Valentine’s day beguiles me. I’m drawn in with its tentacles; a charming promise of love and beauty. Who doesn’t love to be surprised with flowers, indulged in chocolate and strawberries or propositioned with beautiful jewels and trinkets? Why, may I ask, do we need a specific ‘holiday’ to show those we love how much we care??
The retail industry has mystically stolen our ‘hearts’ during this annual event. We flock to stores like blind sheep and purchase pretty pink and red things, candy, sweets and other random ‘valentines’ for our loved ones. Personally, I feel pressured to purchase something/anything to adore my children and husband on this celebrated day; if I do not purchase something, media would have me believe I must not love my family. Think about how ridiculous that sounds!! If there ever was a bah humbug holiday for me, this is it, and only because of the stress society puts on us to conform.
The pressure to conform to the ways of society has plagued me for years, and for this reason alone I told my husband I wished to have a special date the Saturday before Valentine’s Day. In lieu of playing in a poker tournament (an event that we both enjoy) we (I) chose to drive to the twin cities to celebrate our love in a myriad of ways! (Really to do the shopping I had intended on doing two days prior to. Slightly misleading, but he kidnaps me in a tow truck for 8-10 hrs at a time or even longer at times, so I thought this was long overdo.)
For those of you who may not know my husband, he’s extremely patient and easy going. We took time to do some research for his new repair/sales shop location prior to leaving. Deciding we didn’t have the proper tools to achieve our goals; we pressed on. His game face was on for the first two home decor stores and I felt it would be a great opportunity to introduce him to a favorite restaurant the girls and I frequent in Woodbury called, Crave. We enjoyed a delicious lunch and we were off to one more home decor store, his patience has now been compromised. I followed with a stop at a local cupcakery, Nadia’s Cakes (a featured winner on Cupcake Wars), and after devouring our sweet treats we proceeded to the craft store a few short blocks away. This is where all hope is lost on my man! My cart is now wielding with various items he believes our girls and I need and when informing him, we do not, he uses his ‘redecorating skills’ throughout the entire store. About twenty minutes in (he is patient, I’ll give him that) a supervisor is now skulking in our wake with his own cart and quietly removing items that were incorrectly positioned. I notice this and mention it to my husband which motivates him even more, now at the checkout, with our mere two items I am purchasing, I no longer require a cart and ask him to put it away. He notices the supervisor and conveniently ‘almost’ puts the cart in the return, then quickly walks out of the store to wait for me. This poor guy had nothing better to do than to follow my husband and I around for twenty-five or so minutes and collect my husbands rejected items. My man truly is a retailers worst nightmare, at least when he has had enough ‘girl shopping’ for the day!
He was such a good sport all day, he even decided to take a small nap (45 minutes) while I visited a local wine store to add to my collection! A woman of my word, we did end up at a card room for the remainder of the afternoon/evening, which resulted in a small profit for me and a major loss for him. All in all our day was memorable and what more could you ask for than to make memories with the ones you love!
I love my family and my friends; I most certainly do not require a holiday to prove to them or anyone else my love is real. We need to be celebrating love daily. What you give, you receive. And this, my friends, is why I will always wish a “Happy Valentine’s Day,” but as far as receiving a special treat from me; it could be any day of the year…not merely on Valentine’s day.
“Joyeuse Saint Valentin”