be mine

You know how I love holidays?  Well, I do.  And one of the reasons I truly love every red letter day is because I grew up in a very festive house.  Every holiday was a chance to decorate the windows, cook something special and get crafty.  I woke up this morning to a text from my mom that reminded me of how special she and my daddy-o made us gals feel every February 14th.  She wrote 'Pink cream of wheat anyone? xoxo'  You see, every Valentine's Day morning, my mom would whip up a big pot of Cream o' Wheat and color it pink.  She would even try and make it extra lumpy for me because that's how I like it.  Later on in the day, my kid sister and I would get gifts from our original Valentine, our daddy.  I remember one year, he gave me a cassette tape of Paula Abdul's Forever Your Girl album.  It was one of the best Valentine's presents I've ever gotten... seriously, one of the best.

I've tried to have magical and wonderful Valentine's Days in the past.  I've done the fancy restaurants, the at home gourmet meal, heart shaped strawberry pancakes (these were accused of looking like livers,) even the romantic getaway.  But none of those attempts ever captured that wonderful, warm feeling of being truly loved the way the simple act of a pink breakfast and bad pop music from the only people who love you absolutely and unconditionally.  So in an attempt to share that special feeling and spread the love and festiveness that I grew up with (and is still buried somewhere in my cynical heart,) I decided to make that traditional V-Day breakfast for my lovely roomie this morning.  Then I realized that I had used the last of my pink and red food colorings on various red velvet cakes for a few birthdays.  Instead, she got purple Cream o' Wheat in a pretty red bowl with a cherry jam heart plopped in the middle.  The kiddies got heart shaped lollipops and in exchange I got a quiet library, cupcakes and quite a few absolutely adorable hugs.

This past year has taught me a lot about love and the many ways you can give it and receive it; all the different forms it can take on.  There are a lot of people worth loving in my life right now and I would like to take this opportunity to ask each and every one of them (girlfriends, guyfriends, best friends, new friends, old friends, far friends, near friends, moms, dads, cousins, aunts, uncles, extended family, folks I've just met, coworkers past and present, blog readers, even people I just smile at on the street - and that's a lot of people) a quick question - Will you be my Valentine?  We can ride tandem bikes together and have picnics.  And now that I'm in the process of getting my bike legs back (more on that and my new bike later... ooo I'm so in love with her,) this Valentine's card will surely ring true!  xoxo everyone, I love you all and wish you a happy and lovely Valentine's Day!