Love is in the air...

I'm going to be upfront and let you know that Valentine's day is one of my least favorite holidays, second to New Year's Eve.  I'm probably traumatized because my husband and I started dating in early February. He sent me flowers at my workplace that first Valentine's day, but unfortunately the heat in the office was broken and cranked up to a hellacious 80 degrees. There were dead roses and melted chocolates everywhere, like some sort of creepy haunted house.  I worked with the urgency of an ER doctor as I struggled to keep those stinking flowers alive - I even resorted to feeding them sugar-water and keeping them in the fridge. It was a no-go, and as he picked me up from work, I was carrying a bouquet of mega-dead flowers that I promptly shoved in a garbage can on the corner of 34th street. 

 The night didn't get much better - we had dinner (one of our earliest dates) at a restaurant that was supposed to be amazing -- but they featured a stuffy, underwhelming prix-fixe holiday menu. The servers were wearing overly formal outfits and trying to rush everyone through their meal.  "This is the end," I thought.  Luckily, he also thought it was terrible and we spent the entire night making observations about all the nervous couples around us. This was fairly easy to do, as we were sitting elbow to elbow with the surrounding tables (oh, sometimes I miss New York so…).  

 

 

Obviously it worked out for us in the end, but now we pretty much avoid commercial Valentine's day all together. Cooking a delicious meal (including a really decadent, over-the-top dessert, obviously) is way better than forcing some romantic encounter.  Plus, a dinner party is equally fantastic with a group of girlfriends as it is with a special someone. I hope that you have either a fantastically romantic or fantastically comical Valentine's day with stories that you'll remember for years to come! 

To do my part for lovers everywhere, I've put together a few super fun gift boxes for Valentine's day.  You can find the options listed on my online boutique. There's no need to stress over the perfect Valentine's day gift because everyone (well, anyone who's anyone at least) loves sugarbombs!  Alternatively, you could also send a gift box to yourself. I've been known to do that before. The deadline for orders is midnight on Friday, February 7th. This will ensure that I have time to bake, package, and ship your goodies in time for the big day. xo!