A few years ago, a bunch of my friends and I belonged to a community service club, and we decided to have a senior citizen’s prom on Valentine’s Day at a nearby retirement home. We made tons of construction-paper Valentines and decorated with lots of streamers and balloons. 

We all dressed up for the big night and I wore my mother’s vintage dress from the 80’s. My boyfriend at the time, who usually couldn’t be torn away from his X-Box, even went all out and came with me as my date. 

At the dance, we played oldies music, and looked really awkward as we tried to figure out the steps. The retirement home residents thought it was hysterical and were so happy to have us. Some of them actually got teary eyed that we had taken the time to throw a party for them. 

I’ve had Valentines days with dates, serious boyfriends and totally single, but the true meaning of the day is love and sharing it with those around you, and I had never felt that more than looking at all the smiles in the room that night. 

My BF goes to school in New York City, one of my fave places in the world. For Valentine's Day, I took a bus to see him. As soon as I got off the bus at Penn Station, I saw him standing right in the middle of a crowd holding a red rose for me, just like in the movies!

When I was 15, my boyfriend at the time made Valentine's Day extra special for me. It was my first V-Day in a serious relationship. After

school, he drove over to my house and surprised me with a dozen red roses, my favorite movie—The Notebook—on DVD, and a super-sweet card. It was so thoughtful of him! I had never gotten roses from a boy and it made my V-Day so special.

Last year on Valentine's Day all of my friends who were single came to my house and we just camped out having a blast. We watched about a million corny rom-coms, pigged out on choco-chip pancakes and had about a million crazy dance parties. Who says you need guys to have fun on V-Day? All of my swinging-single sistahs and I had a blast :)


My fabbest V-Day moment was when my BF (at the time) had me over that morning and had set up a beautifully decorated table and had cooked a breakfast buffet just for me. He bought me red roses and a special hearts necklace. It was really romantic.

 

My fabbest V-day moment was last year, in 2009. On Valentine's Day, I was at the airport on my way to study abroad in Melbourne, Australia for the spring semester. In general, I really don’t like Valentine's Day, but last year it was just so amazing because it was the day that I went toward one of the best times of my life.

 

I was so psyched for my first Valentine’s Day with my current BF! That morning, I found a sweet note, a heart-shaped box of chocolates, a miniature cuddly teddy bear and a little rose plant in a pretty, beaded red pot in my mailbox. I felt so special! I set it all up on my desk, watered the plant and went off to class.

When I got back though, the rose plant did NOT look the same. It was supposed to grow into a larger plant and last longer than a bouquet of roses (good intentions!), but the petals were shriveling and deep, deep red. When I touched them, they were literally crispy. My chocolates hadn’t fared well either: when I opened the box, I found that they melted into funny shapes at some point when they were shipped.

My BF felt bad when he found out, but he kept joking about how much I should have been honored by those dead roses and misshapen candies. We kept on with the V-Day plans: a dinner on the waterfront, a movie, and a cozy night in front of the TV. We named my little teddy bear and ended up having a great time.

Even though a wilting rose isn’t exactly a girl’s top gift wish, this present is something we can laugh about together to this day.  It’s proof that Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be picture-perfect to be special—sometimes it’s those quirky memories that last the longest! I think it says a lot about our relationship, too. It isn’t nearly perfect and sometimes it doesn’t go as planned…but it is definitely unique and definitely endures.

BLOG IT OUT! What's your fave V-Day memory? What are you up to this Valentine's Day?

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