Valentine’s Day, oh Valentine’s Day. It’s amazing that one day in the shortest month of the year could make so many women cringe, so many men panic about questions such as “one dozen or two?, and simultaneously impress upon us the importance of showing just how much you love someone. To pay homage to the most romantic day of the year, we’re sharing our best — and worst — Valentine’s Day memories. Enjoy.
“For Valentine’s Day in 2006 — I had been with my boyfriend for 2 years at this point, and we had just bought a house — he surprised me with exactly what I wanted: a treadmill. It WAS exactly what I wanted. The card said ‘Not because I think you’re fat. I love you, Travis.'” — Summer Langhorne, general manager
“One of my favorite Valentine’s Day memories is of being a kid and getting all of those cute little store-bought V-Day cards from all of the kids in my class. They would tape up homemade envelopes on the blackboard with each person’s name on it, and you’d drop the cards in them. I remember giving the ripped up mangled one to the boy in our class that was a mean bully, and scratching out the eyes of Snoopy or whom ever was on the card because my mother said I had to give one to everyone. And, I loved when my Dad came home from work on Valentine’s Day with those “red hot” hearts, balloons, a stuffed bear holding a heart, and chocolates. Oh, those were the days!” — Alissa Bayer, founder and owner
“My friends and I decided to have an anti-Valentine’s Day party. As part of it, we actually lit a heart-covered box on fire in our long driveway. It felt very rebellious at the time, but we must have put too much lighter fluid on it because a neighbor called the fire department… and they actually came to put it out. Ha.” — anonymous
“I spent Valentines Day one year drinking a bottle of red wine out of a thermos on the Pedestrian Bridge while overlooking downtown Austin as the sun set with my two best friends. We all held hands and watched all the couples strolling by. It is still one of my most favorite Valentines Days!” — Laurana Kuhlman, licensed massage therapist
“Valentine’s Day 2005: I found out that the first boy I had truly fallen in love (ah! first love! which happened to coincide with my first year living in NYC as a college freshman) was cheating on me with a girl living in an apartment two floors above mine. What a day! Thank goodness for amazing friends. That was also the day I discovered one of my favorite bars in the East Village, so all’s well that ends well.” — Marisa Tom, marketing manager
“Worst? He bought me a toy-size keychain board game. As in, it was my favorite board game (sweet!) on a key chain. Best? Going out for drinks with my girlfriends.” — Cara DuPre, concierge
“The Valentine’s Day before my and my now-husband’s wedding, he sent me flowers from 1800flowers.com. I was livid with him, and could not believe I was going to marry someone who could not even go to the store, buy me flowers, and give them to me in person. I think you should only send flowers like that if you can’t give them in person. He ended up talking to my mother about it, and she told him that being in a relationship with me would never be easy or predictable. He was just confused as to why a girl would be mad that she was given flowers. Boys. It took me several days to not be mad at him. After that, I didn’t get flowers or anything for years!” — anonymous
“First time I was single in a long while, Valentine’s Day comes around, and I am feeling super down. So, I buy myself a homemade red velvet cupcake, get a bottle of Tisdale Sweet Red, and watch an entire season of Firefly. I felt fabulous.” — Erin Catherine Brannen, concierge
