Our anniversay is just a couple of weeks later-35 years. This year my H and I agreed no cards since it is hard to repeat the same (loving) sentiments in such a short time frame. a relief to not have to find a card and our personal day is so much more important to us than the everyman’s day. We wil acknowledge the day- but no flowers, candy et al. Retired and with funds we can go places when things are not as crowded as well. Ages and stages.
We have always celebrated it with our daughters gifting them small gifts and treats. The hubsy gets me chocolate covered strawberries from Costco and that makes my heart happy.
Not much. We don’t usually go out because it’s so crowded. We exchange cards and H usually gets me flowers.
Nope, and I was so happy to get an email from my youngest child’s teacher earlier this weeks saying, “We do not celebrate Valentine’s in E2”. He had moved from the 1st-3rd grade classroom to the 4th-6th grade one this year, and now I am DONE buying classroom Valentine’s cards forever.
Yes, with dinner out and small gifts.
Neither of us celebrate, since we didn’t grow up with it. However, we got married in Israel, and chose the day because it was in the one Thursday of winter break during which there were no finals (Hebrew U spreads finals across the winter break…) and only realized that it was the day after Valentine’s day when it was pointed out to us. Now, of course, it’s almost impossible to go out on our anniversary (everything is booked solid), and when we do manage, everybody thinks that we got married on Valentine’s day, as well. So we’re both surrounded by Valentine’s day merchandising, AND it is assumed that we are into it.
D19 grew up with it, but isn’t a huge fan. She is, however, a big fan of buying chocolate on the 14th at a steep discount.
PS. I am also not comfortable with celebrating a holiday which is named after a Christian saint (unless I’ve been invited to a friend’s house to do it). Besides, Jews have a day in the summer to celebrate love, which precedes Valentine’s day, and has the advantage of being during a full moon in the middle of the summer - a much more romantic period of the year than the winter at various stages of the moon…
Pretty low key. A card, usually a gift, a dinner in - something a little nicer than average. As someone else mentioned upthread I don’t go out to eat on Valentine’s Day because the food/service is often not up to par given the crowds. I’m giving my husband concert tickets so I get to benefit as well. 
We do give the kids a little something-something. One is getting a restaurant gift card. The other is out of the country so will be getting some cash deposited into their account.
We usually exchange cards and boxes of See’s chocolates and then I either make a nice dinner or we get some kind of takeout, which will probably be sushi this year. Sometimes my husband buys roses also, but does that more often on our anniversary. I still send small Valentine’s boxes to my two grown kids, one of whom is in college. We’ve mostly avoided going out to eat on Valentine’s Day itself, but have sometimes gone out on the weekend after.
We do exchange cards. H buys roses and I buy a box of his favorite truffles. We’ll have a nice dinner and a good bottle of wine at home and will go out another night over the weekend when things are less crazy. I also send small boxes of chocolate to my adult kids at their apartments – it is always nice to get a care package.
Love, love Valentine’s Day! It was my parent’s anniversary, a World War II romance that lasted 57 years before my dad’s death. My mother’s always prepared a salad with hearts of palm in it, as well as chocolate cake in her heart shaped cake pan. We continued to have Mom over for a special dinner on that day until her death last year.
Tomorrow night H and I will dine on hearts of palm and chocolate cake!
Be sure to reach out to everyone you love tomorrow.
DH and I exchange cards. He also gets me chocolate (which I love) and flowers, which aren’t as necessary. I’ve usually gotten him books (now e-books) and something else he may need at the time. We usually, but not always go out to dinner - not sure if we will tomorrow.
We buy & consume the candy regularly as soon as it’s available. We also eat out every Saturday, so the Saturday closest to V-day is it for us. We typically pick something cheap because we hate crowds & waiting. Nothing more romantic than dinner at Chick Fil A! When the kids were home, H would get them a small box of chocolate and maybe go out to Biscuitville and get them something for breakfast. I tended to spoil them more on bdays vs V-Day.
I don’t do store bought cards, and I’m not big on flowers. H has bought them once that I can ever remember. And definitely no jewelry! I just lose it. But, from time to time we might pick up something we know they might like and surprise the other. I found $24 on the ground earlier this week, so I surprised H with $10 of it as his gift. I put it in an envelope with a homemade card from a “special admirer” and left it on his car seat as I went to the gym. Nothing big, but hey… he was going to get nothing.
We were going to go to dinner tonight to beat the crowds but I came down with a cold. I don’t like to go out on 2/14 because it’s crowded. We usually just exchange cards and sometimes H gets flowers or chocolate.
It’s a Hallmark holiday but still important IMHO to let your partner know you care for and love them.
Acknowlegde the day but keep it very low key esp. now that D is in college.
Hubby used to buy flowers from Costco (no jacked-up price) when he worked there. After he resigned, I told him I can wait a day later for the same bouquet of flowers at a steep discounted price.
I used to wait table for 8 years. Have no desire to dine in a crowded restaurant on Valentine Day (or any holiday) when wait staff and kitchen staff are very busy and stressed.
Will have home-cooked meal at home with hubby and watch our favorite TV show together later. May even let him have Ben&Jerry’s ?
Will definitely tell him (again) I love him and what a wonderful husband and a great father he is.
I like Valentine’s from the prospective of a low key holiday (like Halloween) where the message is simple “love you!” and from the parent aspect I have always loved spoiling the kids a bit.
But from a couple point of view, while a sweet treat is nice I’m not someone who likes receiving gifts - and my H has learned to NOT get me flowers - it actually really bugs me when I go to the grocery store (I was there today after work) and I see males galore with the token bouquet in their hand - to me it feels like an obligation!
I also greatly dislike roses - especially red roses - I just tell my H to let me buy my own flowers when I like which is usually in the spring and summer when I can buy fresh local flowers.
THAT SAID, I am currently making some from scratch brownies which I will take small heart cookie cutter to when they are cool to make heart brownies. I will drizzle them with chocolate and maybe put a few sprinkles on top. Will split these up between home, my son and his wife and my team at work. Cause I do LOVE gifting others with a little something!
Dh and I don’t celebrate at all. One of our kids bday is 2/16 and dh’s is 2/20 so that’s enough celebrating for us. Dh knows that I’d much prefer him to get me flowers “just because” any other day of the year rather than due to a commercialized holiday. I do give my kids some candy though and my mother sends them each a little money.
We do little things. I got him chocolates and a card (but I forget where I put it). I asked him for a small red maglite flashlight - hows that for romantic?
My younger son has been stressing about what to do for his GF. I think he’s settled on trying to cook her a special dinner. Very sweet.
DH & I have a Valentine’s Day anniversary, so we do celebrate. Still, we keep it low key. I will order a heart-shaped pizza for us to celebrate and bake heart-shaped brownies. We will go out for a nice meal in a week or so, after today crowds die down.
I am not a flower person. They’re beautiful, but it rips me up inside to see so much money spent on something that is going to die in days. Now if DH would get me a bush, shrub, or tree, I would be delighted, but it’s not the right season. Here’s the funny part, though: HE likes to GIVE flowers. He just does. A few years ago, after his father passed, I suggested that he give his mother flowers on Valentines Day. She really likes getting flowers, much more so than I do. He has been doing it for a few years now. She gets flowers on Valentines Day, I get something for the garden later in the spring. It has been kind of a win-win for everyone.
@FlyMeToTheMoon , I’m so sorry. Definitely treat yourself to something.
We are very random about celebrating. I remember buying treats for each member of the family when the kids were young, but there were some years when we just did cards. Once in a while, my husband will give me flowers or chocolate, or I will buy him a new shirt or something. We have dinner reservations this year for the 16th.
I picked up lobster tails at Costco today and will sous vide them tomorrow for a Valentine dinner at home with DH. I have some dark chocolate for him, and he is currently off on a mysterious errand which is probably flowers he’ll stash in the garage until tomorrow!
Sent DD a funny card with a gift card to a movie theater chain. I miss having her at home - for many years she would make chocolate chip scones for breakfast on Valentine’s Day!