Valentine’s Weekend Recap

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend spending time with people you love! I’m a sucker for Valentine’s Day – any excuse to celebrate love is a win in my book (yea, I’m as sappy as they come).

Our Valentine’s Day celebrations began on Friday night. Travis had plans to beat me home and surprise me with flowers and a glass of wine waiting for me, but unfortunately (for him) I beat him home, thus foiling his plans. Nevertheless, I was thrilled by my beautiful bouquet and loved sipping on a delicious glass of wine before dinner.

We had a reservation at The Little Door, in Santa Monica. You probably recognize the name because I’ve talked about it on the blog a lot – it’s my favorite restaurant in LA! Over the holidays, my brother and sister-in-law gifted us a very generous gift certificate to the restaurant, so Travis and I were excited to use it for our special meal.

My favorite dish on their menu is the Mezze plate. It comes with one million different tips and small bites of Mediterranean goodness. The bread basket contains pita bread, falafel and spanakopita. Lots of different small bites is my favorite way to eat. YUM YUM YUM!

iPhone photos taken in dark restaurants always make food look just delightful, don’t they? Nope. Not at all.

Saturday morning I was woken up to Travis carrying in breakfast into the bedroom. He made me our favorite Gluten-Free Buckwheat Pancakes and a big mug of coffee. I was half awake, but I still managed to let out a good squeal out of pure delight. I felt like a very lucky girl that morning.

The weather was beautiful on Saturday afternoon, so we decided to maximize our time outside and took Bessie on a long walk down the Santa Monica promenade. We stopped at Burger Lounge for a quick bite to eat. I wasn’t too hungry, so I opted for their Fresh Vegetable Salad, while Travis splurged for a burger, fries, and onion rings. While I don’t usually go for fried things, you can bet I helped him finish some of those onion rings!

I just love Burger Lounge – it’s a great local spot. For being a fast casual restaurant with a relatively young staff, the service is A+! The staff is all very friendly and attentive, making it a pleasure to dine there. One of the busboys brought us a bowl of water for Bessie to sip on because it was so warm outside. Small gestures like that go a long way in my book.

(Yes, I am wearing shorts and sandals in February).

Sunday morning, I walked into the dining room to find the newspaper and freshly picked flowers waiting for me. Travis picked them when he was walking Bessie that morning (sorry neighbors!), and they made me so darn happy. I was definitely feeling the love all weekend long.

One of Travis’ best friends from college was in town, so we met up for brunch. Afterwards the group came back to our apartment to hang out. It was so great to see our friend, Dan, and meet his new girlfriend.

Since the majority of our closest friends live on the east coast, the time we get with them is always so special.

Dan and Alexis

Yagna and Aneesh (+Bessie)

Bessie had a great day, too. She loves finding new people to pet her.

I couldn’t have asked for a better Valentine’s weekend. I’m not off from work today, but Travis is. It’s always tough to head back into the work week after such a great weekend, isn’t it?