I know it's a bit premature, but as I was shopping around today for Bunco prizes, I thought about how much I LOVE/hate things about Valentine's Day. I came up with the following rules:
(*Editor's Note: After some research, I have discovered that Necco and Sweethearts are now the same thing. Necco screwed up their flavors and made them fruity. Don't worry though, I wrote to the company begging them to bring back the original.)
1. The appropriate brand of conversation hearts to purchase are the Necco brand, Necco brand only. The icky imitation "Sweethearts" brand is nasty and tastes like bottom, and the cool blue hearts they advertise on the packaging do not, in fact, exist. And the giant ones are even nastier. Plus there aren't any white mint hearts and everyone knows they're the best.
2. Gigantic cards are the coolest. They're more meaningful too. I remember this one year that Ben bought me a giant card and it was my favorite.
3. A box of chocolates is a good one if it doesn't need a map. You know what I mean. You shouldn't have to steer clear of any particular chocolate if it's from a quality candy store like See's. Whitman Sampler=vomit.
4. Sugar cookies and little white heart shaped cakes are a necessity around Valentine's Day. It's not truly the holiday without them. And they MUST be made with white cake mix. And they can't be topped with anything crunchy like conversation hearts. Simple pink or red sugar sprinkles will do.
5. The most favorite class treat handed out with cool valentines are Blow Pops. These are the only acceptable sucker to hand out ever. Not the yucky cherry suckers with white printed writing on the front.
6. This is the only time that bold shades of pink and red are acceptable together and you are considered "festive" instead of a "faux pas".
7. Candygrams are no longer a threat in adulthood. Remember how scary it was to get one of those in Jr. high or high school with mysterious handwriting? You never know who is stalking you...
8. Roses are a necessity.
9. Sending homemade valentines to grandparents is a necessity. Grandma Draper always made the coolest valentines with lots of layers and stickers and on the very last one was a little heart-shaped pocket with a $5 bill in it. I'm SO doing that when I'm old.
10. Home-cooked special meal by hubby vs. eating out? I'm still torn. Eating at Beniamino's special restaurant in our teeny-tiny apartment was heavenly, but you can't beat not having any dirty dishes around.
9 comments:
I KNOW!! Necco hearts are the best! I have tried to explain the difference to Casey between the different brands but he just doesn't get it! He calls them "chalk hearts". My favorite is the yellow hearts, which taste great in the Necco brand, but gross in the other ones.
Also, ditto on the homemade Valentines/grandparents thing too. I miss Grandma's Valentines. :(
Ugh, those red heart pops are nasty. I remember taking all my valentines and candy out of my awesome homemade boxes each year and just throwing those aside. The mini Snickers and Twix always win for me.
Ok, so Necco brand conversation hearts are sick. Sorry, but it's true. And am I the only one who remembers carefully going through the store-purchased boxes of valentines to make sure none of the ones you addressed to boys in your 6th grade class said "love" on them?
And also... I had a dream last night that I was blogging about the similarities between Emerson and our dog, Lupe. All I could come up with was that they are both blonde. I know, right? And I thought the bizarre dreams ended after the baby was born...
Oh, Nin, you crack me up! Your rules are SO true! (Except I've never been a fan of any brand of conversation hearts. You got that from Dad.)
Nin, AMEN to all of your observations. I read that NECCO just came out with chocolate only (various flavors of such) in a roll. I wish I was as creative as Grandma Draper and I would make those great Valentines, but alas, I am not. (Or at least that is my excuse for being lazy, since I know she spent HOURS at it!!) I still miss her SO much!!
You came up with all of those while you were standing in a store? Wow. When I'm shopping, all I can think about is keeping Sadie from doing something apalling. :) Your brain must be great at multitasking.
So I went to the store and bought a box of the new Sweethearts. I tried one of each flavor. I had one, and only one, blue heart in my box. Please don't be jealous. You were lucky to escape the nastiness that is the blue raspberry conversation heart. It was disgusting. I had to eat another green one to get rid of the flavor (the green is the best of the worst).
I love your list. I've got to say you've analyzed everything way more than I ever have, but you're probably right on all of those ideas. Are we getting another homemade valentine from Emerson this year?
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