The BEST gift I have ever received....like ever

Yesterday was my wedding anniversary.  We've been married 3 years.  Almost 4 years ago, we met in the midst of starting our lives over.  I had been married for almost 13 years, and he had been in a long term relationship that had just turned into a marriage.  But both our lives came crashing down, and we had to start over.  If you so desire, you can read my descent into madness at that point in this blog.  (I've considered deleting it off my blog, but I feel like this record of my life should stay, even though it is probably the lowest point I've ever been in my life.)

We met, fell in love, introduced my children into the mix, got married, had an adorable baby, and the rest is history.  This is the man I will grow old with, and I love that.  He is my soul mate, my rock, and my best friend.  I could live on the silliness he emits that bring me to a fit of giggles.  I feel so very lucky to have found someone like him.  Now, our family is a happy one, and I love that other people can see that, too.

This jar was what I woke up to yesterday.  His gift for me.  He spent all morning working on it.  I love that he was tooling around in my crafty things making something for me. He found an old jar I had been saving, painted the lid and glued a note to it.  Then tied ribbons around it.  But...the best part is what's inside.  He wrote countless little notes of why he loves me.  Gosh, I just tear up writing this.  He even folded each one into a tiny envelope.  Where did I find such a wonderful guy? I'm savoring opening them.  I've only looked at a few so far. 

And, we had a date night!  DH had taken the past couple days off.  He even cleaned the carpets today!  We got a little dressed up, and my mom came over to babysit, and we went to dinner at this wonderful Italian restaurant called Guiseppe's.  It's in a quaint old house right next to a bed & breakfast off the square in Denton.  It was delicious!  We had never been there before, but every time we've driven by we kept saying we needed to go.  So, we thought our anniversary was the perfect time.

It was a candle light dinner (with no kids!), and on a Tuesday there was hardly anyone in the entire restaurant.  We had the room we were in to ourselves.  The service was amazing.  I can't remember having such good service -- when the waiter is attentive, but knows just the perfect time to come back. I had this dish called Capellini Rustico, it's pasta in this delicious champagne marinara sauce.  It does not taste like typical marinara sauce.  Even my sweet husband liked it, and he's not a fan of tomato sauces.  Then, we shared a plate of canoli.  My meal tasted more and more delicious the more I ate.  It was such a wonderful night.  Then, we stopped for groceries (with no kids!), and topped the night off with a couple of episodes of Breaking Bad on Netflix before my hardworking hubby had to head to bed for a day of work tomorrow, while I attempt to get the ready-to-party toddler into bed. 

Subway Art Teacher Gift & A Creepy Piano

I saw this absolutely adorable subway art sign for a teacher's gift over at My Sister's Suitcase. They have several really great ideas for teachers, so head on over there and check them out. I think they originally got the idea from eighteen25, which is where you can print the awesome sign, among other cool stuff too!

 I decided the subway art was the perfect gift for my son's teacher, so I made one today for him to bring to school tomorrow.  I really like how it came out.  I used the idea of gluing a pencil to the top and tied it off with ribbon.  I also picked up a neat little plate holder from Goodwill that I'm sending along with the sign.

I had two purposes for going to Goodwill.  The first one was that plate holder you can see holding the sign above.  The second was I saw bikes there for $15.95/each earlier this week.  So, hubby and I got two really nice bikes.  However....if we could have gotten our rears up earlier in the day, we could have gotten them for 50% off of that price  We are such losers.  I thought the email said the sale was all day, but unfortunately the 50% off everything at Goodwill sale ended at noon.  We finally made it at 2 pm. 

Oh yes, I just remembered the rest of the title is "a creepy piano."  So, here it is in all its former glory.  An orange dreamsicle colored child's piano.  Think of all the creepy music in a horror movie, especially one that could possible involve possessed dolls...yep, that's what it sounds like.  Awesome, huh? My 2 year old LOVES it!

I'm definitely refinishing it.  Already have the sand paper ready.  But, I'm debating on selling it at The TipToe Fairy boutique or keeping it for my two year old and my husband, the lover of all things musical no matter how creepy.  I made him drive up to Goodwill to take the bikes home in his car, and when I showed him the piano, he literally could not keep his hands off it.  What a weirdo, lol. 

On a side note to all the Texans, who the heck are you voting for in the primary?  I can't stand anybody. I'm not even sure if I'm going to the Democratic or Republican primary tomorrow.