Hey readers!
Welcome to the month of February! Many of you may be counting down to that Hallmark "holiday" marked on the Western calender as Valentine's Day, whether you have high expectations of how romantic your partner will make it for you, or you're dreading it and planning where you'll be hiding out until the 15th.
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I personally haven't had many years where I actually celebrated it, whether due to the fact I didn't care about it (or I pretended not to care about it anyway)... or I was single, in a long-distance relationship, etc... maybe due to the fact that my first actual Valentine's Day I was planning on celebrating happened to be the worst one I've ever endured.
Flashback to when I was 17: I was seeing a guy and we agreed to celebrate that damn "holiday". I was pretty excited, so I went to the mall, bought him all these fluffy V-day stuffed animals, chocolates, etc. stuffed into a large gift bag. I bought a new outfit. I almost bought him roses (because I'm the man like that) but my girl friend told me that maybe I should leave that up to him. I went home, got ready for 6:30pm...and waited. An hour later, no call, no boy. Called him up, no answer. Waited some more. Once it turned 11:15pm, I reluctantly washed off my makeup, changed into my pajamas and went to bed.
Three weeks later, I dropped off that gift bag full of stuff at his house and left it at the front door. He finally
phoned me, thanked me, and told me his father found it, gave it to him and told him "You know don't deserve these gifts from her." It turned out that he decided to go to a strip club that night with his buddies and cheated on me with a Spanish stripper. I think it's safe to say that experience was enough to scare me away from having any kind of plans for that "holiday" ever again.
Fast forward to when I was 23 to the best Valentine's Day I've ever had: I was working in a physiotherapy clinic at the gym as a receptionist. I probably had about an hour left in my shift and I was trying to get some closing duties done between tasks so I can make it out in time to make dinner. My boyfriend at the time showed up to my desk and surprised me with a beautiful purple glass vase full of gorgeous orchids before he got changed for his workout. It was a bit embarrassing, but in the sweetest way possible. I was at work so instead of tearing up, I was laughing! After such a big disappointment a few years earlier, the universe gave me a break!
After work, we went back to his apartment and I cooked us a delicious lobster dinner with some nice wine and candlelight. It was quite simple, but the vibe was really nice, we had great conversation, and took a nap. There was nothing elaborate about it, no crazy balloons or rose petals anywhere, no stuffed animals (because I hate dust collectors), nothing overly romantic or cavity-inducing about it. It just seemed like enough to get some delightfully gluttonous seafood in our bellies and have a relaxing time, just being our usual selves with absolutely no pressure.
It would have been easy to be whiney and compare how lack lustre that night was in comparison to my 21st birthday when I spent 3 days in Niagara with my boyfriend at the time, where after dinner, the last 5 minutes of my birthday were spent walking to the falls and kissed right before the rainbow lights shut off that clear summer midnight... but when you have zero expectations for a day you consider special, anything good about it, you'll appreciate either way. Check me out- this is (nice try, not saying how many) years later and I still find this V-Day memorable and sweet!
Anyway, the moral of this story is have no expectations on your birthday, anniversary, Valentine's Day, Christmas -whatever the day- and you will save yourself from disappointment and enjoy whatever awesomeness is in store for you. Any little bit of effort you can afford should be good enough to at least get a smile out of your partner.
Single folks: round up the single troops and hit the town- V-Day will be a Friday night this year anyways! *Joy* Also remember that it's one day in the whole year- couples (and the rest of us) should be showing love and appreciation for each other all year anyways.
@JerZGrlinCanada
Welcome to the month of February! Many of you may be counting down to that Hallmark "holiday" marked on the Western calender as Valentine's Day, whether you have high expectations of how romantic your partner will make it for you, or you're dreading it and planning where you'll be hiding out until the 15th.
I personally haven't had many years where I actually celebrated it, whether due to the fact I didn't care about it (or I pretended not to care about it anyway)... or I was single, in a long-distance relationship, etc... maybe due to the fact that my first actual Valentine's Day I was planning on celebrating happened to be the worst one I've ever endured. Flashback to when I was 17: I was seeing a guy and we agreed to celebrate that damn "holiday". I was pretty excited, so I went to the mall, bought him all these fluffy V-day stuffed animals, chocolates, etc. stuffed into a large gift bag. I bought a new outfit. I almost bought him roses (because I'm the man like that) but my girl friend told me that maybe I should leave that up to him. I went home, got ready for 6:30pm...and waited. An hour later, no call, no boy. Called him up, no answer. Waited some more. Once it turned 11:15pm, I reluctantly washed off my makeup, changed into my pajamas and went to bed.
Three weeks later, I dropped off that gift bag full of stuff at his house and left it at the front door. He finally
 |
| These studs would have been perfect to add to the gift bag. |
Fast forward to when I was 23 to the best Valentine's Day I've ever had: I was working in a physiotherapy clinic at the gym as a receptionist. I probably had about an hour left in my shift and I was trying to get some closing duties done between tasks so I can make it out in time to make dinner. My boyfriend at the time showed up to my desk and surprised me with a beautiful purple glass vase full of gorgeous orchids before he got changed for his workout. It was a bit embarrassing, but in the sweetest way possible. I was at work so instead of tearing up, I was laughing! After such a big disappointment a few years earlier, the universe gave me a break!
After work, we went back to his apartment and I cooked us a delicious lobster dinner with some nice wine and candlelight. It was quite simple, but the vibe was really nice, we had great conversation, and took a nap. There was nothing elaborate about it, no crazy balloons or rose petals anywhere, no stuffed animals (because I hate dust collectors), nothing overly romantic or cavity-inducing about it. It just seemed like enough to get some delightfully gluttonous seafood in our bellies and have a relaxing time, just being our usual selves with absolutely no pressure.
 |
| Nothing more romantic than surf 'n' turf! |
It would have been easy to be whiney and compare how lack lustre that night was in comparison to my 21st birthday when I spent 3 days in Niagara with my boyfriend at the time, where after dinner, the last 5 minutes of my birthday were spent walking to the falls and kissed right before the rainbow lights shut off that clear summer midnight... but when you have zero expectations for a day you consider special, anything good about it, you'll appreciate either way. Check me out- this is (nice try, not saying how many) years later and I still find this V-Day memorable and sweet!
Anyway, the moral of this story is have no expectations on your birthday, anniversary, Valentine's Day, Christmas -whatever the day- and you will save yourself from disappointment and enjoy whatever awesomeness is in store for you. Any little bit of effort you can afford should be good enough to at least get a smile out of your partner.
Single folks: round up the single troops and hit the town- V-Day will be a Friday night this year anyways! *Joy* Also remember that it's one day in the whole year- couples (and the rest of us) should be showing love and appreciation for each other all year anyways.
@JerZGrlinCanada
