I've been in Texas since December 24th, and in terms of weather, it's been absolutely blissful. Not even the teensiest threat of snow, I tell you! But of course, in true Murphy's Law fashion, the northeast has had hardly a winter at all, with only one real sticking snowfall so far.

But you know, no amount of great weather can make up for the distance between The Brit and me. He's been flying back and forth whenever he can, but we haven't been apart this long since our dating days when we saw each other a week at a time every 3 months!

I'm in Texas because of a surgery that required extensive recovery. James and I have no family up in New Jersey, so it seemed the safest course to choose a surgeon and a hospital near my family to help with my recovery. Especially since my sister is a nurse - and let me tell you, she has been a Godsend. I am SO grateful she is my sister.

Not a day goes by that I don't think this was the right choice, but it doesn't help the misery of missing my Brit, and my cats, and my house.

This will be the first Valentine's Day we've spent apart in a very long time. I don't know about y'all, but I think he would murderise me if I sent a bouquet of flowers or somethin' to his office. Guys seem to be a little sensitive about mushy stuff like that. So instead, I baked.

Not only did I bake, I took inspiration from my favorite British blogger, Kathryn at London Bakes. A while back, she made these gorgeous "Celebrations Brownies".

Celebrations are made by the Mars company in the UK, and feature all your favorites Mars chocolate bars in bite-size portions: Milky Way, Snickers, Mars Bars, etc, plus a few that aren't made here in the U.S., like Bounty, Tropic, and Malteasers. Little known fact: If you find yourself craving a Milky Way bar whilst in the U.K., make sure you purchase a Mars bar instead. In the UK, the names are swapped!.

Celebrations are kind of hard to get hold of when you haven't been cleared to drive yet, so instead, I took my inspiration from the display of Valentine's Day themed Ghirardelli Squares on display at Target during a sister-approved jail break.

I'm a bit particular of the flavors that mix in my brownies, so I chose the Ghirardelli Caramel Trio with milk chocolate caramel, dark chocolate caramel, and caramel latte squares and the Luxe Milk Premium Assortment featuring milk almond, milk hazelnut and milk chocolate squares.

Warning: Ghirardelli stuffed brownies are DANGEROUS!

Kathryn's recipe is super fudgey to start with, and the addition of the caramel and nut chocolates makes each bite different and more decadent than the last.

You may want to make two pans, just so you don't have to share. It may be Valentine's Day, but I swear, there've already been a couple of raised voices in my sister's house over who gets a brownie and when.

I'm not naming names, but a certain 5 year old boy may have gotten in trouble more than once for asking every 20 minutes or so whether or not he could have a brownie - starting at 8:05 a.m.!

They're just that good.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post, nor is Ghirardelli even aware I exist. I just love their chocolate squares, and so does my husband, thus the perfect Valentine's day treat.

[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Ghirardelli Stuffed Brownies - - - [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]