It sure was a nice Valentine’s Day weekend. I’m fortunate to have a great sweetheart of a guy to call mine, and we really made the most of it. We didn’t make a big deal out of it, which I couldn’t be happier about. For one thing, I absolutely despise dressing up. I’m a bit of a homebody anyways and getting all dolled up for a night out usually leaves me feeling exhausted with the evening before it’s even time to get out the door. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not opposed to getting a little cutsied up, slapping on a little lipstick, fancying up my hair, but that is pretty much the extent of my comfort zone. Putting on a rigid dress or painfully awkward shoes is really at the bottom of my list of favorite things. Not to mention, I’ve been in the service industry for about ten years and although working an occasion like Valentine’s Day usually means a pretty decent take home, it’s a pain in the ass. Places are crowded, service usually sucks due to the high expectation of perfect service and sheer numbers of people in attendance. So when we started noticing the pink and red adorning the center aisles of every shopping center in existence, we decided that we’d make spaghetti at home. It was awesome.

We kicked off the weekend by picking up groceries and movies together, after exchanging a couple of personalized gifts. On Saturday we shared some wine, watched movies, and stayed up late, just hanging out. Sunday we helped each other cleaning the house, doing the dishes, and cooking dinner. We listened to music, talked, played with the dog, played dice, watched movies, just hung out with one another, and the best part is, we did it all in pajamas. We slept in this morning, on new super comfy pillows. There was leftover spaghetti and meatballs to take to work, for dinner. He left for work a couple hours before I had to do the same. We kissed each other goodbye and I got myself cleaned up and did my makeup for work. All day today I have felt super relaxed. Although I like to go out every once in a while, it’s the super low maintenance weekends like that that leave me feeling like I’ve just come back from vacation, and in a good way. Not the kind of vacation where you scramble to hit every attraction and make the most of every moment in a new place, bouncing from here to there without a moment to catch your breath. It was more like a vacation to a cabin in the middle of nowhere, with enough time to sit around, not doing much other than reading, having a couple of drinks, laughing, and playing trivial pursuit until 5 a.m., and for just a few days you can rest assured knowing that it will be at least two days before you have to worry about going to work, school, paying bills, just the general commonplace, everyday responsibilities of life.  

Reflecting on this Valentine’s Day weekend sure has got me feeling grateful to be with someone who values things like that. It is nice and comforting knowing that I don’t have to put on airs to impress him. It is a nice, calm feeling knowing that we enjoy being together, even if it means sometimes doing our own thing, rather than being a constant source of entertainment for one another. I suppose that all this might seem pretty boring to some couples. Sure, it isn’t necessarily glamorous, but glamour just isn’t my scene. I’m all about good company, low maintenance interaction, and really, I guess when it boils down to it, friendship. We got a pretty good thing going on. It is so easy to have fun together, and to also have the room to enjoy time not spent attached at the hip, which is part of what makes me so happy about our relationship. Plus, he is a total hunk who surprises me with vintage Tom Jones magazine issues as Valentine’s Day presents, and brings his pillow downstairs to sleep on the floor next to me when I fall asleep, snoring on the couch.