Valentine's Day is Monday. I love Valentine's. For many reasons. Mostly though, I love Valentine's because that's the way I was trained up by Mimi. Valentine's Day is Mimi's most favorite holiday of all.
When I was young, Mimi would always decorate our dining room full of red and pink hearts, old Valentine's cards from us kids, family and friends and also with pretty paper-chains. When we were older Mimi started letting my sister and me decorate. It was a formal room and I could never believe that she was letting us run amuck with the tape, slapping stuff up on the walls and across the ceiling. The room always looked so precious - at least that's what I thought. And Mimi agrees with me, to this day, that the room never look finer than during Valentine's.
When my sister and I would get home from school on Valentine's Day, we would be surprised with a special gift waiting for us. Truly, I was surprised by this every year. I never expected any gift, besides sweets, on Valentine's Day. Mimi always caught me off guard with these gifts (I wasn't too quick on the pick-up, wouldn't you say?).
Most often we would get a brand new spring/summer outfit or new bathing suits. Reminding us that warmer weather was actually coming, sometime. One year we got a VHS player, before any of our friends had one! We thought we were so very cool! My grandparents and aunt even came over for treats and a slumber party and we watched movies all night long - literally. Such an awesome memory!
When I was seven my Dad surprised all of us on Valentine's with a trip to San Francisco. Stunned doesn't even begin to describe it! He was so pleased that he surprised Mimi - on her favorite day. It's a trip I remember very clearly and very fondly.
Every gesture, no matter how big or small, always seemed so grand because it was always such a wonderful Valentine surprise.
These days, with my own family, I find myself trying to emulate much of what my family did for me and my sister on Valentine's Day. My littles are always surprised to wake up to a decorated kitchen and come home to a special gift. And always, a special Valentine's sweet.
Do you have any Valentine's traditions? Is this a lovey-dovey day for you or is Valentine's a non-holiday in your book? Whatever the case may be, Valentine's is a great excuse to have a delicious treat! I've listed a few here for your convenience....enjoy!
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