Sunday, February 14, 2010

Day of Love

Thank you all for the sweet comments on Josh's birthday party!! Happy Valentine's Day!! Whether you love or hate the holiday, you have to admit, its kind of fun to have another reason to share some extra love (with your significant other, family, friends or self!) and maybe indulge in a little something special!

Earlier this week, my gift from my Secret Valentine, the awesome Jessie from Vegan Minded, arrived. In the mix, pop chips (which I had yet to try and LOVE), amazing grass, chocolate, plantain chips, tea, shower gel and a puff. Such an amazing package- thank you Jessie!!

Are you doing anything special today? Josh and I went out to brunch at a new to us restaurant, Charleston's Cafe.

Charleston's Bookstore Cafe on Urbanspoon
The menu is filled with lots of great southern options, traditional egg breakfasts, pancakes, and parfaits.


I ordered the fruit parfait (granola, yogurt, strawberries & bananas) and coffee (obviously):


While Josh got the Three Grain Pancakes with the stewed peaches & raisins on the side:



Both were DELICIOUS. The coffee was also exceptionally good! And they offered skim milk, which you rarely find out at restaurants. I love that the restaurant has an option for everyone and even makes speciality coffee beverages like lattes and espresso. Loved my special breakfast with my Valentine:



Plan for the rest of the day- relax and switch up choreography for my classes this week. What are you up to?

50 comments:

A said...

Oooh that's an awesome v-day gift. Loove popchips.
Your breakfast doesnt look too shabby either.
Bf and I are having a relaxing day with a nice dinner cooked at home by moi.

vanillasugarblog said...

i'm home sick with a stomach flu which has turned into a cold. i miss food and i miss the gym :-(
i wanted to pig out today too. wahhhh lol

Allie (Live Laugh Eat) said...

Awwwww!! You're the most adorable ever. Great looking parfait and great looking Valentine! Hope you have a relaxing nightt with Josh!

Anna said...

Holy Cow that brunch looks delish!! Peaches and raisins sounds like a great combo. Enjoy your day! I have quite the date planned for my textbooks and me

fittingbackin said...

Cute photo! I'm glad you guys had a nice meal out! We're having a Big Love marathon over here - and i'm cooking and (hopefully) off to the gym!!

Molly said...

Your package looks amazing! Looks like a fun breakfast!

Ana said...

That parfait looks yummy!! Happy Valentine's Day! I am doing dinner with the BF and maybe catching a movie. Any suggestions??

Jessie (Vegan-minded) said...

I'm so glad you are enjoying the package! Let me know what you think of the chocolates whenever you try them, I think they are pretty interesting and delicious. You and Josh are SO cute together. :) Enjoy the rest of your day!

Lauren said...

What a fantastic package of love from your secret Valentine. I haven't tried Pop Chips yet either, but I can't wait to hear what you think of them.

Aww, brunch with Josh sounds so wonderful.

Happy Valentines Day sweetheart!
XoXo

Velva said...

The breakfast looks delicious. Great foodie box you received in the mail. Cheers!

Dawn Dishes It Out said...

You guys look adorable in the pic!! We stayed home today and had breakfast with my bestfriend (since we were 11) and her family!!

Anonymous said...

E'Lynn,

Hey we had a great time at Josh's Birthday Party!!! The food was so good especially the fruit & dip. At the beach today, very chilly but we are grilling.

Love, L'Lynn

Abby said...

Aw, Jessie rocks.. great gifts!!

Looks like a fabulous V-Day breakfast with your love!

We cooked, took some walks, went to the bookstore.. nothing crazy but it was nice!

Have a good one, hun :)

Julie said...

your breakfast place looks so fun! i checked out the menu (haha because i always do) and i totally would have picked the granny apple parfait :) mmm

you and josh are the cutest couple on the block girl!

umm and your blogger gift? holy awesome! popchips are cuuhrazy good and bbq is so delish! one blogger (mo from food snob) one time suggested crumbling them up and using them and as breadcrumb type coating for chicken and what not

Anonymous said...

Aw, glad you guys had such a great V-day brunch. I love restaurants that cater to people outside the norm (clearly).

We ran errands and picked up some red snapper for dinner tonight. Plan is to find a movie and relax on the couch for the rest of the night - perfect Sunday, V-day or not!

Hope you do a lot of relaxing! :)

Anonymous said...

Happy Valentine's Day, Erica!

Holly said...

I completely agree about V-day! It's a holiday about love...what's to hate? Oh, and it's about candy, too. :-)

I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's day!

K from ksgoodeats said...

You two are adorable! What a fun breakfast! I had a 'diner' breakfast this weekend (after years of not going out to breakfast) and I forgot how good it can be.

Your Secret Valetine gift looks great! You haven't tried PopChips?! You'll love them - BBQ is the best flavor. Hope you guys had a relaxing day :)

Krista said...

Great package!!! Both your breakfast's sounds awesome, but Josh's sauce perked me up...

homecookedem said...

Happy Valentine's Day!! :) Cute pic of you 2!!

Anonymous said...

Such a great photo of the two of you! Looks like a fun meal out :D We get skim milk everywhere here, but no pancakes or granola...lots of haggis though :P

Enjoy your Monday!

Jenn (eating bender) said...

You and Josh look great! Happy Valentine's Day to you both!

Just read about the fabulous party you planned for your sweetie :o) I've said it before, I'll say it again - Josh is such a lucky guy! I'm sure that feeling is mutual between you two, right?

Love your Secret Valentine gift! Jessie went all out. And the Charleston's Cafe looks positively scrumptious.

Have a lovely Monday, lady!

Averie @ Averie Cooks said...

i love the package, and jessie is such a sweetheart, that's awesome!

and your restaurant trips in SC are like a trip down memory lane for me..wow!
xoxox

Simply Life said...

yum! those meals look delicious!

Jocelyn said...

Valentine's brunch looks good!
Great bloggie package too! I still haven'trecieved mine! lol

This week is a short week for me as I get today off (family day holiday) ! wahoo!

Andrea @ CanYouStayForDinner.com said...

You and Josh look so happy together! And I too love breakfast places that offer a better variety than your standard omelets and short stack of pancakes. I love to try new things. Have a fabulous Monday!

CaSaundraLeigh said...

What a fun package--I was hoping you'd get one that you'd enjoy seeming how you put together such a darling one. I have always wanted to try plantain chips, so you'll have to report back!

chrystad72 said...

Hey hon!! How are you doing?! Looks like you had such an awesome valentines day. Way cool. I love the nice vday gift you got too. How fun! Yesterday I totally just relaxed, manicured it up and shopped. Ha! Me and my hubs celebrated a tad bit early so yesterday was more down time for us. It was really fun though. I have off today which is amazing so I think we are gonna hike in the canyons for a bit. We'll see though. I hope you have an awesome day though!! Take care hon!

The Blonde Duck said...

Totally craving pancakes now. That looks like a great V-day date! Our dinner was simply magical--best meal I ever had! (Even the salad was beyond fabulous--you would have loved it, since you're not a steak person!)

teresa said...

how sweet! the food looks awesome and what a fun package to get in the mail. so glad you had such a nice day!

Janetha @ meals + moves said...

HI LOVE! just caught up with you a bit, LOVED your bloggie valentine you sent AND the one you received. SO fun!! the party and the eats looked fabulous. that cafe you ate at in this post looked so delicious~ loving that parfait action. i never see parfaits on breakfast menus! that is great! SO~ you are going to loooove jamaica. will you take me with you??? or maybe i can just watch frank for you ;) loved all the cute photos of him you posted recently. xoxo

Bridget said...

Happy Valentine's!! That yogurt parfait looks delicious! I love going out for Brunch :)
You guys are so cute!!

Anonymous said...

What a cool package!

Charleston has some of the BEST places to eat, I can't wait to bring my hubby & son down there! I think that COAST is first on the list, on a nice warm night so that we can sit outside : )

Christina said...

i was SO close to go to charleton's cafe on sunday! that's too funny. we ended up going to crave. it was disappointing. i had the banana french toast and the banana was brown! ick!

Holly said...

you two are too dang cute - happy belated valentines day! and woowoo for that lovely stash of goods - everyone needs a secret bloggy valentine :)

Anonymous said...

I love when you can find either skim milk or soy milk at restaurants, it just makes my day!

I feel like a waste this afternoon, I ran a bunch of errands this morning but have done nothing but work out and nap this afternoon. I <3 federal holidays!

Paige (Running Around Normal) said...

What an awesome package! I looove Popchips! Especially the bbq flavor.
Sounds like a nice Valentine's breakkie with Josh. That parfait looks delicious.
Have a great day :)

lynn said...

mmmm stewed peaches!! my kinda pancake topping.

Juliana said...

So cute Erica....happy that you guys had a great time :-)

Maria said...

Glad you had a nice V-day! We had a good day too. I had today off so it made the weekend even better. I went to Combat today. It was fun like always:)

Miz said...

Im still lost on what a spring chicken Josh is :)

Heather @ Get Healthy With Heather said...

Glad you two got to have a nice V-day breakfast out! Going out to breakfast is my favorite to do with Jacob. Maybe it's because breakfast is my favorite meal :)

This week I'm just trying to catch us. It's easy to get behind on everything around the house when I'm gone for the weekend.

Pam said...

Girlie....Such a CUTE couple you are! Nice package you received there too!

Could ya pass me some of those pancakes...Josh won't mind! he he!

Hope you had fun...looked like it!

xoxo

I Run for Fun said...

Aww...love the V-Day gift!

Sounds like a nice relaxing day. The parfait looks delicious.

Anonymous said...

Woo hoo for awesome v-day gifts!

Kristen @ Change of Pace said...

Aww what a sweet gift! It really is hard to find healthy eats at many restaurants... Your yogurt looks yummy but I have to say I'd be a sucker for those pancakes! :)

Anonymous said...

haha after seeing this i emailed my dad the website of the restaurant.. and said "we are SO eating here after the bridge run" .. and we are! thanks to you!

Michelle @ Find Your Balance said...

We ended up doing some yoga and eating at an Indian restaurant on Valentine's Day. Turned out to be a great meal and a great day!

Naomi(Onefitfoodie) said...

hey love! that restaurant looks awesome !love the parfait, I love when restuarants even have that option! lots of diners just have eggs and pancakes, and no oatmeal or granola, so SCORE on the restaurant!

happy late vday to you and Josh!!

I just got back from canada skiing and exhaaauuusted!!!

xoxo

Lori said...

I had no idea how long it had been since I've had a good yogurt parfait until I saw that picture. I love the presentation in the mug.