Hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day. This year I decided to get a little creative with our tight budget early into the year. I had recently finished reading The Goddess Guide (Which was a great read btw), and loved the part in the book of having a proper picnic. Her advice was to take practically everything but the kitchen sink and enjoy your meal as you would indoors. Take your rugs and blankets and lay them out to take in the view. She made a point to mention that tea isn't good unless sipped from a china cup, preferably your personal favorite.
I took a few days sorting out yummy treats at the local Farmers Markets and Grocery stores for some simple but good eats. Then in the morning, I surprised Eugene with a stack of my bedsheets in the living room and a picnic basket. After a few hours of fumbling around for the right china to bring, we were off. Ironically I forgot to buy some charcoal, so we made a second stop at the store. Which I was glad we did! The Valentine Day Sales were starting, and I had gotten these lovely pink roses which were half wilted. I used them to scatter across my comforter.
Unless you count the occasional runners, the park was pretty desolate. I was happy for it since Valentine's Day in Los Angeles can be quite vicious. We set up camp under the shade of an Oak Tree and had the BBQ are all to ourselves. I set the chicken to grill and brought out the tea and crackers for the appetizers while we waited.
The goat cheese I found from the Farmers Market was so yummy! It was a savory lavender and herb mix. We added some honey to the mix as well which was divine. To explain how the tea truly tasted in china at the park: SUBLIME. It really does make a difference and I will be doing it again; hopefully more often. If you were curious, the tea was Cherry Blossom Green which paired with the floral note in the cheese. Yummm....
When the chicken was done I paired it with an organic green salad and brown rice. Nothing fancy, but perfect for good conversation. We enjoyed the meal talking about our future and what our plans were this year. As our year started out crazy, it was nice for a little bit of a break.
Then for dessert I brought out my favorite...
Can you really say no to chocolate covered strawberries!? There my favorite thing around this time of year. I make it a point to eat them either on Valentine's Day or on my Birthday! The best part is that they're so easy and cheap to make. I used my left over sprinkles to garnish them and they came out delicious. We had them with the rest of the tea.
I recommend you to try this at least once! It was so relaxing. It was the perfect Valentine's Day for this year and it didn't take a big present, expensive dinner, and crowded place.
Hope you all had a lovely day!
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