17 Valentine Memories

I wanted to do a post like this for Christmas, and I still may (if I ever get off my emo ass and go through my holiday photos). For now, though, here's a list of our most precious Valentine weekend memories.

1) I did a photo shoot of my friend Becki and her two guys, husband Andy and cutie patootie son Luke.




2) We went to Old Town San Diego for the first time. I was in such a rotten mood when we first got there because 1) I was exhausted and Charlie would not nap in the hotel room, and 2) I was starving. Charlie took a brief nap in the stroller while we walked around and I stuffed my face full of banana and all was right with the world.






3) While we were in Old Town, we had dinner with Becki, Andy, and Luke. The host told us, after we were already seated, that it would be about 20 to 30 minutes before someone came to take our order. We were all like "WTF?!" but we sheepishly agreed that it was okay. The food was mediocre. The company was awesome.






4) It was in Old Town that a lamp post grew out of Roy's head.



5) We stayed in the cheapest hotel we could find and laughed our asses off at the garish bedspread.




6) Someone down the hall from us had this sign stuck on their door. Long live Astroglide!



7) Charlie slept through the night for pretty much the first time ever that Saturday night. In a strange hotel room. I was shocked. I have no photos of this. I think a photo of a margarita is a good substitute.



8) On Valentines Day morning, we gave Charlie his gift, the Baby Love book that was used in this photo.



My mom always gave us little gifts for each holiday, and it's a tradition that I always loved. We're going to keep doing it with our own kids.

We also gave Charlie this little pop-up card. I'm big on cards. Like huge. There is nothing better than a card with a note written inside.



9) Even though we said we weren't going to give each other gifts, Roy totally tricked me and got me two nerdy gifts: a Moleskine and a book light. Oh, and a card, my favorite, with a sweet message written inside. He picked out this one because the two kids were going on a trip, just like us.



10) For Valentines Day, we dressed Charlie in an adorable red velour sleeper. He was so cute in it.



11) After checking out of our hotel, we went to the University of San Diego, which caught our eye because it is just so beautiful. We walked around and took some photos. Mass was just letting out and the nuns were outside selling random religious books. I'm not religious at all, but I couldn't resist buying this book.






12) From the university, we went to Balboa Park. Almost immediately we came across a big display of original artwork. We found a print we loved for Charlie and bought it. I'm too lazy to take a picture of it, though. Look at this instead!



13) We hung out in the grass for awhile.







14) There were some amazing performers out that day. My favorite was this guy, who played the didgeridoo.





15) I decided to do some shooting from the hip and caught some great images.




Fountains. There's not a damn thing about 'em that I don't love.

16) We spent some time in the Museum of Man.










17) Around 4:00, we packed up and called it a day. As we rolled into our neck of the woods, this song came on and I sang down to the depths of my black, withered heart.

It was a lovely weekend trip, and I am so happy that Charlie's first Valentines Day was filled with the things we love most, especially each other. We are broke mofos, and we never have a surplus of money. But we have fun. Nothing else matters.