Past, Past, Present/Future

For Valentine's Day this year I got Jared a gift for our wall, which really means it's a gift for the both of us, which might mean, looking at it now, that it's actually more of a gift for me... 

Hmmm.

It's a series of beautiful prints from Dutch Door Press featuring the bird and flower of each of the three states we've lived in together.

look at that letterpress action!

I got some simple white frames from Target, then mounted the prints on watercolor paper. (Someday when we are rich maybe I'll go back and do a fancier job.)

From left to right: Florida features a mockingbird and orange blossoms, Iowa has a Goldfinch and some wild roses, and California's got my favorite quail and some bright orange poppies.

I like that they can be read chronologically (we met in Florida, were married in Iowa, and have made our home in California) OR with the side pictures representing where we each came from, and the middle one where we joined our lives.

I also baked some chocolate espresso cookies and got to use the little cake stand I got at the Mennonite thrift store in Iowa, so pretty much everything was all fancy when Jared got home.

yum!

Then we went out for a cozy dinner at Mohawk Bend, and Jared presented me with tickets to an upcoming Jon Brion show, about which I am beyond thrilled.

It was a sweet, romantic day, I must say.