While I’m pretty sure it was perpetually stuck in the crayon box when I was a kid because it always seemed a little less interesting than all the other colors, I’m a big, big fan of all things yellow these days.

It’s the color of sunshine, lemons, my favorite new sweatshirt from Old Navy, and it’s a fantastic accent shade that adds a perfect pop of life to my decidedly modern taste in home decor.

And considering how we’ve seemed to jump straight from Winter to Spring here in Texas, it only seemed right to incorporate a little lemon-y goodness into our Valentine’s Day festivities too. I’m always looking for an excuse to use my lemon pasta bowls and the placemats and napkins I picked up during Will and I’s time in Positano, so instead of the traditional red and white and heart-shaped everything, save for the gorgeous roses Will brought home,  I went another direction. A lemon yellow direction.

For the main course, I made Giada DeLaurentiis’s signature lemon spaghetti. I’ve enjoyed this dish at her Vegas restaurant and always wanted to re-create it at home, so it felt like a perfect time to try. Since it’s a no-cook sauce it really is a snap to make, and oh my goodness, those jumbo shrimp and fried capers (try it, it’s totally worth the extra bit of effort) totally sent the recipe over the top.

And unlike spaghetti with marinara, spaghetti with meatballs or spaghetti Bolognese, this lemon spaghetti isn’t heavy in the least. It’s light and lemony and cheesy and definitely worth giving it a try if you’d like something new for Spring.