I unlike almost all the other bloggers, have decided not to do any decorating for Valentine’s Day this year, and I thought I would share with you my reasoning for this since it was a choice that I made more for others than myself. I love Valentine’s Day, I have always exchanged small gifts with my friends and family to express my love and appreciation for those people in my life. Last year however, my experience was a little different than usual, I had just gotten my event management job and I had to work that night. My boyfriend (who is amazing) surprised me with a lovely candle lit steak and lobster dinner, which he had cooked himself, and gorgeous red roses when I came home that night. Let me just say that my boyfriend is not your typical “romantic” he is an asshole but me is my asshole and I love him. He thinks that Valentine’s Day is just a Hallmark holiday created so women can make men buy them stuff, while I don’t completely agree with him I do think that he has a point about the overly commercialized aspect of this holiday. While I know that he will do something special for me again, this year it is his turn to work on Valentine’s Day and we will probably just have a nice relaxing time together when he gets home from work. The other, more major, reason I chose not to decorate the house with an abundance of hearts and other love symbols is that our roommate’s girlfriend recently broke up with him and I don’t want him to feel any worse that he already will on Valentine’s Day. Because of this my boyfriend and I will probably go out to the beach or somewhere and get dinner while we are out so we don’t rub our love in our roommate’s face.
If you are like me, or just don’t feel like feeding into the commercialism of this holiday you can still find many ways to make Valentine’s Day special without covering our homes in Cupid’s throw-up. For example, I am making a handmade card for my boyfriend since we are so broke we decided that this would be a no-spend holiday. You can make (or buy) heart themed art which will be suitable for year round display, check out this cool Instagram Heart art made by Modern Parents, Messy Kids, which I would totally display year round! (shown above, middle). Another option is giving living (potted) flowers instead of cut flowers so that your significant other can enjoy them year round, I love the mini roses, they make great indoor plants (shown above, right). I hope that this inspires you to get creative with your Valentine’s Day this year and celebrate in a more non-traditional way.
Best Wishes,
Rent to Love 