Be My Valentine?

I love Valentines day. Not everyone does. I can kind of understand why -- If you're single there's this intense angst towards the holiday that forces people to acknowledge they they are in fact not in a relationship and that that somehow makes you inadequate. If you aren't single, there's still plenty of pressure to find the right gift or plan a date of some sort that "tops" all of your friends and their significant others. But for me, I just like that we have a day specifically to let everyone know how much you care about and appreciate them. And usually this involves candy and other sweet things... so of course I'm on board!

Regardless of where you fall, I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's day :)

An assortment of pics of gifts for both my sister and my "secret Valentine"

Although I've had relationships in the past, somehow the span of these relationships always conveniently avoided the holiday. The closest I'd come to having a date for Valentine's was in high school when a friend brought me a stuffed animal and chocolate to school. I unfortunately did not have feelings for this person and my awkward self spent most of my day trying to avoid him (sorry Sean!). At TCU my friends and I always used the holiday as an excuse to make yummy baked goods, get dressed up and go to dinner and a movie, or to get up on a stage and yell/laugh/cry/educate people about issues relating to vaginas in the "Vagina Monoluges". I send packages to my sister, and hand out old-school carboard valentines. I really love to make other people feel loved.

My secret valentine was very clever in incorporating Occupational Therapy terms  into my gift :) I brought the pretzels on the lower right to the bake sale.

This year I felt extravagently loved by my friends and family. In grad school we've been having a "secret Valentine" exchange (like secret santa where you draw names and shower somebody with anonymous gifts). I'm also participating in a bake sale which will raise money for Illi-SOTA, the Illinois Student Occupational Therapy Association that can be put toward conferences and stuff. Quite a few of us went old-school and exchaged 1990s style carboard valentines + candy. And.... I even had a date :) Pretty ballsy move to ask a girl out and set the first date for valentines day, but I can respect that and I had a fun time. I also sent an awesome package to my sister that I am quite proud of. It was extremely fun to put together, and great minds think alike because I received a package of many similar Target finds. The best part was that I made her Skype me while she opened it, so we got to chat a little and I got to watch her crack up at all my goofy internet meme Valentines!

And here is my gift to Emily. Pretty amazing if I do say so myself. 

If I didn't get a chance to say it already, I love you all dearly on February 14th and every other day of the year :)