I say this with enthusiasm and a little nostalgia for the days when I was anti-Valentines. In fact I might still be part of a facebook group against Valentines. I feel like I should feel like a traitor to all my friends still sitting in that camp but I also feel like that Valentines is what you make of it.
I am thinking about this because every year my boyfriend and I have done something different but this year we did the conventional, get dressed nicely, make a reservation at a fancy restaurant, go have a nice sit down dinner where we're facing each other (and not the TV!!!) and actually talk. Well mostly we talked, we kept getting distracted by the girl at the next table who's boobs kept falling out of her dress and she'd re-adjust.... well I got distracted because we were sitting diagonally facing each other. Not sure Alex noticed, or he is really good at looking without me not noticing :)
But I digress. So I used to hate Valentines and now I love it, how did that happen? Actually, I liked it then hated it and now I like it again. As a child my mom showered my brother and I with love and on Valentines she'd make these great cheesy gifts like puffy painted hearts all over these rockin' white t-shirts! If I had a picture I'd share, that's how great they were. I love my mom and all the things like this she did for us.
Fast forward to University. I was busy a lot, not much time for relationships between engineering school and the army reserves so when I did have boyfriends they were not serious and I didn't have much time for them. The closest I got to a romantic Valentines gesture was when one of said boyfriends was in Texas and someone I wasn't interested in sent me a bouquet of white roses. Needless to say my initial excitement was dashed. And from there Valentine's day just never picked up again. Insert Anti-Valentines Facebook group. The cover art I believe was a picture of dead cupid with an arrow through his chest.
So that's ok, Valentines day is just a big marketing scam meant to steal my money and leave me with a fat ass (thank you over indulgence in chocolate) and dead rotting flowers that make my trash bin stink a couple weeks later.
Then something happened. After school I moved out West then I got a job and moved back East. I was living alone in an apartment with my dog feeling sorry for myself. Then it's like I woke up. I had a good job. I had a great dog! I was actually quite pleased with myself.
Like every year Valentines rolled around and instead of feeling crappy about it and dreading it I went shopping the day after and bought flowers (yay discounts!!) for my apartment and made it such a happy place with flowers everywhere that smelled lovely!!! I forgot that they'd all rot but seize the day right?! So something strange happened. I realized that Valentine's is not just about buying things (yes I cleaned up on unwanted flowers but wouldn't you?) and being with someone else, but it's just about love. I loved myself. I loved my dog (sorry I make you wear silly things like heart antenna head bands Navier).
This also opened me up and broadened my expectations when I met my boyfriend. The result is that I don't feel like he doesn't love me if he doesn't have 5 dozen long stem roses delivered to my door for precisely 7 am when I wake up on February 14th. I'm happy to be with him. And if I'm not with him some day I'm happy to be with me :)
Now we've done some crazy Valentine's stuff, our first year I made bacon roses (your'e welcome) and he origami'd me some paper roses (which is still up on my fridge) in my favourite colour (purple!). Another year he dropped a Valentines bomb on my desk before I got to the office:
One year we sat on the couch and watched Escape Plan (Sylvester Stallone), drank Mickey's and ate Costco poutine. Epically romantic. That was the best year with Alex so far I think!
How do you celebrate St. Valentine's Day? What do you do for yourself?
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