This week was pretty uneventful with just a couple highlights – we celebrated Valentine’s Day early with a Peruvian twist, cheered on runners at the Donna Marathon and made something pretty to hang on the wall with a seahorse stencil from Stencil Revolution.

Valentine, The Donna and a Stencil Revolution

Valentine’s Day Dinner at Ceviche Jax

We celebrated Valentine’s Day early this week because we won’t be together on the actual holiday. We tried to go bowling but it was an hour wait, so we had a drink at One Ocean and then headed to Ceviche Jax for the first time. I’d heard the food was delicious and had been wanting to try their Peruvian cuisine since we moved to the beach. Good thing we made reservations or it would have been a short visit! (Restaurant has since closed down!)

We walked into a hot, crowded little place in a strip mall and got the most unwelcome greeting I can recall getting in a long time. In fact, there was no greeting, just a frown and “Do you have reservations?” and when we replied yes, she actually seemed skeptical and told us if we were early then we would not be bumped ahead! I was SO ready to just be like “Screw this shit” and walk out the door. But I really wanted to try the food, and I was hungry, and we were there right on time, so take that surly waitress!

It was loud and completely lacking ambience, so not the not the most romantic Valentine meal, but it was DELICIOUS! We got the combo ceviche and I loved it all. Ate every bit of it. I got the Churrasco a lo Pobre for dinner, with fried yuca and a side salad. The waitress warmed up a teeny, tiny bit enough to make us feel like we weren’t totally inconveniencing her by being there. And we were quite entertained by the large screen featuring lots of music videos with hip thrusting half-naked women in gold chains. One of them was J-Lo in a video that looked like a cross between Once Upon a Time and Black Panther. (People still make music videos?? I’m so out of the loop) I’m glad we stayed, and I would totally recommend the food, but next time I’ll probably go for take-out.

Save the tatas!

On Sunday we managed to get out the door early enough to see the runners for the Donna Marathon. It was a sea of pink in support of breast cancer research. We even saw a pink Elvis! The race started at the Beaches Town Center and wove its way down the beach road and through our neighborhood. It’s pretty neat to have a marathon run through your streets. Keelan had a blast giving the runners high fives as they ran by.

And now for this week’s Product Sponsor – Stencil Revolution

I picked out a couple of fun stencils from StencilRevolution.com, a large seahorse and a smaller Halloween themed one that said “Witches Be Crazy,” and we did a little art project this week to try them out.

All of their stencils are laser cut from 12 mil Mylar and made right here in Florida. With over 750 to choose from, there’s a little something for everyone! It may be nowhere near Halloween, but I’m always adding to my spooky collection and this saying had me laughing so I had to get it. I may make this one and just have it by my desk all year.

I also wanted to make something to add to our beachy decor so I typed in “beach” to see what popped up and went with the seahorse. They make everything from tiny stencils to giant wall art, and most designs come in several different sizes. We had fun doing our art project and were very happy with the results! Stencils are definitely a kid-friendly art project.