Alright, now I know who is truly devoted I just had to brag on G a little. We don’t do a big Valentine’s Day (we prefer to go to the drugstore February 15 and purchase discounted candy. Hot, I know), but he always delivers a heart-felt card. This year was no exception.  Check out what my crafty man came up with:

That’s right. He used this template (from my girl, Martha), went to the craft store for pink PAISLEY scrapbook paper, created a masterpiece, and wrote lines from one of our favorite songs on the edges. Martha, pink paisley, and John Mayer. G knows how to keep this girl happy.

AND, if that wasn’t enough, I found a Snicker bar on my steering wheel this morning left there by G after I sent him to fill my car with gas last night. What a guy.

I love you, G! Thanks for getting my Monday off to a good start.

Alright, that’s enough. Stop gagging, I can hear it from here.

Hope your Monday is full of pink paisley,

Now, if that’s not a face that screams romance….

Anyway.

Here are a few of my favorites you might enjoy -whether you are feeling lovey-dovey, or thoughtful, or even lonely this Valentine’s Day.

Your Feet

When I cannot look at your face
I look at your feet.
Your feet of arched bone,
your hard little feet.
I know that they support you,
and that your sweet weight
rises upon them.
Your waist and your breasts,
the doubled purple
of your nipples,
the sockets of your eyes
that have just flown away,
your wide fruit mouth,
your red tresses,
my little tower.
But I love your feet
only because they walked
upon the earth and upon
the wind and upon the waters,
until they found me.

Clenched Soul

I have seen from my window
the fiesta of sunset in the distant mountain tops.

Sometimes a piece of sun
burned like a coin in my hand.

I remembered you with my soul clenched
in that sadness of mine that you know.

Where were you then?
Who else was there?
Saying what?
Why will the whole of love come on me suddenly
when I am sad and feel you are far away?

The book fell that always closed at twilight
and my blue sweater rolled like a hurt dog at my feet.

Always, always you recede through the evenings
toward the twilight erasing statues.

I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You

I do not love you except because I love you;
I go from loving to not loving you,
From waiting to not waiting for you
My heart moves from cold to fire.
I love you only because it’s you the one I love;
I hate you deeply, and hating you
Bend to you, and the measure of my changing love for you
Is that I do not see you but love you blindly.
Maybe January light will consume
My heart with its cruel
Ray, stealing my key to true calm.
In this part of the story I am the one who
Dies, the only one, and I will die of love because I love you,
Because I love you, Love, in fire and blood.

Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

Write, for example,’The night is shattered
and the blue stars shiver in the distance.’

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

Through nights like this one I held her in my arms
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.

She loved me sometimes, and I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.

To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.

What does it matter that my love could not keep her.
The night is shattered and she is not with me.

This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

My sight searches for her as though to go to her.
My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.

The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.

I no longer love her, that’s certain, but how I loved her.
My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.

Another’s. She will be another’s. Like my kisses before.
Her void. Her bright body. Her infinite eyes.

I no longer love her, that’s certain, but maybe I love her.
Love is so short, forgetting is so long.

Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms
my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer
and these the last verses that I write for her.

Love Sonnet XVII

I don’t love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom and carries
hidden within itself the light of those flowers,
and thanks to your love, darkly in my body
lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you simply, without problems or pride:
I love you in this way because I don’t know any other way of loving
but this, in which there is no I or you,
so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,
so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.

Sighing,

{Mom, if you’re reading this, you know I’m totally kidding…..you know all kinds of things….and you generally promote healthy eating……can you even hear me from way down in this hole?….}

Anyway. Doesn’t this look delicious?

Whenever I take them to a function I am bombarded with requests for the recipe. I gladly hand it out, but it’s almost embarrassing how easy they are to make. I’m sharing it as an extra special Valentine because I love you oh so much, Homage. I hope the feeling is mutual

K’s {Cream Cheese Bars}

• 2 packages crescent rolls {generic brand works just as well}
• 2 8-oz packages of plain cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg, separated
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• cinnamon and sugar to sprinkle

Preheat oven to 350. Spray the bottom of a 9×11 pan. Combine the cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla and whip until fluffy {this is where the stand mixer comes in handy……or, you know, upper body strength}. Spread one package of crescent rolls in the pan, keeping the dough in one piece. {This is tricky. Start with the edge that is perforated all the way across. If it tears, just smush it back together.} Spread cream cheese mixture over dough. Spread other package of dough over the top, keeping it one piece as well. Whip the egg white and brush over the top. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar liberally over the egg. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve warm or chilled.

Yum.

Please note the festive heart-shaped chocolate garnish. I suggested to J that we add it for the photo {she hosted a fabulous Super Bowl party this weekend, these were my contribution}. You know, since it’s Valentine’s week and all. Her response: “Will that…….make sense?” And then she said something derogatory about trailer parks. Whatever, J. I think it’s cute. Now get going, this single-wide is getting crowded.

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Now that I’ve started talking about desserts I can’t stop. The same holds true for consuming them…….

Check out this fabulous recipe I found! {Notice the crescent roll theme. No, they aren’t paying me…..}

Doesn’t this look fabulous?!?

I’m going to find something to eat now. Hopefully it involves dough. And sugar.

Come up with a name for my recipe, won’t you please? Hurry, before you crash from the sugar high.

Love,

Are you crafty? Me neither. If I give my love a card, it’s generally something pretty I found at Hallmark or Target. But…there are so many adorable and simple DIY Valentines out there! I am going to take some initiative this year. Because I know A. will really appreciate the extra effort. Because he loves cards. And poems. And Valentine’s Day. me.

The beauty above is a sewn paper Valentine by Molly at the purl bee. Now that K. has a sewing machine, I am fully expecting one of these in my mailbox.

No sewing skills? Don’t fret – you could make these cutesy doily envelopes a la Martha:

Or, if you really want to get your craft on, go the extra mile and make a pop-up card:

And, lastly, if you’re crafty like me, you’ll stop pretending that you know where to buy doilies and just find something awesome you can print out. And fill with brownies. Yes.

Have a sweet Tuesday,

Exhibit A:

I love this garland – fabulous AND simple {my two favorite things…}. I found it here – stop by and prepare to be inspired. Everything the woman does is chic and fun, in particular her children’s wardrobes. I stopped saving inspiration photos and just bookmarked the whole site!

Dreaming of spring and dry pavement,