The McLeans take on VDAY - Part I

Chris was scheduled to work this Valentine's Day, so rather than celebrate on just one day, us Mcleans decided to spread the love over a few days, beginning with a special night out last week to the Harrison Opera House here in Ghent.

Photo courtesy of The Virginia Pilot

Taking in a show there has long been on our "love-to-do" list, and as it turned out, a sweet friend blessed us with tickets to the opening showing of Richard Wagner's "Valkyrie," performed in German with English subtitles. Want to know more? You can view the opera synopsis here.

I'm always on the hunt for any excuse to don a dress and heels -- and to get Chris into one of his handsome suits -- so this date was perfect. Many thanks to my lovely neighbor, Megan, for running over last minute to snag a few pictures of us in our spiffy duds. :)

The view from our seats in the balcony -- which were perfect.

Our beautiful, perfect evening ended with a romantic stroll back to our house through the softly-falling snow. Were there stolen kisses along the way? My lips are sealed. ;-)

A few days later, our Valentine's Day activities continued with a trip down our street to Color Me Mine, an adorable, "paint your own pottery" shop. I've been quite eager to visit this local hot spot with Chris, and it just so happened that the same week we wanted to go, good 'ole Groupon was offering a half-off coupon on studio time. I'd say the "hearts were aligned" for this date - AKA God knew just the right way to tickle my fancy and bless us with another great deal!

But first, I had a special gift for my sweetie. For those wondering, "Barge" is the silly nickname I came up for Chris during the first month we met. No idea where it came from, but it stuck. :)

So what was in the package? What can I say, I'm a hopeless romantic, and Chris is my dream come true. Fellow Jane Austin fans, not only will you get the reference on the gift tag, but you should have no problem spotting his gift in the picture below. ;-)

 

The "before" photo with the items who chose to personalize for each other.

I'd say the most difficult part of this outing was selecting our colors. I'm pretty sure we stood there for 15 minutes deciding which direction to take our designs. 

Our color palate. Although we were both personalizing our pieces for each other based on our own design aesthetic, I still wanted our pieces to "match." ;-)

My man's man husband is just as artistic and crafty with a piece of pottery as he is skilled in shooting a shotgun I'm proud to say. What can't he do? ;-)

 

Such a fun and relaxing way to celebrate this lovely holiday together. I love that Chris and I both enjoy the arts and taking in new experiences. Yet another reason (among the thousands) we go so well together.

In case you're wondering why there's no "after" photo of our beautiful pottery handiwork, it's because our pieces aren't glazed yet. Hopefully I shall pick them up this week, and when I do, I shall post a photo for those of you curious to see the end result. :)

Wait, there's more...

The third part (yes, we're quite skilled at dragging events out) of the McLean Valentine's Day Celebration Extravaganza (I love that word) is dinner out at a fun sushi spot downtown, thanks to yet another great Groupon. Who says you can't enjoy the finer things in life while still sticking to your budget? We sure do! If you're not yet familiar with Groupon, check them out here. You won't regret it!

P.S. Stay tuned for some V Day "bachelorette" fun in part II of this Valentine's Day series.