Plans are just a backup when you're having fun

I didn't do a Wednesday Weigh-In post yesterday because I wanted to spend the day with Jerry and just leave my computer alone. He absolutely loved the Valentine's Day gifts I gave him. Our day didn't end up going as planned, but we had a lot of fun. He surprised me by taking the day off work.

Jerry wanted to do one of our "old-school" dates from when we were dating--a walk in the Metropark, burgers (from a vegan restaurant called Unburger Grill) and the movies. Of all movies, Titanic was playing at the theater! It's unbelievable to me that the movie was released in 1997; Jerry and I didn't even start dating until 1999. The first time I saw it was with my friend Audrey at the theater, and I *loved* it. I saw it several times. So that's why Jerry chose Titanic.

Even Joey and Chick were feeling the romance in the air yesterday...

In the morning, however, it was *really* cold outside. Jerry said he didn't know what he was thinking when he planned to go to the Metropark. Since I said I was game to do anything at all that he planned, I was willing to go--but he said it would be miserable in the cold, and I had to agree. So we decided to head out early (the movie didn't start until 1:00) and kill some time.

We were near JoAnn Fabrics (I love that store!) and I said I wanted to run in and grab something quickly. Jerry said he'd tag along and the second he walked inside, his eyes lit up. HAHAHA! He was so excited to see all sorts of Star Wars, Marvel, and Ghostbusters fabric. He asked if I'd make him pajama pants and he took his time picking out fabric. He couldn't decide, so these are the four he ended up with.

I felt like we were there for a long time and I asked him when we had to head out for the movie. He checked the time at it was 1:00! So, needless to say, we missed the movie. Neither of us was super disappointed, though. We were about 10 minutes from a really big thrift store, so we decided to spend our Valentine's Day . We spent so long at both stores that we were tired and just decided to go make dinner at home.

I was still kind of surprised Jerry hadn't done anything over-the-top cheesy--that's his signature! After we got home, I opened the door to the bedroom so I could change clothes, and I stopped in my tracks. There were rose petals EVERYWHERE and a huge Vermont teddy bear on the bed. I used to have a teddy bear like that from him, but Estelle liked it a little too much and she used to knead her paws all over it, causing the hair to shred off of it. So Jerry got this one, and personalized the foot with "To my Boo! Love Always, B". (We just have to keep Estelle away from it--good luck to us.)

I love soft stuffed animals and the bear is so cozy and cuddly. He also got me a self-admittedly *very* cheesy gift that he knew I would groan over, but we'd both get a laugh out of it. It's the rose in the glass case from Beauty and the Beast (we recently rewatched that movie) and it has lights around it. He turned it on and it actually went pretty well with all of the random lights in our room.

I don't like that I keep using the words "corny" and "cheesy" when it comes to Jerry's style of romance (I'm saying it in a fun way, not trying to put him down in any way), but sometimes he really does go over-the-top. Several years ago, he bought this plaster mold kit where you can hold hands together and make a mold out of it and then pour plaster in the mold. And you should end up with a cast of your hands.

I couldn't believe he'd spent so much money on it (I think it was like $35) and I wanted to return it. Yes, I feel like an asshole even admitting that and I regret it now--I should have indulged him. But I did feel bad and a few years later, I saw the exact same kit (unopened) at Goodwill for $5. I decided to buy it and we would have fun doing it.

Well, it sat in the closet for probably the last five years. Yesterday, Jerry suggested we finally do it. And we actually had a blast! We followed the directions right to the letter--first you mix up the mold powder with cold water inside of the bucket. Then you quickly put your hands in and keep them still for 3-10 minutes. Then you gently pull your hands out, leaving a hand-shaped mold.

Do you think it went how it was supposed to? If you guess no, you're right!

First, I'm sure it probably expired a hundred years ago. But I didn't think that would totally ruin it--it was just powder. Second, keeping your hands still like that for so long is HARD--especially when it's cold water! My fingers were numb after about two minutes and it was still extremely liquidy. We watched the timer go from three minutes all the way to ten and it still wasn't solid (or even close). We were both SO cold and unable to go on any longer. So we pulled our hands out and it was still entirely liquid.

So, that project was a big fail. At least it was only $5 and not $35. And we laughed a LOT. That's the best part.

We made dinner together and had a pretty chill evening. Even though we didn't do anything we'd planned, we had a fun day. And I was super excited to hear about Noah and Rose's day! Like I mentioned before, Rose (his girlfriend) loves Valentine's Day--it's her favorite holiday--but she's never been in a relationship on Valentine's Day so has never been able to celebrate it with someone.

Noah wanted her to feel very special. She *loves* bears (the way I love cats) so Noah got her an enormous teddy bear (Jerry and Noah did not coordinate on purpose, haha), flowers, and chocolates and he brought those into Panera, where she works. He gave them to her in front of everyone, which was cute. (Her mom took a video, so here is a screenshot from that.)

At home, he also gave her an indoor garden kit (something she's always wanted to do) and one more thing that I cannot think of right now.

I'd helped her work on part of her gift for Noah. She wanted to make a rag doll-like plush cat and dress it like Noah--a Star Wars shirt and even the same piercings he has in his ears, nose, and lip. I taught her how to use the sewing machine and helped her work on making the body. 

Rose needs to teach me how to present gifts--whether she's presenting gifts like this or styling food to look pretty on a plate, it always looks amazing.

It turned out so cute! She also gave him a bonsai tree (something he mentioned he wanted to get).

Celebrating Valentine's Day was fun, and I definitely want to do it again next year. Although, I have no idea how I'm going to top this year's gifts for Jerry ;)

And finally, I just want to note that today is my three years sober anniversary :) Quitting drinking was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I also forgot to mention a few weeks ago that I became vegan two years ago--TWO YEARS. That kind of blows my mind! Another of the best decisions I've ever made. <3