Happy Aunt Clare's Day

This is the first anniversary of the official Hyzy renaming of Valentines Day!  Instead of succumbing to the complete commercialization of what is a retarded holiday, last year in honor of my wonderful Aunt Clare I renamed it.  And now I approach Aunt Clare's day with her spirit in my heart.  I think one of her greatest pleasures must have been buying, collecting or making gifts for other people.  She never forgot anyone and her gift packages were sometimes hilarious, sometimes over the top and always filled with the spirit of love.  So... now I spend the days leading up to Aunt Clare's day thinking about what sorts of small silly gifts and surprises I can leave around the house and hidden for my family.

This is what I came up with, with a little help from Pinterest...
I painted these rocks which I will take on our walk today and drop in various yards and put on various mailboxes for people to find on Aunt Clare's Day.  Just a little random treat for strangers.  Zack laughed at me and said I was goofy, but I don't think he means it. :o)  I also made these really cute bookmarks for all my favorite readers.  Keeping with the bookmark theme,  I found the perfect bookmark for the Zman as well... no sissy hearts for my boy! What else speaks to my Zackman's heart....bacon!  So, here it is... Bacon Hearts!  I mean really could I have hit it more on the head for my boy...Zombies and bacon.  I say Aunt Clare's Day...SCORE!

For John, I put a heart of sticky notes on his mirror and wrote something I loved about him on every note.  I know, nauseatingly mushy, but he likes that kind of thing and I am NEVER mushy!  He's a mushy guy and sometimes I feel like he got the shaft when he married me.
Brenna missed out a little, but I did send her a care package with candy, nail polish, quarters for laundry and a pink toothbrush!
All in all, I gotta say this has been the best Aunt Clare's Day ever!  Probably the first in my life that I've actually looked forward to with anticipation.  I've enjoyed the weeks leading up to it planning and shopping, crafting and making.  I was so excited when everyone got up to see the things I had hidden around the house.
Me, enjoying Valentines Day??!!!  I can't think of a better testament to my Aunt Clare's spirit of love and giving.  She was an amazing lady and is missed everyday and while she may be gone I think she has managed to give me the best Valentines/Aunt Clare's Day present ever!