Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Now I Actually Feel Old

This year, Matt pulled out all the stops and really surprised me for Valentine's Day and my birthday. I was impressed when he chose a restaurant and made reservations in advance for Valentine's Day - usually we go back and forth and can't make a decision, and we end up waiting for a table once we finally decide - but little did I know he had a bigger surprise up his sleeve.

I spent some of the evening kind of teasing him for making me drive to meet him for dinner (he was working at the studio) and for not brushing his hair to my satisfaction (yes, I am annoying). I gave him points for the reservation and changing into nice clothes; he even wore a pink shirt so he was very festive.

"You're earning a C+ right now," I told him.

When we got home from dinner, though, he quickly proved me wrong. I wasn't expecting an actual gift; we really don't do much more than dinner and cards on Valentine's Day. When I opened the watercolor print he'd gotten me, I was so surprised and touched that I started to cry.
"And you thought I earned a C," he smirked.

Matt had remembered how much I liked my lemon painting last year and when he was working at the art festival one day, he searched around to find something he knew I'd love. He surprised me with one print on Valentine's Day and a second on my birthday (which is the day after).
He picked out one of my favorite poems for the second watercolor; how did he know?!
He went out of his way to have them framed, too, and finally framed my lemons!
We hung them in the dining room.
Getting art as a gift had the weird effect of making me feel old, but in a good way. Mature. Most of our art up to this point has been pieces my parents had retired from their house; I love the Chagall print and other paintings we've gotten from them, but it feels really good to have art that is specifically ours. And I love that Matt knows me so well that he picked out literally the perfect pieces for me.

Now...I wonder how I'll top this for his birthday in August!

I couldn't finish this Valentine's Day/birthday recap without talking about my 7:15am birthday party! Stacey (our art teacher) told Elizabeth and me to come to her room before buses arrived. There we were greeted by a special little birthday party, complete with gluten free brownies and party hats!
We "blew out" some unlit candles because of fire codes.
I guess if there's any cure for feeling old on your birthday, it's acting like a child.

Do you like to collect art?
What is the most special gift you've received?
How did you celebrate your last birthday?

ABK

11 comments:

  1. Matt's gifts for Valentine's Day and your birthday are so thoughtful and beautiful. They look awesome up on your wall! Adam and I are at the same point where we want art that is all *ours* but we haven't really purchased anything yet because it's so difficult to find things with meaning beyond "I like that, do you?" Matt hit it out of the park with these two pieces!

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    1. I am super impressed, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised since he's an artist? But still, surprised over here!

      I think there is a balance between "this is a mass-produced piece of 'art' from Target but I love it and want it" and "all my art must have MEANING"...I think probably the best houses have a bit of both!

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  2. What a wonderful, thoughtful gift!! How sweet is he <3 Sounds like you had a GREAT Valentines Day and birthday! (it's Allison from Inverted Sneakers btw, for some reason I am having a really hard time commenting on your posts!!)

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    1. I tried adjusting some commenting settings, so hopefully that helps?!

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  3. Beautiful! I'm glad you blogged about this because I saw the pics on fb but it's nice to know the back story. I once gave Paul a charcoal drawing of Christmas that a friend of ours did. It looks exactly like him! We have it in b the dining room. :)

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    1. Aw, I think that's really sweet that a friend did a charcoal drawing of Chrissy. That gives it even more meaning. When we moved away from Cleveland, a friend of the family drew a colored-pencil drawing of our house and my parents still have it hanging in their bedroom. It's just such a sweet thing, to get the gift of art from a friend.

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    2. I agree! I am not "into" art. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate it. But I definitely have DEEP appreciation when it is someone I know who created it. My friend is soooo talented, the picture is extremely lifelike. Almost like a photo. She charged me nothing and I ended up paying her more than double because I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I paid her what she asked.

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  4. Those are absolutely beautiful gifts. And a very happy birthday to you! I am constantly wanting new art for our home (we moved to a new house last year and many of our pictures are still finding their proper spots) so I get that "old" feeling. ;) But like, in a good way.

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    1. We've been in this house two years now and there's one piece we still haven't hung. I love it SO much and it matches our bedroom but I want it out where others can see it...so I can't decide where to hang it!

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  5. Happy Birthday! It's nice when we are able to decorate with art that actually means something to us. Matt did good!

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