happy February 14th!

Happy Valentine's day!!

some thoughts, though. if you'll humor me.
where did Valentine's Day come from? I'm sure it does have a history; I should look it up.
no matter where it came from, I feel it's turned into a rather annoying holiday.
it's a day when people (especially poor unsuspecting men) pay astronomical amounts of money for wilted flowers, and 99.9% of the population (okay, I'm exaggerating. but seriously!) go out to eat. and for those without a significant other (SO), it's depressing. at least it always was for me and for those around me.
so it seems.... it's a day for those with a SO to spend too much money, and for those without to feel down about life.

so I have to ask, what's so special about February 14th?
I told Matt after our first Valentine's Day together to never buy me flowers again. I would rather receive them on different days throughout the year. that way, it shows "I was thinking of you, and I love you" instead of "I paid a ridiculous amount of money for these low quality flowers because the media said I should, and I would've had to have paid half a year's salary to get better quality flowers."

for my part, no thank you!

the first year Matt & I were dating, he had flowers sent to me at work. they were nice, but not spectacular. they were a little wilty. don't get me wrong, they were very pretty. I think they were some kind of daisy, and I liked them a lot. but they looked close to their expiration date. I couldn't understand why Matt was so upset at their condition - I mean, it's just flowers, right?
about a year later, the truth finally came out. he paid $70 for those sort-of nice, wilted flowers! all because it was February 14th.

again, no thank you!

you could buy those exact same flowers, and probably better quality, for less than $20 any other time of year.

that same year, Matt had a big plan to take me to a nice restaurant. little did he know that every other guy had the same idea. we got to Charleston's and were told there was a two-hour wait. "heck no!!!" both of us decided. we ended up at Zio's. we had a marvelous time, the pizza was great, and it wasn't as crowded.
we got a table right away, spent less money, and had a wonderful time. can't beat it.
since then, it's become a tradition; this will be our third anniversary of eating at Zio's for Valentine's Day.
I love it.
although, last year, people seemed to have caught on. maybe it was because they started to make heart-shaped pizzas for the occasion. we ended up being some of the last people they served.
why, you may ask?

because they ran out of cheese!!!!!