I have always made it a priority to keep fresh cut flowers in the house. They brighten the whole room up. The photos in this post are from the last two weeks.

When my husband and I went on our first date, he showed up to my door with a single creamy pink and white carnation. He has since informed me it was a peppermint carnation. He finds this very important. You should, too. I had never seen a carnation sold by itself (being highly educated in only grocery store flowers), but I loved it all the same. I placed it in a large vase in my living room and there it sat all week long.

What I did not know about that flower was that it had been ripped from its brothers and sisters (of course, it should be happy, because their fate was much worse than its own). You see, my husband later told me the following story:

He was very excited to be going on our date. He had contemplated whether I would expect him to bring me flowers. He decided, yes. He decided right. But then there was the dilemma of what kind to bring, how many, what color?

The choices were overwhelming. If he brought me a rose, would I think it was too much? If he brought me a red rose would I assume he was all ready in love? If he brought me a bunch of flowers would I think he was desperate and trying too hard? He grabbed a dozen carnations and decided to contemplate them at home.

Once at home, he placed them in water and finally chose a single carnation, hoping it would be the right choice. It was.

Two days after our first date, he asked me over to his house for dinner. He was going to make it himself. Those poor carnations were immediately dumped in to the trashcan prior to my arrival. Because what would I have thought if I saw them there on his counter? I would have known he had not given me all of the flowers.

The month of November holds our first date. This year, he brought me a dozen carnations in creamy pink and white (don’t forget, peppermint) to mark the occasion… This time I got to keep them all.