What's that stuff floating around in the air?
Do you see it?
It's really romantic and kinda sparkly and super sugary.
What is it?
Valentine's Day is next week...
Aha! That's what it is! It must be love!
Have you noticed?
In bakeries all around town there are fresh-baked, heart-shaped sugar cookies piped carefully with pink icing and wrapped-up in clear cellophane bags that are tied up with red ribbons. Boxes of candy conversation hearts crowd the shelves in sweet shops and blushing carnations are sold to young darlings by the stem.
I love Valentine's Day.
Even when I was single, (which was actually the first whole 27 years of my life) Valentine’s Day has always been one of my very favorite holidays. I love it more than Easter, more than Thanksgiving, definitely more than Christmas.
I love how the whole month of February is dressed in some pretty, princessy shade of pink. Everywhere, the air is perfumed with powdery, flowery smells from wild bouquets of big lilies, purple freesias, fragrant roses, delicate babies breath. Calligraphy cursive loops out declarations of "I Love You's" and "Be Mine's" across hand-made construction paper cards and storefront windows are decorated with garlands of glittery hearts and cute little cupids.
Tim?
He doesn’t love Valentine’s Day so much as I do. Much like Christmas, Tim finds the commercial spirit of the holiday to be distracting and faulty. He believes it perpetuates this confused idea that receiving gifts of candy grahams and over-sized teddy bears are the single most important tool in measuring how loved we are. And why only delegate one day a year to the expressing of your love to the person you admire most? I'm a lucky girl in that Tim prefers to remind me that he loves me every day, not with cheap chocolate and gifts, but in other ways, like with kind gestures at home and thoughtful words whispered in my ear.
Still, for Valentine's Day this year, despite all of his reservations, I’ll spoil him anyways.
I was planning on pulling out all the stops and cooking us a delicious dinner with all of his favorite things. Truffle whipped potatoes, butter-basted steaks with rosemary from our garden and sautéed mushrooms—creminis and chanterelles, with lots of garlic, shallots and fresh cracked pepper. For dessert, I’ll serve Santa Maria strawberries topped with coconut cream and a chiffonade of fresh mint. (Normally, I’d whip up some real, fresh cream but since I ditched dairy for the month of February to try and clear up my skin, that means Tim did, too. Sorry love! Coconut cream is delicious, too!)
For some added ambiance, I’ll light every candle in the house, pop open a bottle of semi-expensive champagne and, to really crank up the heat, I might even cook dinner totally naked or maybe I'll wear some lacy, red lingerie with high, high heels.
Doesn’t that sound sexy?
I really can't wait to spend a red-hot, romantic evening at home alone with just Tim.
Because I really just adore him.
Isn’t it so obvious?
I’m always gushing about him on this blog. I love to tell you stories about how special and sweet he is to me, even when I'm on my worst behavior. Wherever we go, he obediently poses for a hundred pictures that I force him to take, one from every angle. I share them with you on every channel of social media I can think of because I'm so proud and fond of him and I love to show him off.
Tim is truly my soul mate– my very own, special Valentine. He's he person that I love the most in this world and without him, life would be less bright, fun, full.
And what about you? Do you have a sweetheart to spoil? Are you as excited as I am?
Or are you dreading Valentine's Day because you're single? Or, because like Tim, you're turned off by the inappropriate focus on all the gifts?
If that's the case, I really hope you have a change of heart because Valentine's Day isn’t just for cake-eating couples.
Actually, Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love in all it's forms: romantic, platonic, familial.
Because love is for all.
For you.
For friends and for families and for kitties.
For me!
And you can have as many Valentines as you want.
This year I have two: Tim of course, and, in the spirit of my resolution to focus my attention on self love, I asked myself to be my Valentine, too. (I said yes.)
So, in addition to hand-writing a special card for Tim, I also wrote one for myself.
You might think it a little vain or perhaps a little pretentious that I'm writing this letter of flattery to myself.
But I don't think so.
Because even though I've spent every day of my whole life with me, I've spent precious little time actually cultivating the relationship with myself into a positive one.
And I believe it's important that I take the time to concentrate on that now.
I think that recognizing my accomplishments with pride, challenging myself to reach goals, encouraging myself to make big plans, acknowledging my human faults and reflecting on how I truly feel about my life can only help me to achieve better health and even higher happiness.
Plus, I love a good love letter. Don't you?
February 2018
Kate,
I know this is a little awkward and I imagine this letter to yourself was probably a little bit challenging to write, but with Valentine’s Day less than a week away, I wanted to take a minute to remind you of the some of the reasons why I love you so much.
First, Kate, I want to start off by telling you how proud I am of you. You so rarely congratulate yourself on all of your personal and professional achievements but you've had such a big year this year and girl, you are killin' it!
I know sometimes it's hard for you to acknowledge that you are talented and capable and worthy. You set high expectations for yourself and you can hold yourself to impossible standards. Sometimes you push yourself too far and you're too hard on yourself. As a result you get frustrated and upset and filled with self-doubt. You can be impatient and needy and insensitive.
But I want to remind you that despite all that, you are doing so many things right. Just think about all of the awesome things you've accomplished and experienced in your life. You have a great job and a beautiful home in a place that you love. You're in good health, you have friends that adore you and a boyfriend who loves and supports you in all that you do. Something that I love about you is that you can always appreciate what you have.
I also love that in between full days at work, weekends full of chores, play-dates with friends and date-nights with Tim, you've been trying really hard to carve out some alone time for yourself. You're learning that you can’t serve someone else's needs until your own have been served, so you've been taking the time to regularly indulge in hot, foamy bubble baths, spread out across your yoga mat, or read for hours while curled up
in bed.
I think it's really great that you're taking such good care of yourself, Kate. I love that you are exercising regularly and trying to eat healthy. Lately, you've discovered that you feel the strongest and most at peace when you're practicing new poses on your pink yoga mat. I love that you're taking the time every morning to feel more physically
fit and mentally aware, and even more I
love that you're enjoying it. Don't you feel
great?
Kate, I love you because you are a great cook and I love how comfortable you are in the kitchen. And, I love how much you care about the presentation of your dishes. You never seem to forget that we eat with our
eyes first. You chop and dice and mince
and boil and bake. You really know how to make a great steak. A real gourmet with expensive taste. You love truffles and filet mignon and sushi-grade seafood. But what I also love about you, Kate, is that you also love to feast on Domino's pizzas and bean and cheese burritos, Arizona Peach Iced Teas and chocolate Hostess donuts.
I love you because you can be wild and you know how to have fun. You have the best sense of humor and I love how nothing fulfills you more than laughing with your best friends. And Kate, you really are a great friend. You are supportive and honest and reliable. Anyone would be lucky to
have you as a companion.
I also love you for your adventurous spirit. I love your passion for travel, your constant
curiosity and the excitement that exploration and discovery brings you. And I think you are really brave, Kate. You are not afraid of the unknown and you easily embrace change in your life. In fact, you welcome it. You love a good challenge.
It's really cool that you know the things that make you happy and that you make it a point to fill your days with them. Roses, coffee, candles, Lars, long days at the beach, marijuana joints, road trips along
the coast. I love that you watch the Food Network to unwind, that you rap all the
words to Drake songs when you drive in your car, and that you love to wear brightly-colored nail polish on your fingers and toes.
Kate, I love that you love your new job. You worked really hard to land the position at the art museum and you were chosen for it because you were qualified, and persistent
and because you deserved it. I love that you aren't afraid to work hard, and that
each rejection you faced when searching
for work only made you more determined
to prove yourself.
You are smart, purposeful, motivated, and ambitious.
You enjoy learning and are constantly
searching for ways to grow and expand your mind. And you know what? That is
sexy.
You are sexy.
So, so beautiful!
I love your freckled skin, sparkly green eyes, long eyelashes and shiny hair. Your crooked smile is so sweet and so you. You look really cute with your new bangs.
Kate, I hope you know how wonderful you are. That you are a nurturing, thoughtful and genuine person. You are a committed and honest partner to Tim, a loving mother to Lars, a reliable and caring friend to your bests Chris and John and Jenny.
I love you for so many reasons.
But most of all, I love you for loving yourself.
Happy Valentine's Day, babe!
You rock!
xx
Kate
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