Our very first Valentine's Day came just a few weeks after we first started dating, at university, in January 1982. I don't remember what gifts we exchanged -- being broke students, I'm sure it wasn't anything too extravagant -- but I still have the cards we exchanged then (and every one since).
I think my favourite Valentine's Day was a few years later, one of the first years we were married. We lived in a small, one-bedroom apartment in a renovated New York-ish brownstone building in midtown Toronto -- Yuppieville central at the time. There was a lovely little hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant nearby, featuring attentive, friendly service and fabulous food, including the best linguini with clams in white wine sauce that I have ever tasted, and wonderful tartuffo ice cream for dessert. We made reservations & went there on Valentine's Day with BIL & SIL (whose wedding anniversary is Feb. 15th -- it was likely their first or second wedding anniversary the next day, since Older Nephew had arrived by the time they celebrated Anniversary #3). The place was lit with candles and filled with red & white balloons, and mellow music from the likes of Frank Sinatra & Sade -- not too loud -- set the tone. So lovely. It was our go-to place for birthdays & anniversaries and entertaining out of town guests and "just because" -- even after we moved way out to the suburbs. I remember slogging through a snowstorm after work on my 30th birthday to get there, and suffering endless delays on the train home afterward, because of the snow. But it was worth it.
Sadly, the restaurant is long gone, but the memories remain.
Do you have any memorable Valentine's Day stories to share?
You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.
great memories! Hubby would buy me cards and flowers for VD while dating, but since marriage we've kind of forgotten about it. But maybe I should insist on something this year; with baby, spontaneous romance is much less likely. We kind of need a day set aside for it.
ReplyDeletegreat memories! Hubby would buy me cards and flowers for VD while dating, but since marriage we've kind of forgotten about it. But maybe I should insist on something this year; with baby, spontaneous romance is much less likely. We kind of need a day set aside.
ReplyDeleteWe don't really celebrate the holiday. We don't celebrating the Israeli version of it either in the summer -- Tu B'av. I'm not really a hearts and roses type of person. Josh learned early on to never ever buy me flowers -- I hate them. But a night of Doctor Who and dinner in -- that's romantic :-)
ReplyDeleteI love that you've kept all the cards.
Valentine's Day isn't really a thing in NZ - well, it might be for young ones now, but it wasn't when we first met. Our wedding anniversary is just ten days earlier, so we never go out for V Day. Sometimes I might make an effort, and cook something special for dinner - I find it is a good excuse for a chocolate dessert, for example! But mostly we ignore it.
ReplyDeleteI'm drooling over the idea of linguini with clams. That restaurant sounds like my kind of place. I love having a "go-to" restaurant, especially if you get to know the owners and become a regular.
Valentine's Day only became popular in Indo after we got married and in Finland, it's literally called Friendship Day. No kidding! I actually like it better.
ReplyDeleteWe're not romantic in the traditional sense. We don't give cards to each other for our birthdays/any other occasions ha ha ha ha ha...but we do love going to the cabin (his family cabin, built by his dad and grandpa) for special occasions to have some quality time together.
We used to leave each other love notes, though, but these days we don't do it often anymore, unless we're going to be apart from each other.
We do NOT celebrate Valentine's Day at all. Hubby and I had a huge blow-up years ago over a candlelight dinner on Valentine's and since then, it's just a bad day for us. We don't do the hearts and flowers thing but we will give each other a little card and a small gift. That said, I love hearing about your restaurant and the memories it invokes for you. It sounds glorious! I hope your Valentine's Day is a good one! Love to you and your Hubby. :)
ReplyDeleteWe were talking about some of the favourite restaurants we used to go to for Valentine's the other day. I love Italian! I miss those long, leisurely evenings. We used to go out the night before because Valentine's menus became so expensive and they'd rush you through the meal. Or you couldn't get reservations. We went to a famous Italian restaurant the night V day before once - it was amazing and we never felt rushed. Sadly, that place is gone too now. My expectations for Valentine's is a lot lower now.
ReplyDeleteLove hearing about your restaurant. Places like that are so rare. What a special memory.
ReplyDeleteGrey and I make homemade valentines for each other. One year we did origami, but most years it involves construction paper, glue, pipe cleaners, tissue paper and markers/crayons. That over a bottle of good wine.
Beautiful memories! I actually kind of love your plan for this year. And the university one sounds so romantic! We never do Valentine's Day presents, and I always wanted us to make each other valentines from my craft supplies in the basement (some years this happens as imagined, some years it's a hot mess). We are actually going out to dinner this year, at our usual Friday night haunt. A nice change of pace, but cozy take-out sounds amazing.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is a chef so it's not really a holiday for us. Plus my friend lost her husband 3.5 years ago so I tend to agonize over the bombardments she goes through this time of year - definitely not easy.
ReplyDeleteOn our very first Valentine's Day, which was thirteen years ago now, my husband bought me a necklace. It was sweet, understated, and high quality just like him, and it showed me we were very "serious" (we had been dating for 6 months at the time). It was a small heart with tiny diamonds, the first diamonds anyone had ever gotten me. I lost it 5 or 6 years later when I took it off at the gym (got stuck on my chin during yoga) and forgot to put it back on. I'm pretty good at letting stuff like this go, but this is the one thing I'd want back if I could have it. Just glad I never lost him:-)