This year Valentine's Day was unique. I received two very unique gifts from the two men in my life.
N
and I have never been one of those I-buy-my-spouse-big-gift kind of
people. Me more so than N. To give N credit, he at least made a sincere effort to buy me a
few thoughtful gifts during those first years when we first started courting
and then again after we got married. I am guilty of not even attempting
that (my defense is that 'I already give him the gift of my love
everyday; how could he want anything more?'..sneaky I know! N does not quite agree but
has no choice but to accept the fact). Somehow though over the last few
years, because we almost always never liked the gifts we got as
surprises for each other, we gave up. N and I have very
different personalities and very different tastes so things that seem
like a pleasant surprise to one end up as a mini shock to the other.
Twelve years of knowing each other and seven years of marriage later, we
decided to give up. Instead, we just wish each other on the big days
(birthdays and anniversaries) and mostly eat good food together.
This year though, N gave me quite an unique gift. He let me sleep!! That might not seem very special to anyone else but for me it was the best gift ever. Anyone who knows me knows that sleep is super dear to me. To be able to sleep in on a weekday for an extra whole hour means more to me than any gift possible. And no, I am not one of those wives who try to pass on their husbands forgetfulness or thriftiness with the 'I-have-everything-what-more-do-I-need' kind of lame gestures! (N did offer to buy me jewellery in the evening, but I declined. Jewellery does not excite me) . Coming back to this year, after I woke up refreshed from an extra hour of sleep, N & little V wished me a happy Valentine's Day with bear hugs. Seriously, what more would I need?
And then, the day got better with Little V's gift for both of us. He made this super-cute art project with his nanny.His nanny tells me the boy loves his arts and crafts. On my part, I loved the typical-boy car stickers. And the of course the three hearts glued together. For life. Just like N, me and the little monster.
In the evening, I baked an eggless vanilla cake for my two boys. The cake is a super simple and super easy recipe from the
Edible Garden blog. Check out the recipe
here.
To make the recipe a little more special, I prepared a strawberry compote to go with it. The recipe I followed is
here. To finish off, I added a light dusting of icing sugar. Yummy!!!! I loved the how the tartness from the compote balanced the sweetness of the cake. N and little V were not too keen on the compote though and loved the cake as-is.
All in all, the day was fabulous. Somewhere through the day, I realized how true it is that life's biggest pleasures are in seemingly simple things. And for that, I will always be thankful- to be able to enjoy a simple life and be surrounded by the people I love and who truly love me.
I hope you all had a beautiful Valentine's day with your loved ones as well,
V
