The family of friends of ours throwing a big party at a hall on the 16th- multiple course meal, open bar. An Italian do. Lots of dancing. It will be a definite splurge.

dcapulet, yum!!! I am jealous. Watch out for the butter.

DH is working way too many hours right now to get a project in on time to think about trying to go out. So, that leaves me thinking I should go to the grocery and find something to cook for us. I'm thinking salmon and shrimp, sweet potatoes and a big salad. Dessert will be the one thing I'm not sure what to create. He LOVES chocolate...so I think I will head over to the recipe section here and see if I can come up with something PH1 or PH2 to create. He usually takes me out to a fancy dinner. I think it will be nice to stay home, espcially since it got so cold here this week.
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY LADIES!

SkinnydogMom, for a yummy dessert idea that is also very special, how about dipping some strawberries into dark chocolate? This is also delicious with clementines or any other kind of fruit, too.

I second the fruit dipped in dark chocolate. You could even cut up a bunch of fruit (I actually did this and added little pieces of SBD peanut butter cookies, too! ) to dip in dark chocolate fondue! I think fondue is such a romantic meal!

DH is not much of a romantic...and I've, unfortunately, gotten used to it. After over 10 years of trying to encourage him by setting an example, I think I've finally give up. I got him a card and suppose he'll get one for me. When he asked what I wanted to do, I told him that I wanted him to surprise me, but I don't have high hopes. My dad is a MAJOR romantic and always made the day very, very special for my mom and for us girls, too. Even when there was no extra money to be spared, he'd write up little love letters for us all and read the one to my mom out loud to the family. My mom would make a special dinner, we'd all have cards, and my parents would give us candy. It was ALWAYS such a special event for my family, which turns every holiday into a celebration. DH's family doesn't do much "celebrating" of anything, really. The most they ever did was to throw a family birthday party. On the day of the person's birthday, people might tell them, "Happy Birthday" but that's about it. I think that's terrifically sad and I refused to give in to it for years, but I think I'm tired of struggling against a brick wall. Guess, if we have kids, I'll do it for them, so they know how to really celebrate!

Gonnabe, I wonder if your Charthouse is the same as the chain? My aunt loves to take people to the one near her in Hawai'i (it's so lush and beautiful!) and DH and I loved to go to the ones on the coast in CA. Their mud pie is beyond divine. They also have an amazing salad bar at the one in Hawai'i...it even has caviar!

On Valentine's night I'll be doing Avon orders and homework and DH and I have an "appointment" at 8 pm to discuss our Financial Peace University assignment.

Friday night is our "Valentine's" dinner and we'll be having "Rancher's Steak Salad" with roasted asparagus and some wine. Yummy!

Laurie I'm not sure if it's the same chain. I had never been until dh & I got married & he took me there in a limo on our 1st anniversary and we go there every year on anniversary only so I'm not sure why he chose there for valentines

I have to work til 7:30 but my husband will prepare our dinner...steak on the grill, salad, baked sweet potato, and mocha ricotta creme with SF chocolate sauce on top. Mmmm. My honey always gets flowers and a card for me. He used to get me candy until I told him no more. He even sends flowers to our two daughters and gets a butterfinger candybar arrangement with balloons for our son. He has done this as long as I remember, and my kids just love it.
I got him a card and some chocolate although he gave up sweets for lent. He'll just have to save it for later. Last year we ate our dinner in front of the fireplace at a card table. It was very romantic. I think we'll try that again. Very relaxing after a long day at work.

Jill, that's a LOT to do in one day!

Kim, we did FPU, too. Great program!

Everyone's evenings sound so nice!

Kara

Kara: We're loving it. I think this will be our best Valentine's ever, not because of anything but feeling empowered about getting our financial life in order. We're looking at being completely debt-free in 2013 except for the house. At that point, I'll be able to quit working - I can't wait!!

heh, we're not really DOing anything--just budgeting for all the things we want to do

Kim_Star, I am jealous! I soooo wish we could afford for me to not work when we have kids, but it doesn't look like that'll happen. We're fortunate that the only debt we have is my car, my student loan, and our mortgage--Jeff's car is paid off, and he's never had a credit card, and I haven't used one in probably two years since I paid of all the credit card bills I'd racked up in college.

Ah, that makes more sense! You know, staying home with the kids is a bit of a sacrifice, financially, but it's worth it in my opinion. When you figure in child care and what you'd spend in gas to get to and from work and wear and tear on the car...unless you have a really super-paying job, it almost evens out. We scrimp and save here and there, but we survive on one salary (and it's a military salary at that...up until last year we qualified for WIC!).

Kara

Unfortunately (well, depends on how you look at it if it's fortunate or not, I suppose), I make quite a bit more than Jeff, so without my salary, we'd likely be homeless--not to mention this is a notoriously expensive area to live in. I won't get too specific, but I'll say we make 6 figures combined and have no kids (except 2 puppies!), yet we can't even afford a single family home around here We may be moving in the future, though, to another area that's a bit cheaper (Virginia Beach). The only problem with that is that I currently work for government contractors, so most of the jobs in my field are here near DC. We'll figure it out when the time for kids comes in a few years

Sorry to hijack the thread!

Thanks for the dipping fruit in chocolate suggestion...especially clementines and other fruits besides strawberries. I love strawberries dipped in dark chocolate but DH doesn't seem to enjoy them, but clementines are one of his favorite fruits.
I did go to the recipe sections of SBD, low carb and sugar busters. I found 2 flourless chocolate cake recipes. Both are similar and are like chocolate souffles. One called for raspberries added as a garnish. One was listed from Canyon Ranch Spa as the original source. I think I might try that one as the recipe only makes 4 individual cakes with 139 calories each IF you use real sugar, I will use splenda so the calorie count will be less.
Happy Valentines Day to all, I hope no matter where you are, who you are with or who you are without that you feel loved.