Our First V-Day

Eugene and I have had many Valentine's Days together already, but strictly speaking, we weren't actually together on the day for many of them, since we were in a long-distance relationship for so long. Also, this is our first one as a married couple. So both of us wanted it to be special. I can't speak for Eugene, but it was fun for me thinking of things to do for him today.

Eugene got the "first strike" in today by sending me flowers at work. I was setting up an experiment when the receptionist walked in with a long box of a dozen roses and a box of truffles. My boss joked about being disappointed; he only got a couple of videos in the mail. Eugene's given me roses on quite a few occasions, but this is the first time he had them delivered. I called him to thank him and displayed the roses on my desk, where they'll remain until the weekend.

After work, it was my turn to put my ideas into effect. I wanted to cook a special meal for Eugene, including individual chocolate bread puddings for dessert. Unfortunately, I found a recipe on MSN.com, but it didn't print out properly. Luckily, I found a similar recipe in one of Eugene's cookbooks. I had to make a second trip to the store to get evaporated milk, but the bread pudding didn't take very long to make. It turned out pretty well; the only thing was that the chocolate chips on top got scorched since I had to bake the puddings in the broiler oven instead of the regular one. For the rest of the meal, I made sirloin steak, garlic wild rice, sauteed mushrooms, a spinach salad, and leftover vegetables. We also had a couple glasses of Shiraz with the meal. By the time Eugene came home, I had candles lit throughout the apartment, tango music playing in the background, and my tango dress and heels on (and an apron too). We exchanged presents after dinner; I gave him two books and a DVD; he gave me two books and two music videos. We had a very nice evening; as I told Eugene, "One down, forty-nine to go!"