VALENTINE'S WITH FAMILY - Myriad Musings

I still remember my first Valentine’s dinner with my husband, twelve days post-wedding, when every day was a celebration for us. Like any newlywed, I was dressed up in an ornate burgundy sari, donned my heaviest of jewelry and gave a coy smile to hubs each time he romantically cinched my hand. What a night it was: candlelight, loads of flowers and champagne flowing through the night!!! It was my first Valentine’s, yes you heard it right….I never dated anyone before hubs, just married him, and then relocated to the States.

This romantic date night scene continued for five years, until we had our daughter, when suddenly romantic date nights became history. Date nights became diaper-changing and nursing nights, elaborate candlelight dinners were replaced by dinner out of ready-to-eat meal boxes. This became our life for the first couple of years, until Ribhya became more conscious socially, and we were able to go out more often.

I wouldn’t have it any other way, our Valentine’s day celebration is different but special. Valentine’s is unconventional when you are 35 and have a kid, but the joy just doubles when I have my two Valentine’s. I have two people who I call my world, who I share my love with and who are my partners-in-crime in everything. We do things together and when we celebrate Valentine’s day, or any other man-made holiday, we have……..

LOVE

Love doesn’t have to be merely physical or material, it should be more about respect, patience and time. Being together, listening to each other, respecting each other is LOVE and we are here for it all!

PHOTOS

The day you enter motherhood, the sole purpose of your phone changes: you use it less for talking and more for taking pictures of your little one, and you call it ” making memories “!

HUGS AND KISSES

You won’t believe, but Ribhya doesn’t like to be kissed, she calls it slobbering….But when she is in a good mood, seldom would we miss a chance to kiss her and regarding hugs: it is free-flowing in our family….

PRETTY FLOWERS

Ribhya and Mommy, both love flowers, and daddy definitely knows the way to our hearts. But this time the credit for that bouquet of prettiness goes to THE BOUQS Co. Thanks to them for all that floral-love. These pretty pink flowers came straight from a farm and were cut only after I placed an order with them. These flowers last longer than the commercially sold bunches and you could now send some floral-love to your loved ones this Valentine’s for a 20% discount, just use code MYRIADMUSINGS20 at The Bouqs Co.

RESTAURANT STYLE FOOD

So what if you cooking food at home?? You still can trot the globe with Plated: a globally-inspired meal kit service designed by chefs. Thanks to Plated for hooking us up with some scrumptious multi-cuisine, restaurant-style meals. The food ingredients came in a big box, well-packaged for each recipe, all measured and steps outlined with illustrations. What I like about Plated is the variety of cuisine options they offer, meals are easy to prepare and yummy to eat.

Hubs and daughter ate the Greek Horiatiki and I chose to devour some coconut-crusted flounder over curried rice, followed by some Hello Dolly Bars.

You could get your first box for 50% off, exclusively through this link.

DRINKS

Who doesn’t like to toast when celebrating!!! We do be it even with OJ.

When partying as a family, we personally prefer keeping the drinks strictly non-alcoholic and since Ribhya loves OJ, we have a tumbler full of it.

HEART MELTING MOMENTS

Can you beat that feeling of happiness and overwhelm you experience when you see your child happy!!! Nothing in the world can replace this feeling of admiration. It is pure joy ( insert teary emoji ) and contentment. And talk to me about this picture below: it is cuteness overload.

DRAMA AND OUTTAKES

Now all you parents can relate to this. Where there are kids, there is drama and parental-instructions overload. “Mommy, I’m sweaty“, ” Mommy, I’m hungry“, ” Mommy, I am done, can I have your phone“, “Mommy I don’t like the gold shoes with this outfit, I am wearing my floral booties“, ” Ribhya don’t do this, Ribhya don’t touch that” and the list goes on.

But, be it what, we’ll still have fun, we ‘ll still feel celebratory and we’ll still have drama……loads of it!…………….. Happy Valentine’s day…….