On Valentine's Day...

Valentine's Day should be everyday if you're in a relationship. 

My husband & I are firm believers in keeping L-O-V-E alive by nurturing it daily. We strive hard to place God at the center of our marriage, and even though some days it's not easy, the most important thing is we 'both' keep trying.

This week, my husband & I were practicing making desserts for Valentine's day.  He loves cooking, while I'm more the creative type who likes to decorate them .... we work well together!  Below are the sweets we made, which we'll also be making on V-day!  Hope we can inspire you to show someone...that you LOVE them....whether you have a husband, wife, bf or gf...or you're single.

Remember....love comes in many forms.  Have a Happy Valentine's Day.

Above: a bouquet of flowers I brought home - couldn't resist!

Below: The newest Love print in Blush pink+gold - gorgeous! Available in my Made By Girl shop.

Below: Chocolate cupcake with butter cream frosting & a side of pink cotton candy, don't forget the conversation hearts!

Enjoy a good LOVE LETTER? I do! In fact, my husband STILL leaves notes & LOVE letters for me even after many years together.  Paying attention to the small meaningful things is key.  

In 2013 I created an online magazine devoted to Love Letters, where several blogger shared their favorites. I shared one my husband wrote me, you can see a peek below. See the entire letter & more in the online magazine here. 

I'm sure you'll LOVE it!

Below: chocolate cupcakes with butter cream frosting & conversation hearts - yum!

below: Chocolate heart ice-cream sandwich? Sure, why not?

Below: one of the many Pink Ombre original paintings I painted for clients - great reminder to LOVE.

-all images by jen ramos

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FASHION: 12 VALENTINE GIFT IDEAS FOR HER

Hi everyone, Sandra from Blasfemmes here! Just thought I’d share a little Valentine’s Day inspiration with you today. I can't think of a more appropriate time to focus on pink though I don't really need excuses to wear/buy pink. :) From the items below I'm definitely getting the 'Blush Pink LOVE' print, I already own the gold one but this new blush edition is killing me. And you, how will your surprise the ones you love? Do you have plans yet?

1. Rebecca Minkoff Mini MAB Tote // 2. 'Roses de Chloé' Eau de Toilette // 3. Wildfox 'Love You' Sleep Mask // 4. Wonderelle Bunnies Ring Holder // 5. MadebyGirl Blush Pink 'Love' Print // 6. Rebecca Minkoff Heart Crossbody Bag // 7. Guerlain 'Météorites' Perles de Blush // 8. Wonderelle Tiny Heart Ring // 9. Hanky Panky Signature Lace Original Rise Thong Rose // 10. Kate Spade Gramercy Watch // 11. Williams Sonoma Heart Mug // 12. Kate Spade 'Kiss Me You Fool' Clutch

-post by sandra lopes

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My Husband Makes an Ombre Cake

I LOVE Valentine's day - but I didn't love it so much when I was single.  Back as a single gal, I used to secretly hope that as I walked down the street on Feb. 14th,  some guy would ask me out! Needless to say, it only happened once.

I guess I enjoy Valentine's day because it's the day (besides anniversaries) we celebrate love in a BIG way.  Personally, I think love should be celebrated as often as possible - and with that said, let's talk about this post.  Lately I've been asking my husband to bake a cake.... but not just any cake - an Ombre cake.

So, I had to show him the many photos of ombre cakes featured on Pinterest & like a good sport, he was game!  Keep in mind, Mat loves to cook & teaches himself new recipes all the time, but this one was a definitely a challenge.  Either way, he made it for me today as one of my Valentine's treats. How cute is this??!??!  Some of you may also recall, two years ago on V-day - he also made me a cake, you can see the photos here.

I loved it so much I had to show you!  Below Mat take over the post & explain how he made this cake.  I'm impressed - aren't you?

 Ingredients:

1 stick (8 Tb) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 Tb teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 large egg whites
1/2 C "milk" (soy or almond is fine)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Hot pink food coloring

Prep:

Preheat to 350 degrees. Beat butter and sugar in a mixing bowl for 5 minutes. Stir flour, baking powder and salt together in a separate bowl. Combine egg whites, milk and vanilla extract in another bowl. Add half of the dry mix to the butter mix, then half the milk mixture, and combine well with beater. Repeat, scraping bowl and beater often.

Prepare your pans. For this I used 4.5" non-stick springforms but you can use any type of pan. If it is not non-stick, you will need to grease it and use parchment to prevent sticking. Pour 3/4" deep of the mix into the baking pan and let settle. Carefully add food color to the remaining mix, 2 drops at a time blending completely so that the color never gets more than a few shades pinker. Pour 3/4" deep of the mix into a second pan. At this point, I had to bake them for 18 minutes, remove, and cool. Repeat the coloring each time you fill the pan and bake. Be sure to cut the puffed top off before layering the cake, and put a good dose of frosting between layers.

Frost with any good frosting - I recommend coloring a light shade of pink (about the same as the second or third layer). Buttercream is always a good choice but any frosting will do.

PS - if you don't want to go through the effort of scratch, you can use a box mix just as easily.

-images by jen ramos

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Sweet Gestures - Happy V-Day

Last night my husband went to bed early & do I went into his bathroom & left a note on his mirror. I figured he'd see it today.  So he was gone when I woke up & I found it unusual that he wouldn't leave a note back to me - I couldn't find one anywhere! So, I sent him a text & said, did you see the note I left you?

Sometimes he's in such a rush to get to work - he misses things....

He told me he saw it & loved it! So of course I said to him jokingly, "it's so strange you didn't leave a note back, it's not like you" - he said, "I did." - I was confused - then as I'm walking over to my computer and turned it on - BAM....this pops up! (see below)

It's 'sweet gestures' like this that let us practice our LOVE for each other - making love a 'VERB' as Andy Stanley would say. 

So, will today be a day full of LOVE for you? If not, try to surround yourself with family or friends, and enjoy today no matter what. 

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!! 


-images by jen ramos

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Design: In Red

What better way to start off the month than by pulling together some of my favorite Valentine themed decor for you all?! Hi everyone, Katie here once again from H2 Design. When I think of Valentine's Day, I envision lots of roses, hearts, and of course, the color of love; RED! So... let's get started!

1 - LOVE rules without rules poster / 2 - LOVE pillow / 3 - ROSE porcelain candlestick / 4 - live LOVE pillow / 5 - saarinen-style armchair with RED seat / 6 - RED smeg refrigerator / 7 - pyrite HEART / 8 - RED trimmed vermelho dinnerware / 9 - ROSE scroll rug / 10 - RED tripod table/floor lamp / 11 - OLIVE EWE print

And don't forget all of the fantastic LOVE themed art over at Jen's shop. This is her specialty! My picks are GOLD LIPS and LOVE LANGUAGES. Don't miss out!

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Design: Sweet or Sexy Bedroom?

Hi everyone, Amanda here. With Valentines just two weeks away, it's official: I'm seeing so much pink and red hearts and lipstick kisses everywhere! But when it comes to home decor, I prefer to steer away from the typical decorations (although a heart or two here and there wouldn't hurt).

 

So today I've put together two ways to "sweeten" or "spice" up your bedroom so that you can enjoy even past Valentines day!

Sweet Boudoir: *Image (Rue Mag) // 1. Lip Mounted Print // 2. Substitute- Art Print // 3.Kate Spade "Lights Out" Pillow // 4. Tufted Ottoman // 5. Gabrielle Table Lamp // 6. Ava Frame // 7. Little Kiss // 8. Mirrored Accent Table // 9. Hermes Avalon Blanket // 10. Jo Malone Room Spray

Sexy Boudoir: *Image (Nicole Cohen's home via Rue Mag) // 1. Bonsoir Pillowcase // 2. Fornasetti Pillow // 3. Mirror // 4. Scalamandre Black Zebra Tall Vase // 5. Hermes Avalon Blanket // 6. Well Read Photography Print // 7. Bocca Tray // 8. Floor Lamp // 9. Python Frame // 10. Croc End Table

Now... which one would you pick?

-post by amanda dietz

 

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Happy Lovers Day...

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