Fun ways to celebrate Valentines Day whether you’re single, in a relationship or have kids
Valentines Day is a celebration of love and not only romantic love. Its a day to celebrate those you have in your life who you love and cherish.
If you have a partner or a lover then its common practice to get or give chocolates or flowers or champagne and a sappy card and perhaps go out to nice dinner. Though the smart people among us know to celebrate on another day because things are less expensive than on February 14th when florists and restaurants jack up their prices, why not make February 15th your personal Valentines Day?
Valentines Day is my moms birthday, (Happy Birthday Mom,) so growing up my parents never did anything for us to celebrate but now that I have a son I hope to start some Valentines Day traditions with him.
In my single days, I used to celebrate Galentines Day. Since Valentines Day usually falls close to President’s weekend I’d go away with girlfriends and we’d eat and drink, have massages, hang out and celebrate our friendship. We’d commiserate about the craziness of dating and share stories of crazy dates and experiences while helping each other to try and achieve our goals of finding a partner to share our lives with. Being together we recognized that unless and until we found a partner and even once we did, we needed to cherish and celebrate those in our lives who provided us love and support thru good times and bad times. Even now that I am happily married, I text my single girlfriends on Valentines Day to let them know I am thinking about them and that they are loved and supported regardless of whether or not they are in a relationship so they don’t feel alone or left out on Valentines Day
Once I got married, Valentines Day meant cooking a special dinner together with my husband, making a special dessert and enjoying delicious wine. One of our favorite varietals is Cabernet. We love Silver Oak Cabernet from Napa for special occasions. If we don’t want to spend over $100 on a bottle of wine than we enjoy a Cabernet from Alexander Valley which because it is lesser known than Napa is less expensive than Napa Cabernet but equally delicious. To toast our love we often have Champagne Veuve Clicquot is one of my favorites but if we want to economize we open Cava from Spain or Prosecco from Italy or even Sparkling wine like Roederer Brut from Anderson Valley. All are delicious alternatives and much less expensive than Champagne which to be authentic must hail from the Champagne region in France
Now that I have a son, I want to start traditions with him to celebrate Valentines Day and show my love for him. This year we made Valentines cards together for his preschool class. Although I tell my son everyday that I love him and am lucky to be his mommy, I hope to find fun traditions that we can incorporate and together to celebrate Valentines Day and my love for my son. A friend of mine just told me that from February 1st thru Februrary 14th she writes something she loves about her child on a paper heart and tapes it to the door of his room and then she reads them all out loud to her son on Valentines Day. This is something I plan to do next year.
What do you do to celebrate Valentines Day? What special traditions do you have for your friends, partners and children?
Happy Valentines Day, may you realize and appreciate all who love you and all you love!
Tags: Alexander Valley, Cabernet, Cava, Napa, Prosecco, Roederer Brut, SIlver Oak
