The Problem With... Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day originates back to the 14^th century when it received its first connotations about love, and since then has become one of the most celebrated occasions on the calendar.

Call me a pessimist/killjoy but I’ve never been one to partake in the money making gimmick that is Valentine’s Day. Retailers promote the “day of love” in order to boost profits, and one can almost picture the MD of Cardies rubbing his hands together in delight. An example: 12 red roses normally sell for less than R200 but because it’s Valentine’s Day the price doubles to R400!

R400 for flowers (that although pretty) will wilt and die in a few days. Sure – prove your undying love for your partner with some botanicals that won’t make it past Sunday. Flowers aside, teddy bears; chocolates; and those cheesy “I heart you” mugs are all marked up 200%. Restaurants go the extra mile by offering a three course meal with the clichéd violinist, to serenade their patrons. Oh, and to justify the price they’ll even throw in some chocolates. How generous.

Then there are the couples that get engaged on Valentine’s Day. To each their own, but honestly how many other people (in the same restaurant) are going to be fishing rings out of their champagne glasses? Be original!

My fundamental issue with Valentine’s Day is why not show your love/appreciation for your partner every day of the year? Why are we limited to one day? The best gifts or dinners are the unexpected ones. Prices are cheaper and restaurants are emptier.

What am I doing for Valentines? William and I are going to watch a movie and we’ll probably have a home cooked dinner. There’s no one else I’d rather spend my evening with, partaking in one of our favorite things to do.

Whether you celebrate the occasion or not, have a happy Friday and good weekend!

Surprising Angie on her Birthday

Yesterday, the 2nd of September, one of my nearest and dearest friends celebrated her 29th birthday.

Roger (Angie's fiancee) and Jackie (Angie's sister) organised for Angie to go sky diving on Sunday for her birthday, but unfortunately I was unable to watch her jump (too much of a wuss to go skydiving myself) due to other commitments.

So, Jackie and I hashed a plan together that involved me meeting them for lunch at the restaurant in the business park complex. Jackie told Ange the two of them would go for a quick lunch to celebrate her birthday, and then she'd walk in and see me sitting at a table. This plan worked in theory, but not in practice as Ange didn't even see me in the restaurant (even though I had helium filled balloons tied to her chair and a bunch of flowers on the table) and proceeded to sit down at some random empty table, much to Jackie's and my amusement. After sitting down at the right table, Ange asked me "What are you doing here?" to which I responded "I've come to have lunch with you on your birthday!"

We had a lovely afternoon, and thanks to our very accommodating waitress, everything ran smoothly and Angie and Jackie were back at their office at 2pm. I found a singing birthday candle at Cardies and improvised with a choc chip muffin for the "cake".

Happy birthday Ange, last one as a Miss and next year is the big 3-0!