Past Valentines

Valentine's Day is a holiday I've always enjoyed. I love special occasions and fun silly holidays. Growing up, we'd always get a stuffed animal and a little heart-shaped box of chocolates with mystery fillings, which I now like more for the nostalgia than the actual taste (the orange ones are always a mistake). So while my expectation is that the day is acknowledged in some way, it's not necessary to go to a fancy restaurant and get expensive jewelry or to get chocolate (that reminds me - fun fact: I HATE chocolate covered fruit of any kind). 

So I thought it would be fun to take a look back at things we've done in the past. 

We'll start with the year before Carson, 2009 (Carson asked me out in March 2009, so I knew him but had zero idea that he was interested in me). Nick, Skyler, Molly, Erica and I went to Olive Garden for dinner (our other roommate Amanda was working and their roommates thought Valentine's Day was lame) and we girls exchanged gifts.  

We took pictures in this mirror every time we went to Olive Garden.

We also played a bit of a prank that year; we had a huge piece of plywood lying around our apartment, so we made it into a huge Valentine's card, waited until the guys who lived in the apartment above ours were gone (we'd stolen their key) and left it inside. 

 We drew Valentine's names like Secret Santa but we had a goofy name for it (Secret Cupid maybe?), and we got each other silly gifts. One of mine was a grow-your-own boyfriend from Molly that we put in water in a bucket where it sat for the entire semester. 

Oh yes, and we made a cupcake cake and sat down eating it with forks while watching a movie. This is why college was great. 

In 2010, we were engaged, but I was in South Carolina while Carson was in Washington.  Jillian got married that day, so I was preoccupied with enjoying her big day! Carson sent flowers to South Carolina but we didn't exchange gifts or go to dinner or anything that year.

2011 was the first year Carson and I did something for Valentine's Day. He planned the entire day. We went to breakfast at a diner, played indoor black-light miniature golf and went to a pottery painting place to make plates. He gave me a heart necklace with white sapphires and I gave him ??? I don't know. I'm not a really good gift giver but I'm guessing I did buy candy. That's the way to his heart.

In 2012, Erica, Molly and I got together and made fleece blankets as gifts for our husbands (at the time, Zack was Erica's boyfriend but now they're married so whatever). Carson worked all day so he set up a scavenger hunt with clues all over our apartment and each one had a small gift. When he got home, I gave him his blanket and then we had Jimmy Johns for dinner and went to see the movie "Dear John".

In 2013, Carson was going to be going to a conference on Valentine's Day, so we went to a pre-Valentine's dinner at Ruby Tuesday (with a coupon!) and then to dessert at The Cheesecake Factory. I can't remember what he gave me, but I gave Carson a picture I painted and something else I can't remember either.
(every time I see this picture of us, it confuses me because it looks like a baby announcement but of course it isn't)

On actual Valentine's Day, I took Carson to the airport (but made him take a picture first). Carson had flowers delivered to me and I went out that night with a coworker. 

In 2014, we decided to stay at home. If I remember correctly, I worked most of the day so it was the best option because I was hungry immediately. We cooked dinner while dressed up and Carson wore his tie with the most red in it. 

He gave me a grater and an apple corer, which I'd told him I'd been meaning to buy. It was incredibly thoughtful, if not romantic. I gave him candy and I can't remember what else. 

Our plan this year so far is to make a big breakfast. I'm not sure if that's what we'll do for dinner or for actual breakfast, but since we've yet to plan anything else and neither of us are worked up about the lack of plan, you can count on it being a low-key day.