we asked our team: valentine's day - yay or nay?
it’s that time of year - it’s almost valentine’s day. there are opinions about this day from each end of the spectrum & sometimes in between.
the personalities on our team are super colorful & diverse so we had to get the inside scoop on their take on valentine’s day. we asked our team (a) if they like the holiday & then (b) how they celebrated. for those who responded with deafening silence we’ll take that as you don’t like valentine’s day & therefore don’t celebrate.
not to worry, everyone in our office is not a skeptic, some are sugar sweet & willingly shared why they love valentine’s day with us & now we’ll share them with you.the biggest surprise that came out of this mini poll was that most of our team (who celebrates) celebrates love - the love for their friends & family & don’t make it necessarily romantic but just like to indulge in the idea of the 'l' word itself. whether you love chocolate, love your cat, love netflix or love your significant other perhaps these ideas will inspired you to look at valentine’s day differently.
us: chan, do you like valentine’s day?
chan: i have a thing about valentine’s day:i love it!!! i love any holiday that focuses on stuffing your face with sweets & sharing the love. i’d say valentines day is in my top three favorite days to celebrate. it has never been about being with a significant other for me. i just take the day to make it all about the people who make me happy so i always try to plan something to do with friends – especially ones who don’t have a date! even if they have a date, i always make an event everyone is welcome to! it drives me absolutely crazy to hear people complain about valentine’s day! if you’re miserable that day, you really didn’t try to enjoy it at all!
us: what do you do to celebrate?
chan: this year i came up with karaoke with friends on valentines day. we’re going to go to flushing for shabu shabu then we will walk it off on our way to the karaoke bar where we will spend at least 3 hours howling bloody murder into the microphone. all my friends, friends of friends & their dates have rsvped so i’m super excited i get everyone i love in the same place on the best day ever!
us: lindsey, what do you think of valentine’s day?
lindsey: valentine’s day=celebration of love. nothing i love more than love! even single, what a great time to go to a party celebrating love. yay yay yay.
us: what are you going to do to celebrate?
lindsey: now that i have kids, plural, we’re changing it up. they will both be dressed in red as a “holla” to v-days represent color. we’re going to stay up past their bedtime on friday (i.e. 8pm) & watch a movie together with a meal we (my partner in crime + me) ordered in just for us. not sharing with them. we’ll even light candles because the overhead & lamps are too bright to keep them asleep. on saturday, we’ll go to dance class with the whole family & then head to the park to run around giving kisses (the chocolate kind) to strangers who look friendly. everyone deserves a reminder of how sweet love, even the platonic kind, can be! as long as it’s not snowing. otherwise, we’ll go to our friend evann’s house to give out a round of hugs & kisses, the real kind.
big things happening with little people. i just made this up & now we are going to do it, because it sounds like fun!
us: alicia, valentine’s day - yay or nay?
us: yay! how do you like to celebrate?
alicia: i always like to use the day as an excuse to stay in & build a fancy meal. best so far? the year the menu was figs wrapped in bacon & red wine chocolate cake with whipped mascarpone.
us: lex, what do you think of valentine’s day?
lex: no matter how “unlovable” my situation has been on that day – single, recently cheated on, pining away for some guy who had never even noticed me – i’ve always still loved the concept of valentine’s day. yes, it’s a hallmark holiday. yes, it’s overpriced. yes, plenty of people’s over-the-top gestures make me cringe. but, at the end of the day, it’s about love & happiness & pink & red & flowers & chocolate…& how can i hate on that?
us: do you have a favorite valentine’s day memory?
lex: my favorite v-day was with my boyfriend in 2011. we had been together for just under a year at that point & had experienced some awesome meals together during that time. he assembled a greatest hits menu from that first year of dating & cooked it all for me on v-day. it was a great night of reminiscing about each of those dates & what we had been feeling about the relationship at each point. the best part, though, was that he printed out the menu – i love a good keepsake. i still have it…& him! he’s my husband now & we still surprise each other by cooking different parts of a special v-day meal each year. i better get on that for this weekend!!
