I went to get coffee Monday morning before class.  Because I am partial to Starbucks, I hit up the Starby’s on the East side of Madison before heading through the isthmus.  I got my tall red-eye and a delicious bacon, cheese, and egg sandwich.  However, the barista decided to brighten up my morning by adding a cute note to my sandwich.

I’m a huge believer in small acts of kindness going a long way.  This shifted my Monday to start of well.

It’s quite a bit after the holiday, but I think it is worth nothing to y’all how I spent my Valentine’s Day weekend with Sam.  Our second time celebrating the holiday was amazing, and I think the two of us are still in amazement that we’ve been together for almost two entire years.  Some days it feels like we’ve just started dating, while others it feels as though I’ve known Sam my entire life.  But our belated Valentine’s was a pretty perfect weekend.

I had amazing plans for the entire weekend, and we (surprisingly) got through most of my to-do list.  Friday night we decided to go on a special stop-by-stop restaurant hop.  The plan was to start for drinks and an appetizer at Eno Vino, go to Graze for the main course, and off to The Cooper’s Tavern for dessert.  However, with a bit of a wait for Graze and so much delicious food, our plans were foiled just a bit.  Between Eno Vino and Graze we hit up the Capital Tap Haus for a pint of beer and ended our dining experience at Graze.  But don’t be sad, we ate like kings.

Grabbing drinks at Eno Vino.

At Eno Vino we each had a glass of red wine and amazing brushetta, one with fresh mozzarella and one with a tasty beef tenderloin.  After gobbling up our hors d’oeuvres and imbibing our wine, we traveled to Cap Square for our main course and beer.  At the Tap Haus I had the Winter Skal and Sam had the Capital Pilsner.  At Graze, we splurged on more appetizers, with their goat meatballs stuffed with gorgonzola cheese and their amazingly rich cheese curds.  For dinner, I had their famed burger and Sam had their pork.  It was at that point in which we decided dessert was not going to be an option and took ourselves home to gaze at our amazing gifts.  Sam got me a dozen roses, champagne, coffee, and chocolate in addition to the dinner, while I got him a new spring jacket, a new copy of The Great Gatsby, Bulleit bourbon, and some whiskey stones.  All in all, we did pretty well for one another.

Taking another Valentine’s Day photo in front of the capitol.

Saturday night, Sam and I had Pat and Val over for a delicious dinner.  We grabbed ingredients from Whole Foods for a feast consisting of: parmesan crusted chicken, asparagus, green salad, and bow tie pasta tossed in a red sauce.  It was extremely delicious and my mouth is watering at the thought of how yummy that dinner was.

Sunday, Sam and I spent the morning catching up on Hulu and telling stories from going to The Mason and the Essen Haus the night before.

All in all, it was a fantastic Valentine’s Day weekend.