Have an Awesome Valentine's Day

Whatever you think about Valentine's Day and if it was made up my Hallmark (untrue - it was made up by William Arthur. Haha. Anyone get it? Anyone?) or something that needs hardcore celebration, well, I don't care. This is my blog.

I happen to enjoy Valentine's Day. Not because I don't show my love to people throughout the year, but, any excuse to celebrate is super-duper to me. One of my take-aways from being sick was to celebrate things more, use the fine china more and all that. Valentine's Day is right up my alley - a reason to be sappy without getting a strange look.

Flowers from Dad

However, I never had a great Valentine's Day. Mine all sucked or I spent the time doing a lot more for other people and ended up mostly alone and exhausted.

The only bring spot every year my Dad sends me flowers. Yeah. That's right. Every year.

He use to just send them to my apartment or dorm when I wasn't living at home, but, then he started sending them to me at work.

Dad: I hope you weren't embarrassed that I sent you flowers at work.
Me: No, everyone came over to look and all thought you were the best Dad ever for sending me flowers.
Dad: Good. I don't want any guys sniffing around your desk, either. I want to make sure they see those flowers and back off.
Me: Thanks, Dad. 

History

I'll marry you

First, Valentine's Day is really the fest day for a collection of guys whom may or may not have had the last name of Valentine. This collection of men or single priest is often considered a Christian who ended up getting killed because he married a lot of people into the Christian faith. You have to remember, marriage meant a lot more back then in the sense of families, inheritance and political-social economics. It wasn't too long ago men and women could not even choose their mate. Love, by the way, is also a modern concept when it comes to marriage.

But, I digress.

In 496 AD Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration of St. Valentine.

The idea is to spend the day in total debauchery honoring and loving those in your life and renewing vows and things like that. Sure, you should be doing that everyday, but setting aside a special day to make a sure point of it is pretty sweet.

This Year
I am with a really awesome guy and, quite honestly, unlike past fantasies of awesome dinners and bubble baths, I really just want to use Valentine's Day as a day to take some time out and spend some time with him.

However, I'm going to be doing it right.

Sure, it would be nicer if Valentine's was on a Friday or Saturday when it comes to preparation time, but, I can't make it work. It would also be nice if Valentine's Day wasn't happening the day after the first day of Lent.

Who makes up this lent date range stuff? Oh right, the Council of Nicaea - lent is 46 days before the paschal full moon, which is the full moon that falls on or after the vernal equinox.

Truly Tuning In
Many people think Val's Day is about flowers, chocolates and jewelry - this is the industry speaking and not your heart. Really, you need to tune in to who you are with and what you want to do. Single? Get some friends together and celebrate life with a movie, going to the bar, an afternoon tea or a spa day.

This Valentine's Day, when I went to pick up the flowers from my Dad at the front desk, there was a vase filled with skewers of small pickles, olives and asparagus 

What?

Yep, one of the front desk girl's husband made it and brought it in. Why? Everyday he brings her the pickles from his sandwich so he made the bouquet for her and she loved it.

I hate everything in that mix but asparagus but I thought it was pretty sweet and she was over the moon at the gesture. She even said she was going to wrap the asparagus in bacon for dinner that night.

The point is - what makes you and those you love happy - for realz! Then do it. For me and my guy, spending some time together cuddling while watching Dual Survival and having dinner was the ticket.

Of course, with a couple touches.

Ambiance  

I am a huge fan of candles, and with a Home Goods close by, a quick scan of the super-discount area earned me a couple packs of scented tea lights. Tea lights are pretty safe - they burn out after an hour or so - and come in their own little holders. If you are smart about it, you can reuse the little containers by getting some candle wax and wicks. Or find something crafty to do with them.

Anyhow, tea lights set a pretty nice mood and when you can get a nice scented group, is can quickly move scent around. I like smell.

My tip if you are going for this effect is to make sure you pick something that will blend with any food you're eating. Nothing is worse than trying to enjoy a steak with some cucumber-mint scent tickling your nose. I also hate cucumber.

Food
Going out is fun, but, I like cooking for my guy, too. Plus, you can make things exactly as you want and there are always seconds. Ever ask for seconds at a restaurant? Right.

Unless you are at Fogo de Chao or something. Buffets. Yum.

We both like seafood so I made a mixed sea-critter pasta with basil. Seafood tends to cook fast so it's really just boiling up some (rice) noodles and seasoning. I stated with sauteing some onions and garlic - then dumped in the seafood. People don't spend enough time with simple combinations of food and then playing with seasoning. As much as I love butter and sugars and as hard as it is for me to get enough salt sometimes (seriously, I have sea salt at my desk) a well stocked spice rack can delight your taste buds while being gentle on parts you don't want to be jiggly.

Gifts

My gift - my face

I'm making dinner - I didn't plan on getting a gift. However, I do like a nice card with a personal penned note. I bank a lot on being creative. And funny. Mostly funny.

Hey, what do you call a fake noodle? An impasta!

For my guy, I got him a card. I also have a tradition of sending him a "Good morning _____" text every morning - for the blank, I come up with some funny name or saying. I printed all of these out for him so he had every "good morning" name. I also made a list of every reason why I am with him - some funny and some snappy. All true though!

This Valentine's Day
I had a blast because I was cuddled on my couch with my guy. I got roses from my guy (even though I told him to save his money) and even a nice bracelet. I think I liked them more because he was excited to give them to me. I never was with someone who was also happy to celebrate Valentine's Day as I was.

Roses from my love

But I really got some one-on-one time with my super-hot boyfriend. I hope I have a lot more Valentine's with him and I am pretty sure I will. I even posted a snappy Facebook post about it.

I also adore that my Dad sends me flowers.

That's love, man.


Best. Valentines. Ever.

Be Part of the Adventure

Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Image Credit
Tea lights from conwayfire.org (good tips on not buring down your house)
Seafood from virginia-belle.blogspot.com