I used to think Valentine's Day was a bit silly, but now I see it as a fun excuse to wear pink and red and celebrate! Why not celebrate all of the holidays, even as an adult? So I pulled together some fun holiday-themed items.
We usually stay in on Valentine's Day and cook something yummy. It's nice that the holiday falls on a Saturday. We don't typically go out for Valentine's Day, and I will be prepping to leave for Georgia, so we are having a very low-key evening. My husband, who is an amazing cook, will likely make something delicious for us, or we will order out.
I tell this story often, but one year, when my husband and I were engaged, he planned a nice Valentine's Day dinner date at one of my favorite Italian restaurants that is known for their 'pasta trio' where they have three kinds of pasta each night, and you get to have unlimited pasta of all three. The restaurant has sadly since closed. Anyway, my husband kept the restaurant a surprise until the day of, so I could figure out what to wear.
He texted me during the day and said, 'Go look at the menu. I looked up the menu on their site, and they had posted a Valentine's Day special menu where the pasta trio wouldn't be available, and it was very limited. I consider myself a foodie, and I eat almost everything except goat cheese. It's not that I just don't like goat cheese; it literally makes me gag. I kid you not; nearly everything on the menu contained goat cheese.
So, my husband said he would be happy to switch restaurants. Well, of course, there were no last-minute reservations available anywhere. He felt SO bad, but I didn't think it was a big deal. We had a big wedding that weekend- our best friends were getting married, and I was in the wedding, so I figured a night in would be welcome, so I suggested we get takeout.
So we placed our order via a delivery app, and there was an over-an-hour wait for our food, which was annoying, but we guessed everyone had the same idea as us: stay in and just order out. So we waited for well over an hour, and nothing happened. Suddenly, we got an app message saying our order was canceled. It was already late, and we were both starving. I could tell that my fiancé felt terribly that the night was not turning out as he had planned. We were at my apartment, and I had no food in my refrigerator to cook anything for us. So, we decided to order from one of our favorite Mexican spots. After waiting another hour, the food arrived, but they delivered the wrong order! By this time, we are cracking up. So we ate the food anyway and still had a great night.
Hence, we typically stay home. We have learned our lessons and now don't tend to go out for things like New Year's Eve or Valentine's Day. We don't typically do big gifts, either, since spending time in Florida this winter was our 'gift to each other'. It's usually just a card and maybe a cute pair of Baublebar-type earrings (love these!), a pretty wrap, or my favorite Sarris chocolate-covered pretzels (or the best gummy candy!), which are all always lovely!
I also love the concept of Galentine's Day. I love to gift my grammie, mom, and girlfriends, whom I may see in February, a small 'something' to show them I love them and am thankful for them. Even just giving my housekeeper a sweet treat or a note of appreciation is something I think is easy to do to show how much you love and appreciate others.
And, I'll never forget the sweet gifts my parents gave us over the years growing up. My parents always made holidays fun, even Valentine's Day! The highlight was one year, I was in college, and they sent me a small Kate Spade bag- a VERY big gift. I was floored!!! I will never forget it, not because of the material item, but just how surprised and excited I was. But otherwise, my mom would make something similar to an Easter basket with things like a hairbrush or swimsuit, some candy, stickers, etc.!
