Using our every day dishes seemed too ordinary for a special night, but we don't own a complete set of China. I immediately went on a hunt for nice but inexpensive place settings that included a soup bowl, salad plate, and dinner plate. I landed on a perfect black and white floral set at Wal-Mart where I paid less than $8 for two place settings! In our attic, I found a black table cloth and red napkins from a previous Christmas celebration. I added a row of white tea lights to the table. I turned on my favorite Josh Groban CD as background music. Voila! Perfect! Romantic!

the menu
Starters:
Creamy Tomato Soup with Basil
Lettuce Leaf Salad with Grapes and Walnuts
Main Course:
Spinach and Pancetta Stuffed Shells
Steamed Broccoli and Carrots
Dessert:
Oreo Fudge Ice Cream Cake

Inspired by the formal dining on our recent cruise, I decided to serve the meal in courses. I found the soup in the organic food section of the supermarket. We absolutely love fruit and nuts in our salad. My dad had made the stuffed shells for us before, and the recipe is seriously as amazing as anything you would order in a nice Italian restaurant. Josh's favorite dessert is ice cream, so I purchase him an ice cream cake for his birthday every year. This year I went a step farther and actually made the cake, tweaking a recipe I received from a friend.

While Hubby knew that I planned to cook him a birthday dinner, he had no idea how far my plans had taken me or what I intended to serve. I did all my cooking and baking when Hubby was out of the house, quite the challenge since he works from home! I hand washed all the dishes I used, so he wouldn't notice an overflow of dishes in the dishwasher. I hid the finished products as best I could but ended up banning him from the refrigerator and freezer the day of our date night.

We both dressed up, him in khakis and a polo, me in a skirt and blouse. I had him put the baby to bed while I set the table. With the dining room table transformed and the meal much nicer than our usual at-home fare (and a far cry from Papa John's pizza!) we had so much fun and such a good time that I hardly noticed that I was the one serving and cooking the food.

Our creative juices (okay, maybe just mine) are definitely flowing for the next at-home date night! In the meantime, I'd really love to hear what all of you do to keep the romance alive at home when you can't find a sitter or just need an inexpensive but fun and romantic date night. Comment below!

Also, if anyone is interested in the recipes for the stuffed shells or ice cream cake, let me know, and I can post those in a future post.