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Oh Valentine's day. If you're someone who rolls your eyes at the corniness, or someone that goes all out ( I mean, even sprinkling little cupid-confetti's around), chances are you have at least one good story about this lovely holiday. I know I do.
Me and Anthony seem to have Valentine's day down pat after all these years, with a nice dinner out and he always gets me Malley's chocolates and a beautiful vase of flowers that get delivered to my house. I think that if anything, a lady should always receive flowers on V-day, if not from her bae, then from her dad, her brother, her grandpa or some special man who appreciates her in his life. If you have ever heard of BloomNation they are a company that has created a marketplace for people to list, discover, and send unique bouquets handcrafted by local florists across the country. Any beautiful arrangement you desire, or just a simple 'I'm sorry I messed up" rose bouquet, BloomNation is the place to go. And just in time for their big day, I teamed up with them to share the 7 Sins of Valentine's Day, or in other words, a dude's guide to getting it right.
Do any of them sound familiar?
Growing up, my dad always surprised me on V-day morning when I came downstairs with a card and a gift of some kind, usually a stuffed animal. When I was in 8th grade, my 'boyfriend' surprised me at school that V-day with a single red rose and a necklace with a starburst charm. I was smitten. That being my first boy toy, I thought 'hey, this sounds like a good deal, being a girl on Valentine's day'. Fast forward to about 6 years ago, the last Valentine's day before I met Anthony. I was 'talking' to this boy that I knew from school and we were casually seeing each other for about a month. We never went out on a date, but since I lived in a townhouse at college at the time, he would always visit me there. He was sweet and adorable and it brought me back to the day in high school when he signed my yearbook and I got all excited. Moving on. Valentine's day came, and he made sure to see me before he had to be at work at 3 since it was a Saturday. He picked me up from school and took me to...Panera. Now let me stop here and clarify: I like Panera, I roll with Panera. Their cookies? Bomb. But for Valentine's Day? Ok so I don't say anything since he was such a sweetheart and figured he was short on time. We get in line, and he tells me that he isn't hungry so just order whatever I want. Ok, so I do that and just as the cashier is about to tell me the total....he excuses himself to use the bathroom. Which means, I paid for MY Valentine's day lunch, MYSELF.
Let's just say that the rest of that lunch was awkwardly quiet. He dropped me back off at home after, and a week later I told him I couldn't see him anymore because of that little deed alone. He was horrified that I would dump him over that, and thought I was being a shallow biatch. But let me be real-if you cannot even pay for my lunch alone, especially on a day-date on Valentine's day, then what does that say about his character? He may be cheap, but bigger than that, that one little act showed me a couple things about him and what he thinks about us and our 'future'.
Gentlemen take note: if you ASK a girl out to a meal, PAY for it. Call me old fashioned, but as rule number 7 says, 'thou shall not be cheap'.
Thankfully, I haven't had to worry about any awkward or bad Valentines day mishaps since, and Anth was raised to be the perfect gentleman. So to all the fellows who should probably see the above guide, here is a simple way not to mess up: send her flowers. It is the simplest deed and the one that touches a heart more than any old box of chocolates. And what could be easier than having BloomNation take care of it for you? So ladies: may you laugh about the misfortunes of dudes on this day of high-expectations and may you steer them in the right direction so every Valentines day can be as sweet as candy.
xo