Happy Friday, loves!
How was your Valentine’s Day? I hope it was full of love for yourself and love for others :)
My Valentine’s gift to myself yesterday was a nap. Yes, a nap. I’m really exciting.
I slept horribly on Wednesday night and struggled through the entire day of work yesterday. I do NOT function well at all on less than 8 hours of sleep. The only thing that kept me motivated throughout the day was knowing that I was going to treat myself to a much-needed nap come 4:30pm. My nap was only 45 minutes of on and off sleep but it made a HUGE difference in my mood – When Kyle got home I was happy, energized and ready to go out and celebrate Valentine’s Day.
Since we are on are a money-saving kick, we didn’t do real gifts this year - we didn’t even get each other cards! I’m not a huge card person anyways. Sure, they’re pretty and some are funny and I actually really like the Papyrus brand but $7 for a card is a waste of money in my opinion.
Since we weren’t doing real gifts, my “gift” to Kyle was a HUGE cookie – with pink sprinkles, recipe courtesy of Sally from Sally’s Baking Addiction.
Check out the size of this thing! It was 10 inches by 10 inches and he we I enjoyed every last bite. Okay, so maybe it was more of a gift for myself but I let him have his fair share ;)
For dinner, we visited one of our favorite, romantic Minneapolis restaurants – Nicollet Island Inn. The Nicollet Island Inn is located on Nicollet Island, an actual island in the Mississippi River. It is a small, historic inn and restaurant with a quaint and intimate feel. They have a piano lounge with live pianists on most evenings and the restaurant itself has unique, private booths and tables lit by candlelight making it the perfect place for a romantic, Valentine’s Day date.
Nicollet Island Inn also has a fabulous, 5-course Sunday brunch that includes unlimited mimosas, champagne and coffee. Needless to say, Kyle and I have frequented brunch there a time or two ;)
Typically, we would walk here as the island is approximately a 15 minute walk from our condo (we can actually see it from our balcony!) but since it was cold and the ground was covered in ice and snow, we opted to drive. Plus, the heels I was wearing didn’t allow for much walking ;)
Since it was Valentine’s Day, Nicollet Island Inn was offering a 5-course tasting menu in lieu of their normal menu. I’m normally not a huge fan of tasting menus but this one was better than I anticipated! Every course was perfectly portioned and it allowed us to try menu options that we typically would not have selected.
Most of the menu was pre-selected, however, we were able to choose our main entrée. Kyle selected the roast beef and I went with the scallops and both were rich with flavor and elegantly plated.
Throughout dinner we enjoyed a bottle of 2010 Duck Pond Cabernet Sauvignon. Most of the bottles on Nicollet Island Inn’s menu were $100+ and part of the reason we went with the Duck Pond was because it was around $40. Overall, even my wine-snob of a husband, thought this was a pleasant, slightly sweet, and very drinkable red wine. I recommend it!
Kinky Liqueur was apparently sponsoring the featured cocktails last night - Kinky Tinis or Kinky Bubbles, anyone?
I actually really like Kinky Liqueur, but last night, I was in a wine mood and our dinner felt a little too classy to be downing sugary cocktails.
Nicollet Island Inn sent each couple home with a kinky package (pun intended) consisting of samples of Kinky Liqueur, Opulent Vodka, Pharmacopia lotion and chocolate.
I’m most excited to give the Pharmacopia brand a try! They make natural and organic bodycare products and I’ve always wanted an excuse to sample some of their products :)
We got home from dinner fairly late so we dove into the HUGE cookie I made (yes, we had TWO desserts on Valentine’s Day!), gave Mitchell some lovin’ and then headed to bed. We are definitely almost to old-couple status!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day full of love and happiness!
How much sleep do you need per night? Are you a card person?
facebook 
twitter 
pinterest 
Awww what a fun time!! Michael and I don’t do gifts either, we’re actually celebrating on Sunday so my Valentine’s Day is still yet to come :)
I rarely buy cards. And I soooo need my sleep! I’m a total morning person–I have no problem getting up at 5am. But ask me to stay up at night and I’m done!
Same here!! I always wake up with the sun but then struggle to stay awake past 9pm.
I hate spending money on cards, I am so cheap. I made my hubby my own on picmonkey, way cuter anyway! And I had pretty much 2 desserts too because I had a cupcake showdown :) It was delicious and I dont regret it at all! SOunds like you had a fun night.
Two desserts are definitely needed on a holiday like Valentine’s Day :)
Sounds like the perfect place to go for Valentine’s Day! I need like 7 hours of sleep to function and I’m totally not a card person either.
I really like a thoughtful card…………buy them at Trader Joe’s too……..but send rarely……I’m prepared, I guess–ha. I need 7 hrs of sleep during the week……….more is a bonus! Wknds I love being able to go back to bed……….never sleep too late, but tend to get up early then back to sleep….plus my cat Kevin has a clock and paws at my door……ha. That dinner sounded delish…..cute bag of goodies too, love that!
I wish I only needed 7 hours of sleep! I’m jealous.
you just inspired me to bring back the afternoon nap! I need to do that more often. looks like you had a lovely Valentines Day!
I wish I could take a 30 minute break every day on the job – I could always use an afternoon nap!
It looks like you guys had a great night!!
I love catnaps– I usually find myself taking one every weekend, around 4pm. I like getting up early on the weekends, so I get sleepy by the afternoon.
I’m not really a card person– I prefer making collages or some kind hand-written love letter!
Sounds like you guys had such a wonderful Valentine’s day! I’m totally intrigued by those cocktails. And how funny is it that we both went to Sally’s Baking Addiction for dessert recipes? I just love her blog and recipes! The enormous cookie looks pretty much like heaven.
She always has the best dessert recipes! :)
That sounds like such a fun dinner night. I love tasting menus because usually I get to try something that I would have never ordered on my own. :)
Nicollet Island Inn is such an elegant place to celebrate Valentine’s Day! Dana and I went there once for dinner and I absolutely adored my food. I also had at least two desserts yesterday. =)
I’m not much of a drinker, but Kinky vodka is pretty darn tasty mixed with a little sprite or 7up!
Kinky and sprite is the perfect summer drink, especially for boating days!
They had the Pharmacopia brand at the hotel I stayed at in Portland. It’s good stuff. You’ll have to let me know if you like it!
I love that you had two desserts! That is so awesome :) It looks like you guys had an amazing night! I am usually tired by 7:00 at night, just call me grandma!!
I seriously have to be in bed by 9pm in order to be able to get up for work! I love my sleep, what can I say?
That cookie looks like a dream! I agree… cards are way too much money. I buy them anyway, but I try to stay under $4!
It was amazing! I could have had 2 of them ;)
What’s better than sleep? Nothing, except maybe food! My husband and I had a short Valentine getaway to Asheville, NC where we ate at two of the most fabulous restaurants and slept for a solid 12 hours at a nice hotel!!
I love that your husband is a wine snob. My boyfriend is such a beer drinker and when we started dating he tested out the wine waters and hated it. Since we’ve been dating he has started to adjust to it more and more. Baby steps ;)
Haha, love it! He’ll come around eventually :)