My Sunny Funny Valentines

By Heather Land

Make the most of every sweet minute with your Valentines. Keep it simple, yet intentional. Create a sweet setup where thoughtful and spontaneous collide. Table with a view… simple linens dress it up, a snip of rosemary, love letters waiting. Powdered donuts served on a pedestal with homemade lattes or pink milk for dipping.  Make whatever you serve feel special with the dishes you serve it on.  This setup can be thrown together and waiting when they walk down the stairs – PJs encouraged.

I was born on Valentine’s Day 1979. Like any birthday shared with a commercial holiday, it has always been easy to go unnoticed. My mom always had a way of making sure it felt extra special, regardless. At 43, it is now my pleasure to serve my own Sunny Funny Valentines – a gift in itself. 

Seems like the pace of the world urges us to lean on the ready-made availability of all things this holiday or that with the demise of convenience. In truth, there is a greater price to be paid for convenience. Not only might you have to fight the crowd last minute, you lose the satisfaction of the actual act of creating and presenting, no matter how meager or extravagant your effort. 

In the time it would take to drive to a store, you could create this setup anywhere you like with mixed linens and dishes. Cut out a few hearts from scrap paper – newspaper, looseleaf, you name it – and hang them above. Hand write a love letter, as short and as sweet or as syrupy and long as you please, as long as it is from the heart. From homemade pancakes to cereal served with a silver spoon, presentation is where it is at. Here, I served a stack of powdered donuts on a pedestal and added a bit of cherry juice to make even the milk extra special for today. 

Pull up a chair and relish in the moments with your person or your people. Slow down the morning to a sugary sweet pace.  Let them know with your uninterrupted presence alone how much they mean to you. 

At 12 and 14, our girls still enjoy our company and love mornings where Dad is home to share coffee. Do not take it for granted – time is fleeting, but we are never too old to be made to simply feel special. 

Cheers to a Day O’ Love  |  XOXOXOXOXOXO