💐Valentine's Day 💝

Valentine's Day has always held a special place in my heart. Not for the grand, over-the-top gestures seen in Rom-Coms, but for the small ones. As a child, I would create my milk carton or paper bag "mailbox" for my class Valentine's party and then pick out my favorite character valentines to address to each one of my classmates. When I was older, I would make little candy airplanes out of a stick of gum, smarties, life savers, and rubber bands. My mom and I would sit at the table and assemble them so I could hand out to my friends as a fun treat. My dad would send flowers to school for me, and my mom would buy my brother and I small candy filled hearts with our favorite characters on them. It was these small tokens of love that I enjoyed, and of course, you can never go wrong with chocolate! I want to share these same kind of Valentine's Day memories with my child - finding a creative way for them to spread kindness and love to their friends, and also remind them that I love them, not only on that day, but every day of the year.

When Keegan and I started dating in college, I was adamant that we not do anything over the top for Valentine's Day. I didn't want a present or some grandious declaration of love. Keegan insisted we do some sort of exchange, so we agreed to make a game out of it. Over the years we have themed them "who can be the most creative," "who can be the cheesiest," and my favorite, "who can be the least romantic." For that last one, I got Keegan socks and he gave me a little book of platonic poems he wrote such, which had me laughing hysterically! In more recent years it's all about handmade cards and Keeg may pick up a bouquet of flowers while grocery shopping and a little treat for us to share. Honestly, the flowers and little treat also happen on days that are not Valentine's Day, but I'll never pass up an opportunity to share a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream or a box of chocolate truffles.

Last year, I held a Galentine's Day gathering. I went all out decorating my house with a balloon arch and heart decorations, and put together a Galentine for each of my friends that included a bobble-heart headband, heart sunglasses, and other such cheesy items. We each bought our own Lego flower kit to put together and had a blast! This kicked off a series of girl's nights where we pick a craft to do and spend time together. At Christmas time we made clay ornaments, we've made friendship bracelets - anything fun that we see and want to try!

We wish everyone a happy love day! In whatever way you choose to celebrate be it romantic love, friend love, family love, or self love... it's all important and deserves to be recognized every single day.