My Favorite Valentine’s Day Tradition

This post is sponsored by Walmart

Back when Ella was a baby, Bart and I started a Valentine’s Day tradition that has continued on for more than a decade.

Finding a babysitter on Valentine’s Day was NOT easy, plus since our finances were pretty tight, paying for a nice dinner AND a babysitter felt like a lot.

Plus, Bart was smack in the middle of his busy season as an accountant, which meant that he would be working that night anyway.

Our lovely neighbor generously suggested that we go to lunch instead and she’d be happy to watch Ella for a few hours while we were gone.

We took her up on it, I picked Bart up at his office, and we enjoyed a delicious lunch of Thai food together, before he went back to work and I went home.

Lunch was cheaper than dinner and it was MUCH less crowded than it would be on Valentine’s Day evening, plus going out in the middle of the day felt extra out-of-the-ordinary and and broke up the day in a really fun way for both of us.

Since then, we’ve gone on a Valentine’s Day lunch date nearly every year.  And as we added more kids to our family and they got older, it’s been really nice to be able to celebrate with just the two of us AND then be able to have a fun festive evening together as a family.

Plus, now that all our girls are in school, we don’t even need a babysitter for our Valentine’s Day lunch date!

Both of us are pretty casual, but it’s fun to dress up a little bit for our Valentine’s lunch, even if it’s not a dress or heels (although if you’re looking for a fun dressier look, I LOVE this dress that will be perfect all spring and summer long!).

For me, this top from Free Assembly at Walmart is the perfect in-between option – it’s not too dressy, but not too casual either. I love it with jeans here, but it’d also be perfect with a skirt or more dressy pants (and it comes in a few other colors too, including navy and yellow!).

I own quite a few Free Assembly pieces (that’s the brand of my all-time favorite tee – I have it in 3-4 colors and wear them non-stop all spring, summer, and fall) and I’ve been so impressed by the attention to detail and quality while keeping the price points budget-friendly! (You can shop some of my favorites on LTK!)

This top is $26 but looks WAY more high-end – I love the gold buttons, the scalloped cuffs and the beautiful mid-weight fabric that’s heavy enough to be warm and cozy, but not too thick to wear as spring rolls in.

I’m looking forward to wearing it for our lunch date on Valentine’s Day and well beyond.

I’d love to hear what your Valentine’s Day traditions are – please share in the comments!

If you liked this post about our Valentine’s Day lunch date, you might like these posts too: 

• 30+ fun family Valentine’s Day traditions
• The Valentine’s Day cards my girls are using
• My favorite Valentine’s Day books to read in a classroom