Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching and I have mixed feelings about it. I’m not one of those people who swears off Valentine’s Day as a fake holiday made up by the card company but I also don’t get overly excited for it.
The first Valentine’s Day I really celebrated was in high school. There was a snowstorm and my *first* boyfriend insisted on getting a ride to my house from his stepdad (he didn’t have a license yet, we were babies) to give me a gift that was wrapped in a shopping bag so it didn’t get wet walking from the car to my front door. It was a red teddy bear that smelled like chocolate. And, I kid you not, I had that bear for about 8 years and it still smelled like chocolate. Eventually I gave it to my dog as a toy and it was torn to pieces in about 24 hours.
When I was in college, my boyfriend hand cut red and white paper hearts. He spread them on the floor of his dorm room leading up to his night stand that was set up as a dinner table with sushi from my favorite restaurant (if you’re ever in Dayton, OH and it still exists, go to Thai 9, you won’t be disappointed). He wrote me a really sweet letter that I actually still have in a box somewhere. It was about a page handwritten of how great I am and I should really keep it handy for those days I forget how dope I am (which are few and far between, obviously). I was so in love that Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately a few months later he ended up falling for a girl at his hometown Dairy Queen over summer break (don’t they always?) and that was where our love story ended and theirs began — literally, their “how we met” story on The Knot started while he and I were still dating. They’re married now and I hope next week he’s cutting up little paper hearts because that’s a gesture every girl deserves at least once in her life.
I’ve spent Valentine’s Day a lot of different ways since then and here are the highlights:
- I’ve spent it ordering Chinese food with three of my roommates getting low key drunk on an $8 bottle of wine.
- I’ve spent in in Ireland with three other girls treating ourselves to a 5-star dinner that cost more than I spent on food the entire semester in a restaurant that had balloons EVERYWHERE. You know the scene in the first Sex and The City movie when Carrie and Miranda spend Valentine’s Day together surrounded by balloons? We’re talking that many balloons.
- I’ve spent the day alone. Sometimes perfectly content and sometimes watching horror films and hating everyone.
- I’ve spent it with a guy who’s now one of my best friends eating leftover pizza from the night before and drinking Bud Lights at 11AM.
- I’ve spent it going on dates with guys I know I’m not in to but go so I’m not alone.
- This year I’ll be spending it in Naples, FL because #treatyourself
Speaking of treating yourself, I think Valentine’s Day is the best time to do that. You don’t need to be in a relationship or have romantic plans. Valentine’s Day can and should be a day where you just remind yourself that you’re dope. Whether you’re alone, with friends, or with a significant other, consider treating yourself this year. Need ideas? I have you covered. Scroll down below and start #treatingyourself.