Valentines Day is approaching. It is the biggest day for Hallmark and American Greetings. They each generate about 40% of their revenue off of Valentines Day.
We’re also seeing the bloomings of love happening amongst our own teeming millions.
So, do you have individual Valentine’s Day plans? If so list them.
My wife and I will go out for a nice dinner, she’ll get flowers and whatever she’s decided she wants from me for the occasion. (jewelry, handbag, shoes, clothing, etc.) She and I agreed a long time ago, that it’s better off if she picks the gift than me.
My husband and I have been married for 38 years, and this will be our 39th Valentine’s Day. We generally ignore it. One year, I made a couple of heart-shaped cakes for each of us to take to work. Both read: HAPPY VD! I think that’s pretty much the extent of our celebration.
Oh, one year, we bought my car on Feb 14, but it just happened that way. Still, he told all his coworkers that it was a Valentine’s present!
Same with us. February 14 is the day that Oregon became a state, which to me is more important than a fake Hallmark holiday (read: not at all). After 18 years of marriage and 21+ years of being together I think I can honestly say that we’ve never done anything for Valentine’s Day other than take advantage of cheap chocolate prices at the end of the day.
One of these days, if I ever win that lottery that I don’t play, I might buy my wife a necklace or something just to surprise her.
I once gave a woman flowers on February 14th and invited her to a play. She said yes, then the next day she asked if I could get another ticket so she could bring a date.
That was 25 years ago next week. I’m still not a big fan of Valentine’s Day.
I’ll sous vide some ridiculously thick filets mignon and get her some high end chocolate. Flowers, but only if they’re extra special (she’s taken classes in flower arranging and advanced flower arranging and really knows cut flowers)
For her part she’ll feign ignorance as to the day’s significance.
Our sixteenth wedding anniversary is on the eleventh (hey, that’s tomorrow). It’s so close to Valentine’s Day that it’s always hard to get dinner reservations. Luckily, we had our anniversary dinner last week (at a place so swanky that we’ll probably have to wait until next year to go again).
I was going to take her to a fine dining establishment; hostess, fancy tablecloths & all. Unfortunately, Omicron clx’d those plans as they’re only doing takeout this year.
Maybe it’s because we eat out frequently, but I always thought a really nice meal at home eaten by candlelight was more romantic than going to a restaurant.
My wife immigrated here as a young teen and Valentine’s Day wasn’t really a thing back in the homeland so she never got into it here and saw it as a cheesy cash-grab. Which has made my life that much easier since we’ve been together. I can grab a small pack of nice chocolate and a grocery store flower bouquet and she’s happy that I thought about her without having to make an event out of it. She generally gets me a card.
Now that I think about it, last year it was more of a novelty card rather than some romantic sentiments in gold script. I joked that from now on all her cards were going to feature old women in bikinis drinking wine since the “serious romance only” card seal was finally broken.
My now-wife and I had our first Valentine’s Day together when we had been dating for about six weeks. We had made plans to go out for a romantic dinner that evening, but the predicted “light snow” that afternoon and evening turned into a foot of heavy snow, and she got stuck at her workplace until late in the evening. We wound up going out for dinner the following evening.
Ever since, as restaurants are so busy on the 14th, we either (a) go out for dinner on the 15th, or (b) eat at home on the 14th. It’s now a tradition.
We typically go to White Castle for their VD celebration. I hear that this year it’s going to be take-out only, though I haven’t double checked. We’ve otherwise had in-person White Castle for nine or ten years running now? Yeah, we’re a fancy bunch.
Sometimes we give each other candy, sometimes he gets me flowers, sometimes we’ll get a heart-shaped pizza, sometimes we’ll agree that we won’t do anything. And I always say - PLEASE no card! The biggest waste of money ever.
I always get the grandkids candy.
So there’s no rhyme or reason for what we do on Valentine’s Day.
Heh, we’ve gone to MadMex for their anti-valentines day dinner. It is pretty clever. Separate checks, of course, and the music play list includes Puddle of MuddShe Fucking Hates Me.
Each time the waitress comes to check on us, we pretend that we’ve been arguing. If she asks how everything is going, one of us will reply with something like, “look at him/her, how do you think things are going?” Then, if one of us orders another drink, the other chuckles bitterly. Waitstaff plays it up, it’s really a fun time.
