Our Family Valentine's Day :)

Nothing beats spending Valentine's Day with family <3



Valentine's Day has always been one of my favorite occasions even before RJ came along. Date or no date, I was never alone on Valentine's Day because of my family. Who says Valentine's Day is a lovers only day? 

This year, we decided to avoid the Valentine's Day traffic and take home Gayuma ni Maria food to celebrate. Our house may not have a romantic ambiance, especially with the ongoing construction work, but I had a warm fuzzy feeling the entire night since I was with the people I love most. :)

There were no gimmicks, no band playing love songs but I must say, it was the best Valentine's Day I've ever had. Truly, nothing beats sharing a scrumptious meal and a bottle of wine with the people closest to your heart. 

Here's a quick rundown of our Valentine's Day dinner:

Lumpiang Barako (Php115), Itsie-Bitsie Fetish (Php60)

For appetizer, I ordered their green peppers stuffed with cheese, Lumpiang Barako! It wasn't as spicy as I wanted it to be but it's perfect for my mom who can't stand too much heat in her food. The extreme cheesiness made up for the little heat but I like Gerry's Grill's version more. 

My sister also ordered Itsie-Bitsie Fetish, which are Banaue taro fries served with sweet strawberry yoghurt dip. On their own, the taro fries and the yoghurt were delicious but the combination was a little off. They just didn't go well together, in my opinion, but RJ loved them.   

Please Be Careful with my Heart (Php240), Rock Me Baby! (Php215)

Since my mom and I enjoyed our rice meals in Gayuma ni Maria on our last visit, we ordered these dishes again. This time around we had 2 orders of Please Be Careful with my Heart and 3 orders of Rock Me Baby! Addict, haha.

I Love You Cross My Heart (Php240), Mashed Potatoes (w/ Rock Me Baby)

Since I wanted to try something new, I also tried their I Love You Cross My Heart. This is a tender chicken breast dish topped off with cheese, asparagus and highly flavorful mushrooms. With a little less salt, it's a dish that will surely receive good reviews from cheese fanatics. 

Broken Promises (Php75), Beats Sex Any Day (Php75)

For dessert, I only wanted an slice of their Twisted Pavlova cake to cap off the celebration. Too bad they ran out of it by lunch time. Aww. :( My sister then brought home two cakes in its place, Broken Promises and Beats Sex Any Day. 


I've already tried their Beats Sex Any Day but it's my first time to taste their Broken Promises. RJ really liked the moist and gooey texture of this chocolate crinkle cake, albeit a little too sweet. 


Though special in their own chocolatey goodness, both cakes only further heightened my craving for their Twisted Pavlova. Good thing we're getting a free slice of it to make up for missing orders. The waiters failed to include our Moussaka and Pillow Fight in our take out bags. Boo. This would normally upset us a lot but the waiters were very courteous and apologetic over the phone. Plus, it's Valentine's Day - we're all just drugged with too much love to get furious. 

Later on, RJ arrived late in the evening with a dozen roses in hand. Awww! Thank you :) Since his class ended late, he missed out on our family dinner so we just ate all of the leftovers. Yes, I had dinner twice last night. Surprisingly, we cleared out the entire table. Wow. His appetite is really equal to the appetite of my entire family. :P Peace! 

As a surprise, I covered a wall in our house with cut out "Smarla loves RJ" hearts of varying sizes. Cheesy? I know! I also gave him an exercise mat so he could lose all of the weight he gained for helping me accomplish my blog Valentine's Special: 14 Romantic Restaurants for Valentine's Day. Haha! See, I'm not always the culprit behind your weight gain. :P But yes, I wouldn't have accomplished the 14 restaurants without you. 

So there, that's how I spent my Valentine's Day - simple but remarkably meaningful. Even though Valentine's Day has always been a sweet occasion because of my family, celebrating it with RJ makes it even more special. 

How about you, how was your Valentine's Day? 

PS. Kuya, where were you? I missed you last night. :)

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Are you looking for a nice restaurant or a vacation spot? I'll be more than willing to help! Go to "Ask Smarla" section and check out my Food & Travel Map. I'll do my best to help you out. :) 

~It's the little sweet notes everyday that matter~