Our Valentine's Date

I think it's kind of interesting that for being such a tradition driven person as I am...we don't really have traditions for Valentine's Day - other than to celebrate the thing. We've done it a little bit differently each year, but we always have fun!

This year, Ryan had to work on Valentine's Day, so I offered to do the planning for our day. I'm really not a big fan of going out on Valentine's Day, because the crowds are CRAZY. I find it hard to enjoy myself when it's crowded and chaotic.

So....this year, I planned a fondue date! I thought it would be a lot of fun for us. Ryan and I grocery shopped together Friday night and I told him I was going to be buying some weird things and not to ask questions. LOL!!

I got everything all prepped while Ryan was at work, and then when we were ready to eat, I sent him far away from the main part of the house so I could finish up the work and surprise him.

Candles in a heart shape around glasses of sparkling grape juice...one of our favorite things. 

I made two kinds of fondue...a cheese version and a broth version. For the cheese fondue I cubed some French bread, and I also had some cocktail shrimp. For the broth fondue I had tiny potatoes, mushrooms, and beef tips. Dinner is pretty quick to fix when you don't have to actually fix any of it ahead of time!!

And for dessert, coffee of course, and I also used my DeBrand gift card to get us some truffles.

We don't actually own fondue pots, so I borrowed a chocolate melting pot from my mom and a fondue set from my friend Amy at work. Between the two, we were set!

When I went to get Ryan from our room, he was SO EXCITED to find out we were doing fondue. He loved it! YAY!!!

He got busy right away, putting in the potatoes, since they take forever to cook. 

I am not gonna lie - it was a fun dinner to eat. So much to sample!

And don't forget dessert!

After dinner, we exchanged cards and gifts. Ryan got a phone upgrade a while back, and his arm band he uses to hold his phone during workouts wont' work anymore, so I got him a new one.

And he got some serious points for my gift. He designed a new case for my phone - with our picture on it!

A great night - and a great night to be INSIDE, since it was so nasty out. Happy Vallentine's Day from Shafferland!