Happy Valentine’s Day!

felt heart DIY

We woke up to a fun surprise this morning. Eleven year old Maude set her alarm super early, so she could get up and play cupid. She set a fancy table for breakfast (with napkins folded into hearts) and sprinkled heart confetti around the house. So sweet! She also left a little gift at each place setting — a friendship bracelet that she made herself.

Breakfast was pancakes with raspberries and whip cream, and raspberry milk to drink.

What about you? Do you have any fun traditions for Valentine’s Day?

P.S. — Did you see the cute little felt hearts by Yeri Yun?

35 thoughts on “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

  1. Way to go Maude!

    We found that fresh milk (as opposed to uht) was hard to come by. Also, French pizzas kind of suck (unless you are at Thomas Cook Explorers Hotel at Disneyland!), and they don’t slice them for you! On the other hand, fresh bread and pastries are quite easy to get used to!

  2. That is soooooo sweet!

    Yes it’s hard to find fresh berries but it’s because it is not the season. You will find that unlike in the US…France really follows the fruit/veggie seasons. I was just used to having what I wanted when I wanted (even if it was a bit more expensive). But not here!
    Summer is when you will find fresh raspberries and strawberries. The strawberries are not very good here. They mostly come from Spain. I am from Florida so we always have strawberries this time of year and they are huge and sweet! Not so much here…but I found a new fruit/veggies market here in Paris maybe they will have a better selection?!?

    Regarding the Pizza comment above…yes it sucks here and so does the sushi (well in Paris at least). Making your own pizza is the only way to get it American style…unless you like Eggs on your pizza ;-)

    1. I usually bake for my family. Today I’m trying to make heart shaped apple and pumpkin pies. Hope they work. I made crepes for breakfast. Yum.

      And not to pull the conversation totally over to pizza, but when I took my oldest to Paris when she was 14 she ordered an olive pizza. We just laughed when it came out with one unpitted olive in the center instead of sliced olives over the entire pizza as she had envisioned.

      Happy Valentines day!

    2. TN– I must comment on your comment! I am from FL as well and we are in high strawberry season–you described them perfectly!!

      And I remember ordering pizza in Paris. Not bad, just super different! It was like toppings are kind of dumped on…and the fried egg on top–yikes! I remember saying “Sans ouef sil vous plait!!” I was not sure if that was the proper way to say it but that was all I could spit out before he plopped it on top!

  3. That is so sweet! My little one isn’t two yet. So no traditions so far…but I’m hoping to establish lots of them in the future. I just got her a little card and box of candy. She’ll be thrilled!

  4. What a sweet, sweet girl you got there!!! (One of many reasons why we’re going to keep trying until we have a girl. Yup, this next one is a boy again… Hahaha.)

  5. What a sweet girl you have! All your cupcakes are sweeties, I’m sure ;-). What a nice thing your Maude did! I, too, become the Valentine’s fairy in my house (before dawn this year – my teen gets up at 6 am), dispensing gifts, etc. – this year…. just some candies wrapped in colorful tissue paper….. my youngest (3 – no school for her) and I will bake cupcakes in little flowered cups for everyone else today…. I sent Valentines with my preschool and kindergarten boys this am …. made a nice pre-V-day dinner last night that was topped off with a blackberry crumble and heavy cream. While eating our lucious crumble, for some reason, I mentioned the seasonal fruit thing in France (my parents lived in Luxembourg for a number of years, and we spent a lot of time in France – so envious of you now :-) – how the first cherry Clafoutis of the season is lucious because cherries have been scarce for so long… how berries are fresh and so yummy because you wait sooo long for them :-). Anyway – Happy Valentine’s Day!

  6. Hooray for Maude! Hooray for Ben and Gabby, Valentine’s Day, frozen raspberries,
    love, family and life! We’re clapping for you all!

  7. No traditions here…except the standard VDay parties. But since my littles are only 4 and 1, there’s plenty of time yet!

    How sweet of Maude! I hope you’ll share some photos of the bracelets. And do tell what you ended up doing for Ben Blair!

  8. with that cutest ever garden you have there, it will be easy to grow strawberries yourself.
    And yes, I’m grateful that not all areas/people in Europe are going aganist the seasons .. (though in the bigger supermarkets you should find the outofseason stuff, usually from Spain or the Netherlands, at least frozen, though strawberries are very rare and lose alot of taste when frozen.
    Sad but true. stores like geantcasino, monoprix etc.) Unfortunately people tend to want that outofseason stuff..
    Pizzas in Europe are the real thing.. I’m sorry to say so. Not in France though, I’d never order Pizza in France. It’s an italian thing… thin crust, not to much topping, except when homemade. Everything else is american pizza and can’t be found in europe except at p.hut… ;)

    This is the season of late oranges, stored apples and nuts..
    Happy wintertime!

  9. How did you make the raspberry milk? I like that idea but unsure how to use it.

    We’re a young family so we are making our traditions up as we go. We did give our 4 year old a little something and take a trip to the ice cream shop.

    Love all the little ideas! So sweet. Homemade gifts are the best.

  10. My daughter is 17 and still loves our traditions! We had heart shaped pancakes and heart shaped canadian bacon, & raspberries. I always light candles and have treats in heart shaped boxes on the table. This year, I had candies from our local candy shop, ribbons for her hair & to be used as laces in her new oxfords, as well as an assortment of fun buttons that the teens make bracelets out of to match their outfits, and a coupon for our local hot spot tea shop. Tonight for dinner is meatloaf in heart shaped ramekins, smashed red potatoes, red jello with raspberries ( I only make this once a year) and a raspberry from Trader Joes!)

  11. The pizza here, in Rostrenen, wood-fired, organic, is the BOMB. Not plastic American pizza whatsoever. And I get lait frais at the store, and raw milk at the weekly market. We love it.
    It’s different here… it’s France.

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