Let’s get right to business this week, shall we? I’ve got three things making me happy and I’m excited to share them with you.
Thing 1: It’s Valentine’s Day and that means I’ll be making cream puffs. It’s a family tradition that you can read about here. And also, hooray for Valentine’s Day! It’s a day to celebrate love . . . all kinds and any kinds of love. And by that I mean romantic love, of course, but also the love between friends, the love of a parent and child, the love of a pet. All I’m saying is love is love and it’s a day to celebrate that.
Thing 2: Vacation! That’s right, next week is February school vacation week around here and that means Dale and I are off on an adventure. I’m calling it The Off-Season East-West Tour of Massachusetts. Why a tour of Massachusetts, you ask? Because I don’t like the idea of flying in February. Listen, I’m mature enough to know that I’m immature enough to not handle the cancellation of a flight to somewhere warm. Plus, I want a new dining room floor more than I want a tropical vacation right now. So, we’re going on a mini road trip for part of next week, revisiting some places and also going to new places we’ve always meant to visit. Sometimes it’s fun to be a tourist in your own backyard.
Thing 3: A new car! We traded in Dale’s aging Forrester and got me a brand new Outback. It’s black with black interior (which is what I actually wanted 3 years ago when I leased my current Outback but they made me such a deal on the red one I couldn’t pass it up.) and her name is Veronica . . . as in Veronica Lodge. She’s sharp and sexy (well, as sexy as a little glorified station wagon can be) and loaded with lots of bells and whistles. I think our road trip next week will be a fantastic opportunity to get to know her. And yes, I know you want photos but it was dark when we picked her up last night. They are coming, I promise.
And those are 3 things making me happy today. I hope you’re having a terrific Thursday and I wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day! If you wrote a post for today I hope you’ll include your link below.

Congrats on the new car! Subarus are great cars (I had a Forester for almost 14 years until I got a new car last year). It should be good for your state tour, especially if there’s snow to contend with.
You clearly have to take a road trip if you’ve got a new car! Enjoy all the bells and whistles and your traveling companion. I forgot about Valentine’s Day cream puffs; they look so good that someday I’m going to make them myself!
A new car! (in my best Don Pardoe voice). That makes a trade-off for a vacation a lot more tolerable. I’m just going to mention that Jimmy Buffet is a good February car companion when one is kind of over winter. Have fun!
P.S. I did NOT mean Jimmy instead of Dale. Jimmy in addition to Dale was the idea. Just to be clear. ; )
A.Brand.New.Car!! How fun. I might be sort of starting to look around for one myself soon… and we already have/had a couple of Subies in the family, so I’ll be looking at those, too. Yay, ROAD TRIP!! Have a blast!
New car and vacation!! Wooo! Hooo!!!! I think your road trip sounds like so much fun!!
Three great things! Vacation is always nice, even if it’s just a road trip. We’re living on a tropical island and still enjoy our (little – it’s a small island) adventure road trips. And having a new car to drive around is nice too.
Happy Valentines Day!
Can’t wait to see pics of the new car! A road trip in the new ride sounds like a wonderful vacation. We’ve done that every time we’ve gotten a new car. We once picked up my new ride (before we were married) on a Friday evening, drove from Virginia to Miami, FL and back in time for me to go to work on Monday morning. And yes, Jimmy Buffett went with us. 🙂
Happy Valentine’s!
Touring close to home is a great idea. It’s fun to discover and rediscover amazing things.
Have fun getting to know your new car. A road trip around your own backyard is sometimes a lovely vacation, especially the wandering around part. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Great things, ALL! (I’m wishing I had a cream puff right now. . . )
XOXO
Welcome to the family Veronica! You’ve got lots of fun times ahead! Congratulations Carole and Dale, I love my Outback and the bells and whistles that I thought I never needed are pretty sweet! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Those creme puffs look positively amazing! Yummy, too.
PS Might you share the recipe?
The cream puffs look a-mazing! Yum! I am also on vacation next week. Hooray for vacation!
One of our best school breaks was spend on a staycation, all day trips within an hour or so of home. I hope you’ll post about your state travels! Enjoy.
Your new car sounds fabulous! I love my (almost) black car (even without all the bells and whistles).Veronica IS sexy because YOU’RE sexy! Your trip sounds like a fantastic idea. We’ve talked of doing the same in our back yard. It would be fun to get off the beaten path and enjoy some of Utah’s back country. If I ever get to MA I hope you bake me a pie and cream puffs. YES! I would eat them both!
Congratulations on the new car! and what perfect timing for your road trip. sending wishes for good weather and lots of fun adventures!