Are you single? Have you checked the calendar lately? It’s almost time for the holiday every single person loves to hate — Valentine’s Day.
As someone who has gone through this holiday both single and in a relationship, I have to say that being single really isn’t that bad on Valentine’s Day. Why?
Singles don’t have to worry about planning a nice dinner, searching for a romantic card, or finding the perfect Valentine’s gift. That’s right. To a single person, February 14th is just like any other day. Or, if you live near San Francisco, it’s a day for a massive pillow fight.
With that being said, I’m not saying that it’s not awesome to have someone to spend Valentine’s Day with. It can be kinda fun seeing how romantic you can be without getting too cheesy. Of course, you won’t realize how cheesy something really is until months or years later, so my advice is to just go for it.
The best Valentine’s gifts I’ve ever given or received have been personalized and homemade. Whether it’s a cheesy love poem or making your special someone their favorite food, the fact that it’s homemade shows that you put a lot of thought and effort into the gift.
The worst Valentine’s gift I’ve ever given was when I tried mixing things up with my girlfriend at the time. Instead of including the usual flowers and chocolate, I went with a more functional gift and left out the chocolate all together. Big mistake, but lesson learned — chocolate should always be part of a Valentine’s Day gift to your girlfriend.
What are some of the best and worst Valentine’s gifts you’ve ever given or received?
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I never give flowers or chocolate anymore. When I first started dating my wife I gave her a mixed cd titled “Flowers on Valentine’s Day.”
Put some personlized messages on Post-It Notes in between sheets in a box of tissues. When she grabs a tissue, the Post It should stick to the tissue. I have some other ideas linked on my blog.
lets face it, don’t spend money because everyone else is on crap that really don’t mean much, they just fill in the space.
Spend quality time with you partner, and not just on the 14th but all the time.
Worst Valentine’s gift ever? When he didn’t give me one! (Until like a week later, at which point he really gave me one to make up for it, to the tune of like $300, which was, honestly, $280 too much)
Here’s a tip: unless you’re absolutely certain that she likes those kinds of things, your girlfriend does not want another teddy bear holding a heart.
A mixed tape is a good idea, as is cooking dinner for each other. I’m going to be “receiving” the dinner on Saturday, so that’ll be the best gift I’ve gotten.
We’re not big on Valentine’s Day here. He is more than I am, though, so we’re compromising and celebrating the next day. I have a whole post about why it’s a better deal (and how to have an unValentine’s day if you’re truly anti-mush).
That said, the best Valentine’s Day gift I ever got was actually the card that came with the (crazily overpriced) flowers. (To be fair, he wanted to get me star-gazer lilies because he knew I preferred them to roses; that was the only bouquet he could find.)
The card said simply, “To the love of my life. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I love you.” It’s still up on the fridge, a year later. Every time I see it, I smile.
The worst gift actually didn’t happen to me. It was to my mom, from my dad. Being her frugal self, she made her own chocolate covered strawberries. We think he forgot about it until the last minute. He brought her home a huge coffee cup (she doesn’t drink coffee, so she uses it for her oatmeal… it’s that big) that was white and covered in pink and red hearts. And it had the homliest, cheapest stuffed bear I had ever seen. And I love all stuffed animals inherently. I seriously wanted to drop kick this thing as far away from me as I could. (I only heard about this incident because I remarked on the cup’s style as not very “her.” That’s when she told me the story, pulled out the bear, and I cringed.)
Incidentally, they’d been married for over 20 years at this point. You’d think he’d have learned better. Sometimes it’s better to get nothing and take them out to dinner than to get them some god-awful gift that makes small children start to cry.
I’m usually all for the “it’s the thought that counts” idea. The problem is, that gift clearly had no thought in it.
Not a big Valentine’s day person myself because I think it’s crazy that we need a national holiday to remind us we should show affection for one another. If it’s not something you’d do just because, then why do it on V-day?
That said, one idea I totally jacked from Budgets are $exy is to buy the Hershey’s kisses and replace the white paper with handwritten messages. I haven’t yet tried this, but I think I’d leave them in random places for my significant other to find.
In all honesty, homemade gifts and time together are probably a better option for celebrating the day of love than flowers and chocolate. Women may like the occasional bouquet of flowers, but it really means more when it’s just because rather than a standard filler of romantic day fodder.
The best gift I got was a fish that I have wanted for the longest time. I am not a flower and candy kind of girl. I think a pet that reminds you of him is a cool idea.
The worst thing I got was a card from an ex that was made for a 9 y.o. girl instead of a 23 y.o. adult woman. But it did come from the heart and wasn’t something he just picked off of the shelf.
A few years back, my boyfriend at the time took me to hooters for our Valentine’s day dinner. Hence the reason we did not last?
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