This week we are preparing to go away for our 31st anniversary – woo hoo!  I can hardly wait.   As a result we decided to postpone our date night this week to get ready for lots of date nights.  Valentine’s Day is this Sunday, and I thought it would be good to share with you our tradition for Project 52.  (if you would like to join Project 52, you can check out the details and even print off an agreement to sign.  Simply click on the button above!)

Since our anniversary is 10 days after Valentine’s Day, Tom and I have always divided the planning; I plan Valentine’s Day, and he plans our anniversary.  This has worked well for us, and it’s been a lot of fun.

Tom’s favorite Valentine was one year I mailed him an invitation to dinner at “my place”.  I told him the evening was semi-formal and to arrive no later than 6:30p.  In order to get ready for our evening together, he went to a friend’s house to change after work, because he wasn’t allowed home until the set time.  When he rang the doorbell, I didn’t expect him to have a bouquet of flowers for me!  What a sweet gesture.

I set a beautiful table in our bedroom using flowers from our azalea bushes (always blooming on Valentine’s Day), along with a couple of candles and our nicest place settings.  My children helped me clean and decorate our room.  (I think it’s important for them to see how I love to romance their Dad, and it’s nice to have the extra help!)

I made sure there was soft music playing and a wonderful meal we could enjoy together.  After dinner, I told Tom it was time for the concert.  “Concert? What concert at this time of night?” he asked.  I told him just to wait and see.  Dessert and coffee would be served at the concert.  🙂

I left him in our room while I set up the living room with our dessert tray and coffee.  I moved the love seat right in front of the TV where I had Jim Brickman’s, My Romance DVD ready to play.  My teenaged daughter had a mirrored ball from one of her parties that I set up with a flashlight on the fireplace mantel.  I started a fire and then called Tom to come out of our room.

His face lit up when he saw the way I had rearranged the living room to suit our needs.  He loved every detail.  The music was very romantic and on our favorite song, we danced together to the glistening lights.

This is one night we always talk about as being the most romantic.  And it was one of the easiest nights to plan.  Here is the video of our favorite song: