Hi, this is Jenni’s husband, Brian. I know Jenni’s password, and I’m taking over her blog to post this. I’m sort of a last-minute type of guy, especially when it comes to important days like Valentine’s Day, her birthday, or our anniversary. But look what I have to compete with! Jenni is a planner, obviously, and she’s a really intuitive gift giver (last week she randomly bought me a $15 iTunes gift card!) So, my measly, last-minute gift to her on this Hallmark holiday, is this guest blog post about a couple of our previous Valentine’s days. She can choose whether or not to delete it ;).

Our first Valentine’s Day date was the worst, so at least I managed to set a low level of expectation. I bought us Subway footlong sandwiches and took us to the park. In February. And that was my whole plan. Oh, and I bought her an essential oils burner. (Seriously, what a dumb gift. It tells the person, “your house doesn’t smell so rosy, so I bought you this.”) She graciously tried to appear happy, but it wasn’t long before she started telling people the story of “our first Valentine’s Day.” I got better at this kind of thing, and our date in 2011 was much better.

We decided I would plan the date, for once. I cheated, and used a venue that she had discovered, but hadn’t been to yet. The place was an art bar: you could paint or craft while drinking and eating bar food! She painted a picture of a bird, since, you know, we do live in Portland. She also made something for the baby’s room, before we knew whether the baby would be a boy or girl. I drew a robot. I’d like to think my robot picture was the inspiration that led Jenni to design our nursery (but it probably wasn’t).

 After the art bar, we walked to our dinner location. I think we had Mediterranean food? I just remember I forgot my favorite umbrella there. I had had a few drinks by then.

I know the next place we went was an Indian restaurant. We went for their dessert. I had a lavender cheesecake, and she had…details are hard to remember when you’re having so much fun! The restaurant’s proprietor was from London, and we had a great time hearing him tell us about his favorite cocktails. Unforunately, both the dessert place and art bar are closed, or I’d tell you where to find them.

I’m not a fan of Valentine’s day. I think it shows your partner more appreciation if you give them flowers or chocolates on random days throughout the year. But, since I’m lazy and cheap, I have been remiss, and my beautiful wife has received no tokens of my love this year. So this is my statement of love for you, the most amazing woman on the planet. This, and the gift card I ninja-hid in your purse from Anthropologie, while you were reading this. Happy Valentine’s Day.