Our First Married Valentine's Day

William and I very happily celebrated our second Valentine's Day together, and our first of what will be many of us as a married couple. William had me come over to Google for lunch where I had a delicious Lobster Risotto. After work, we exchanged gifts. I got him the new Sarah Brightman CD that he didn't have yet (I found it on my "retail therapy" day) and so we were able to listen to it on the way to dinner. William loves her voice, but thinks that she looks pretty scary on this cover

I think it is more of ethereal.

William literally was a sweetheart and gave me a heart shaped box of chocolates! I was so excited because this is such a romantic icon and I had never received them before. He also gave me an itunes gift card ;-) Look how beautiful the packaging is

MMMM- Chocolates. He definitely knows the way to my heart! And a little itunes to make my heart really sing (or rock out as I like to put it).

William took me to dinner at Ristorante Portofino in Pacifica, off the Pacific Coast Highway. It was voted "Best Romantic Dinner Spot" in the Bay Area (I'm not sure by whom though) but I have to admit that it was beautiful, romantic, and a great dinner. It is out in Rockaway Beach and is located inside the local Best Western. The hotel itself has a "lighthouse"- more for show than anything- but some stunning views.

I like the way the rocks look with this cool camera effect.

Even at nightfall, it was very beautiful to watch the crashing waves. I really enjoy "water" shows like the Bellagio fountains and this coastline proved to be just as entertaining. We watched for 20 minutes as these huge waves would crash into the rocks, and some even large enough to make it onto the platform where we were standing. While we were eating, we saw a gigantic wave come and pound onto the platform and we were glad that we weren't there because that would have placed a cold damper on the evening.

And the view was still stunning from our table inside.

But, with the big windows, it was impossible to get a photo showing us clearly along with the water in the background. We did attempt both shots as our waiter was very kind to indulge us.

Adding to the romance, they had a fireplace

The food was great- they brought out warm sourdough bread to begin with, William and I shared a bowl of clam chowder and then I got one of the best sauces I have ever had. I got the gnocci with a 4 Cheese Cream Sauce which was HEA-VEN. The gnocci was ok- not the best I have ever had, but the sauce was unbelievable- it even had the gooey strings when you picked it up. I know that William was sick of me raving about it, but it was so good. For dessert, we shared their chocolate ice cream cake, which was great as well. I am generally not a fan of actual cake inside of ice cream cakes (I know, somewhat ironic) generally because it is too dense and detracts from the ice cream. But this cake very much complemented it- so much so that I didn't realize there was actual cake in it until we were almost finished. We were impressed that they even put a heart on it for Valentine's Day.

I couldn't have asked for a better evening to spend with my Valentine.