For most of our relationship, Scott and I have kept Valentine's day pretty simple — exchanging cards and maybe going out to dinner or giving a small gift. To me, Valentine's Day is kind of like New Year's Eve; it gets really hyped up and if it doesn't live up to those lofty expectations, then it's a failure. Not to sound all anti-establishment, "Valentine's Day is made up by the greeting card company" about it. I do appreciate a day dedicated to celebrating the ones you love, but I try not to build it up too much. Simplicity is best.
My friend Hannah and I were talking about Valentine's Day gifts for our spouses. She and I were both lamenting that the sweet, Pinterest-y ideas out there are completely impractical for husbands because 1) you take all that time, effort, and love to put together a year of dates package or 52 things I love about you book, building up this wonderful gift in your mind only to have 2) your husband smile, say thanks, and put it in a drawer. I'm not saying that Scott wouldn't appreciate the gesture, but these kind of gifts are made by girls with their own girl feelings in mind.
I was reminded of this principle when I told Scott that I had planned on making cinnamon rolls in the shape of hearts (per Pinterest, of course) for breakfast, but I was short on time. "That's OK," he said. "All of the icing would just fall through them onto the pan, and I'd just feel like it was a waste of icing. That's a girl thing anyway. 'Oh, how cute! Let me take a picture for my blog.'"
Yeah, he busted me. And there he summed up the two views on Valentine's Day: the man's ("a waste of icing") and the woman's ("How cute!/Blog!").
So, this year I got him a card from me, a card from Preston, and a bag of chocolate-covered pretzels (his favorite). Simple. There's really nothing on Pinterest that can match how much I love that guy, anyway. It would take all of the mason jars, burlap scraps and Valentine's puns around the world to even try to come close.
How do you celebrate Valentine's Day? Small scale or all out?
Image via Real Simple
James and I are the exact same way. He'll send me flowers and then we'll exchange cards and candy. We'll usually go out to dinner somewhere but we're like y'all, we tend to do Valentine's and New Year's pretty simply.
ReplyDelete