Given that Valentine’s Day was a couple of a weeks ago I thought that I’d write a little something about it. As a general rule I don’t really care much for Valentine’s Day, it’s the sort of holiday where I can take it or leave it if I’m quite honest. In my opinion I think it’s pretty tacky and commercialised. To me nothing says “I couldn’t think what to get you, but these were on the valentine’s day stall at the supermarket so I assume you’ll like it” quite like a heart shaped box of roses, a teddy saying be mine and red roses. I mean, sure some people would absolutely love that, but I’m just not one of them. For me I much prefer something thoughtful that shows they’ve taken their time to actually choose something I’d actually like.
Despite the fact that I don’t really care much for Valentine’s Day as a rule, this year I have a girlfriend and she insisted that we celebrate it, so with a little faux complaining on my part, I agreed to celebrate it with her. So it was with a great deal of dread that I set about trying to find her the perfect gift, which was definitely easier said than done. My first idea was scuppered when she figured out what I was planning, though that wasn’t exactly hard as I totally suck at keeping secrets. After that the pressure was definitely on. I knew I had to get her something pretty damn awesome and it had to be something that would be worth her taking back to America.
Eventually I decided on a scrapbook for her to document not only our time together but also her experiences in Europe as a whole. With the present sorted the hunt for the perfect card was on. If I thought trying to find a decent present was hard it was nothing compared to trying to find the perfect card. It seemed it was virtually impossible to find one that didn’t have a terribly cheesy pun, was LGBT friendly and that didn’t make references to how much I loved her. Eventually I found what looked like the perfect card that even satisfied my geek side, only to find out that it was £5 and I mean, as much as I like her, I still think £5 is way too much for a card.
As the actual day approached I found my indifference giving way to excitement and nerves. The nerves, as it turns out, weren’t necessary. The excitement was. She loved what I had gotten her and had actually gotten me something pretty similar, along with Sims 4 which I’d been wanting for a while, proving that great minds really do think alike. She’d gone one better than me on the card front and actually made me one herself, with chocolate bars stuck on instead of words in some places (better than some generic heart shaped box any day). The message itself was very sweet and cheesy whilst simultaneously being fairly inappropriate, which if I’m being honest kind of sums up our relationship perfectly.
The day itself was actually pretty incredible and, as Valentine’s Days go, it was probably my best one yet. Maybe, just maybe, my indifference towards Valentine’s Day has been tempered slightly, at least for now. Ask me again next year how I feel about Valentine’s Day and I’ll probably give you a completely different answer, but for now, maybe it’s not too bad after all.
Sophie x
A Place of Mine 