Monday, February 14, 2011

A Perfectly Real Valentine's Day

Sometimes, blogger's lives seem so perfect, together, and glamorous. I think everyone is selective when sharing their lives...but sometimes, real life is just too crazy/funny to edit out. Not to mention, if I wanted perfection, I would just watch TV. I had my sweet, idealized Valentine's Day blog post all planned out. But who would want to read that boring thing...

My Perfect Valentine's Day:  

Like any perfect housewife, I spent several hours yesterday (dressed in a cute frilly apron over my belly bump, of course) making the Feminist Househusband's favorite dessert: Strawberry cheesecake- to be served with an bubbly organic wine by candlelight tonight. The husband brought me a bouquet of roses before I even got out of bed this morning, along with two bars of dark chocolate, and he scheduled me a pre-natal massage. We shared a quiet morning together, eating breakfast before he goes to classes.

My Real Valentine's Day:

I really did make the Feminist Househusband's favorite dessert: strawberry cheesecake. I have pictures to prove it. What I don't have pictures of is the cheesecake being dumped upside down in the refrigerator (strawberry topping and all) after my 34-weeks-pregnant belly ran into the door while trying to put it in after "staging" my "perfect blog post photo shoot". I also did not take pictures of the mess my kitchen was in while I was baking, like cream cheese all over my giant, uncomfortable baby bump, my swollen feet, or the poop smeared all over a rolling pin courtesy of Dmitri. And there was definitely no apron: just an over-sized t-shirt and sweatpants (since that's about all that fits me these days!)

There really were flowers in bed, but that would be because I woke up at 6 AM with a pounding headache and swollen tonsils and had to call David to come home to take care of Dmitri because I could not get out of bed. I chose a nap over the chocolate.

And to top it all off, I will be showing some love to my teeth this afternoon with a very dreaded dentist appointment (one of my pre-baby to-dos...especially since I haven't been in 3 1/2 years).


Happy Valentine's Day, David! I love you!
 
Mmmm....I might eat all of it myself.

Sweet flowers.


I'm sure I could top it all off with a few cynical comments about capitalism and card holidays...but instead I think I will say that this Valentine's Day is a perfect representation of our lives.

- Things never go as planned
- Nor are they ever "picture perfect"
- But the trials always bring us together
- And we survive on laughter and love

And thank God, the cheesecake made a surprising recovery and is intact (and you can't really tell that it was dumped upside down).

Now where is that champagne...

Happy Valentine's Day!!


Here is the cheesecake recipe..I substituted frozen (thawed) strawberries for fresh raspberries & used lime juice instead of lemon zest!

15 comments:

Chelsey - The Paper Mama said...

Mmmmm! Looks tasty! Happy Valentine's Day to you too.

the gardener's cottage said...

thanks for keeping it real. if i read another 'perfectly romantic' post today i may just lose my cheesecake.

xo
janet

Kelly @ turned UP to ELEVEN! said...

To me the more REAL the Valentine the better it is!!!

Leanne said...

THe cheesecake looks delicious. I haven't made dessert yet, so mine hasn't been ruined yet. My day has been pretty perfect so far, but it is only 10:30 am. My days are full of non-perfect times, but some perfect moments also. I lke to remember both of them, but for different reasons. Have a wonderful Valentine's Day, even at the dentist. Maybe you'll have a perfect check-up.

Cindy @The Flipping Couple said...

Oh dear. You're so right, though, life really never does go as planned. The cheesecake looks absolutely delicious, though. I hope you're feeling better quickly so you can enjoy it!

emily @ the happy home said...

it looks yummy, at least!

as a newly-engaged couple, people seem to think my BF and i are going to go out in a limo and spend ooodles of cash on a fancy dinner. reality? probably frozen pizza and beer, snuggling while watching a movie.

that sounds better to me!
(and feel better!)

Sarah said...

I think we all have those perfect blog posts where we just want to pretend that life is that happy and perfect. I think I like the real version more though. The visuals are much more entertaining!

Stephanie said...

It's so true that bloggers are selective about what we share...thanks for sharing your real life!! Hope the dentist went well!

Anonymous said...

YUMMY! The cheesecake looks good!

Happy Valentine's Day.

michelle said...

The cheesecake still looks really good, I would have eaten off the floor! :) I hope that you feeling better soon and when you have kids, there really aren't any days that go as planned but they sure make them interesting and fun and I wouldn't trade it for the world! :) Love the real valentines day...hopefully that massage will be in your future! :)

Mama Gone Green said...

Well, at least you had a good valentine's story to share... you gave me a big smile (and I am laughing WITH you, NOT at you... as my bog ol' pregnant self does clumsy stuff like that all of the time!)

SHERRY HART said...

Girl...at least you didn't let it ruin your day...keeping it real :)
Yum...would love some of that right now!

Katie Olthoff said...

yummy yummy. Hubby cleaned up toys for me and my wonderful daddy brought me a rose. (He does this every year.) Only three kids ran into my belly at school and I didn't pee my pants. It was a good day!

Nesty Girl said...

This made me laugh out loud...because it's so true!!! We do edit our lives for our blogs! As someone who's had her husband gently suggest that she "step away from the fondant" I can totally relate to things not going as planned. I actually now have a label called "Epic Disasters" just for chronicling those special days :)

And my mom has a rule for desserts that have accidents...we put them in a bowl and call them "trifle." So glad your cheesecake was redeemable!

Pattycake Manners said...

So glad I followed a link to this post! It really is the real life stuff that makes our blogs interesting, isn't it? Nobody buys the picture perfect fantasy posts anyway ;) Glad you were able to salvage the cheesecake!!