Letters: Valentine’s Day Alternatives

Dear Jess,

You mentioned yesterday that you have mixed feelings about Valentine’s Day. To be honest, I’m not terribly excited about it. The holiday is a bit like making a mini-batch of no-egg cookie dough to eat when a sweet tooth craving hits: it can sometimes seem like a good idea, but it never feels quite right. (What…you’ve never made cookie dough just to eat? Ok. Let’s just keep that between us, then.)

I get a little celebration’d out by the time VDay hits, with Thanksgiving, your birthday, Christmas, New Year’s, Dale’s birthday, my anniversary, my birthday/Superbowl, etc. That’s a lot of partying, and I love it, but Valentine’s Day just can’t compare.

In case you get your fill of traditional VD activities by the time Thursday hits, I’m sending you a number of non-Valentine’s Day activities to replace whatever Valentine’s Day is supposed to be (something to do with chocolate truffles, I think?) None of these ideas involve heart-shaped food.

First, I’ve got a serious crush on Sarah’s Nine Days of Nice over at Yes and Yes. Her ideas are a great way to spread love in a more meaningful way. I especially love her suggestions to show appreciation for teachers and veterans.

I think Valentine’s Day is also a great time to show yourself some love. Why not focus on personal wellness with The Daily Checklist from Leo with Zen Habits? It includes both practical and rejuvenating tasks, such as going for a daily walk, eating something green, and learning.

If you want to do something a little more self-indulgent, I also suggest playing old-fashioned dress-up with a new beauty trick from The Beauty Department. I’m smitten with the Rose-Gold Eye Shadow tutorial and any guidance about eye liner (because I’m bad at doing it on my own, but decent when following instructions.)

I know we both love good TV shows, so why not dedicate Valentine’s Day to catching up on (or re-watching) an awesome show like New Girl, The Mindy Project, or Veronica Mars? While you’re at it, convince your roommates and friends to play True American. In case you or any read has not heard of the game, let’s have the characters of New Girl fill you in:
Jess: “So, it’s 50% drinking game, 50% life-size Candy Land.”
Schmidt: “Well, it’s more like 75 drinking, 20 Candy Land, and by the way the floor is molten lava.”
Winston: “It’s actually 90% drinking and then it’s got a loose Candy Land-like structure to it.”

(If you do play True American, I want a run-down. I haven’t had a chance to do it myself.)

If you are more in a reality-show mood, I highly suggest the sweet drama of Kings of Pastry on Netflix, which I mentioned in my macaron post. If you do, I’d suggest stocking up on a few french pastries to have on hand when you want to eat everything they show (trust me.) I’ve never been to Baltimore, but a couple bakeries caught my eye while searching the internet for you:

• Pattiserie Poupon for its beautiful tarts

• Bonaparte Breads for its pain au chocolat

Also, have you been reading Goali’s contributions to Psychology Today’s website? In her blog titled “Millennial Media,” our pal from high school tackles current topics including wellness, relationships, adulthood, and success, all while considering the impact media has upon them. She writes about how Legally Blond helped her get into Notre Dame, asks if soul mates exist, and investigates the trend of movies featuring “bad boy” romantic leads. Bottom line: Goali is amazing. I love how her insights speak to my media-obsessed mind while calling out a number of racist, sexist, and unhealthy messages that saturate our media. If you want some food for thought with a dash of fun this Valentine’s Day, I encourage you to check out some of her articles.

If, in the end, you do find yourself craving some old-fashioned paper hearts, why not make a whole wall of them by following Jessica’s instructions at How About Orange? I love their 3D-ness.

Well, that’s about all I have. I know it’s not practical to accomplish all of these things on one Valentine’s Day, especially if you have class and homework and so forth. So let’s deem this Valentine’s Week to spread out the fun.

Hugs and kisses!

Linz