I am so damn romantic!

Valentines Day is yet another holiday that annoys me. All those cheap, sub-standard roses, the massive amounts of manipulative diamond ads, trying to convince women that if their guy really loved them, he'd get them a diamond ring/pendant/toilet scrubber and letting guys know they better step up and be muy romantico by spending some cash.

I once broke up with a guy on Valentine's Day. Or tried to. It's just that the "holiday" made me reflect on our relationship and where it was going and what we were even doing together. He was sooooo pissed off that I did that. I was informed that you DO NOT break up with someone on Valentine's Day. Bad, bad...naughty Jinx. So, we limped along for another six months, going through the motions of a relationship until he met someone I suppose he thought wouldn't break up with him on February 14th, and then I was finally released from relationship prison. Of course they didn't even last until Valentine's Day...but I think he eventually found his non-Valentines Day breaking up sweetie and is so far living happily ever after, with maybe just a tiny bit of extra baggage from that long ago faux pas of mine.

Heck, breaking up on Valentine's Day is nothing. I went to high school with a girl who's father killed himself on that romantic date. I guess he was pining away for his ex-wife. I imagine him getting some satisfaction, before he died, knowing that his ex would never, ever be able to have a totally "normal" Valentines again. For the rest of HER life, every time she saw a heart shaped box of chocolates or one of those extremely stupid talking stuffed animals that Hallmark puts out, she'd be thinking of him. Clever, really.

Does anybody NOT have issues with Valentine's Day? You're either thinking about how you don't have a valentine while you cry in your pint of Ben and Jerry's or wondering if you're going to get that reservation at the city's best restaurant or watching your coworkers get flowers delivered while nothing arrives for you or wondering if she'll be mad you got her chocolates when you KNOW she's on a diet or whatever...what a damn stressful holiday.

My bf and I are lucky in a way. We met a few days before Valentine's Day last year. I had a date on Valentine's Day with someone else. A first date that wasn't at all romantic and then I went and bought a pair of salsa dancing shoes for going dancing with my not-yet-at-the-time bf and that was my day. No worries about expectations or anything. Things can get a lot more complicated if you've been together a few months, but we got to skip pretty much straight to the one year mark.

So this year, we'd just celebrated knowing each other for a whole year and I think he was concerned about doing the "right" thing for Valentine's Day. Wanting to please me and yet at the same time resenting the obligation of this silly holiday, which I'm sure he has his own issues about. I assured him I don't care about the day. He asked me what I wanted to do. "That's Thursday, so we're going to the gym, right?" I say. Ut-oh...the problem here is that while I say I just want to go to the gym...is that what I REALLY want? Are we going to go to the gym and then I'll be mad or sad or something that he didn't get me a stupid talking stuffed animal?

So, just to hedge his bets maybe, or perhaps because my bf actually cares a bit more about February 14th than I do or perhaps simply because we don't always get to spend as much time together as we'd like, we ended up going out to lunch at our favorite Redwood City bistro, which is located inside and out back of an antique store. I didn't realize what regulars we've become there. Not only does the waiter hug us, but now the owner does, too! Either they are strange and extra friendly people or you know you're a regular when the people there are always trying to hug you. We had such a nice time and toward the end, an elderly woman got up from her table and came over to talk to us. She wanted to tell us how much she likes the bistro and how they have open mic night on Tuesdays and last time she was dancing with her friend's husband, AND she wanted to let us know we were the perfect Valentine's Day couple and how sweet she thought we were together.

She must have seen the present I gave my bf. It was a one pound jar of Sweet Smoked Paprika. It's so romantic, I know! I even tied a pink ribbon around it because THAT is how romantic I am! My bf is romantic, too. He got me a membership to Costco! That's because he's afraid to get me flowers because he thinks I'm picky (which is true) but he DOES listen and he knows I am obsessed with the flower selection at Costco even though I can't normally go there since I am not a member and the door Nazis won't let me in :( So now, I will be able to take a nice walk to Costco, get some exercise and buy MYSELF whatever flowers I LIKE, thanks to him! I think that's MUY ROMANTICO.