What did you do for Valentine's Day?
Maryl made a romantic dinner a deux for her husband and herself inspired by the New York Times dining section. The piece de resistance was dessert: dark-chocolate cherry ganache.
Caryl went to La Traviata at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with friends. Nothing says Valentine's day like an opera about a fallen woman.
Should you want a taste of our evenings, sample the videos below:
Now tell us: did you stay home or go out?
Maryl made a romantic dinner a deux for her husband and herself inspired by the New York Times dining section. The piece de resistance was dessert: dark-chocolate cherry ganache.
Caryl went to La Traviata at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with friends. Nothing says Valentine's day like an opera about a fallen woman.
Should you want a taste of our evenings, sample the videos below:
Now tell us: did you stay home or go out?
I'm in California, so my Valentine's evening hasn't happened yet. But when it does, I'll be doing--nothing. I haven't been excited about February 14 since I was in grade school and got to make the crepe-papered, heart-covered extravaganza that we students put our valentines to each other in.
ReplyDeleteI have no political gripe about the day; I just don't get it. It's almost like the holiday for another religion, one that I have no connection to.
Truth be told Jane, if I hadn't run across the NY Times recipes and I didn't have to make dinner anyway on Tuesday, I don't know what our Valentine's Day would have looked like either. I also remember how much fun the paper lace and construction paper valentines were to make and give back then. I now look at the event as a way to take a typically bleak Feb. day and give it a little sparkle. Hope you're enjoying sunnier California.
DeleteHi Maryl and Caryl: I realize I'm doing something a little unorthodox here, because I'm not writing about my Valentine's Day, which was pleasant, but nothing to write about. Instead, I'm sharing a comment by a reader of my own blog who has a message worth sharing:
ReplyDeleteThe romantic picture you just painted for your readers brought more than a ray of sunshine to my heart. It also caused me to reflect on romance, and Valentine’s Day, defined as an event found on a calendar.
Luckily, in my life, the need for having a “special” date to celebrate the love in my marriage is not there. Romance is a part of the everyday. We are each others biggest champion and thus, flirtation, admiration and seduction can be found in each and every hour of the day.
With that as background, we still do something special each February 14th, even though we feel the concept Valentine’s Day is, to say the least, a little strange. After reading your piece, we were reflecting that, even though we feel the day to be strange, there are individuals who are greatly effected by the day. There are those who find themselves to be alone and, by virtue of the “pressure” of the day, feel not only alone but forgotten, abandoned,sad and even depressed.
So here is what we are doing this Tuesday. I have invited a lovely, young at heart, 83 year old friend out for an evening of fine food and conversation and my wife has invited one of her friends, also young at heart and alone, out for the same venue. We plan to talk, listen and learn and most of all enjoy the company of people who have lived full lives and have much teach us. In spite of their many great attributes, on this day, the 14th, they become “invisible” and I am sure forgotten.
When we get back home from our evening out, we are going to open a bottle of champagne, look into each others eyes and reflect on how lucky we truly are.
Georgia, Thank you for being "unorthodox". While I thoroughly enjoy the dozen red roses my husband gives me every V Day, it occurs to me how much more meaningful and surprising they would be if I received them on say March 8 or July 26 (pick a date, any date) just because he thought of me. That's not me being ungrateful, just me echoing the sentiment of your reader that love is all around us everyday of the year. Thank you again.
DeleteI stayed home and tried to cook a nice salmon dinner, but at the last minute while broiling the topping, it went up in falmes (as I tried to answer my 11 year old daughter's homework question, who took me sashaying across the room with my eyes averted from the oven). Alas, I lost my cool, whereupon my hubbie came out of the office to try to improve things. I guess he felt sorry for me, because he offered to do the next (5th) kid driving trip, at that point. Alas, we exchanged gifts at the end of the evening, and I got into bed alone and exhausted, while he worked till 2am. Seems like life is a treadmill, but then again, what is the alternative?
ReplyDeleteOh Diane, you've painted a picture of a more probable V Day in most households although it's apparently the most popular dining out day of the year. My lobster dish came out fairly well since I started preparation the day before and my one daughter was out with her boyfriend. After we exchanged our gifts my husband took to bed with his sciatica and I cleaned up. Overall, I felt the evening was a success. It's all about your expectations.
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