February 11, 2008 9:58 AM
Valentine's Day - hype and reality
I overheard on the radio this morning that when it comes to going out for dinner for Valentine's Day, 2 out of 3 men love the idea, but only 1 out of 3 women do.
As your faithful reporter, I tried to track down the source for this important factoid this morning - but with no success.
What I did come up with was a bunch of articles on how much people would spend for Valentine's Day and consumer trends.
I dunno. Maybe it's because I've been married for 25 years - and maybe it's because I've seen the classroom Valentine exchange escalate from simple foldover cards to gift bags (!) filled with candy and party prizes - but all this hype leaves me feeling a little skeptical. I mean, didn't we just do Christmas six or seven weeks ago?
It really seems like holidays have been hijacked by consumer forces that have left us all feeling obligated to show our love for others by spending money. Or am I just becoming a Mrs. Scrooge?
Speaking of which - here's an article I came up with: Scrooge, Cupid Hook Up As Recession Bites Romance, which ends with this interesting observation:
Of course, Valentine's Day also creates other retail ripples: Nielsen reports that sales of pregnancy tests spike six weeks after Valentine's Day, with the third week in March ranking No. 1 for both pregnancy and fertility test kits.
How sweet to be reminded about that link between love and children!
And here's a spot you might want to check out too:
Nine Tactics for a Frugal Valentine's Day.
Also, btw - speaking of love, marriage and children - for the best price on pregnancy tests, check out Amazon :)
Posted in Holidays | Permalink
Comments
Haha, well I guess where there is love, there are probably going to be children eventually! lol! For me personally, there is nothing better on Vday than a warm, intimate dinner at home (as laid back as possible, in my opinion!) And I firmly believe that it is so, soo important to have a day where you focus on your loved one and letting them know how much they mean to you, despite how commercialized the holiday has become. I mean, what could be more important than letting the one you love know you love them? I just so happen to have the inside scoop on a fantastic contest about love and expressing love going on right now that you (and any other gals who may comment) should definitely take a quick peek at sometime; I work for Dove Chocolates (perfect for this time of year, huh? haha) and we have this contest going on right now called the "Expressions of Love" contest, where we're basically asking ladies like you to submit their most creative ideas for letting someone know you love them...and get this, the winner will receive a 5.58cts "Baby's Breath" diamond necklace worth $21,000!! THAT would definitely be a nice trinket to open on Vday ;) I'd definitely love to have some ladies who really do care about Valentine's day enter, so feel free to go to www.mydovechocolate.com and leave your most creative submission!
And if you do happen to get into the "commercial" nature of the holiday, haha, we also have these ridiculously adorable customizable boxes of chocolates available for Vday this year, so if you're trying to think of cute gift ideas, definitely take a look ;)
Thank you so much ladies, hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day, and let me know if you enter! :0) Love to hear someone blog about winning!!
Posted by: Simone | February 11, 2008 3:02 PM
Hello to all:
Remember, just like most holidays these days, there is a religious connection - It originates from St. Valentine - Look it up - I believe that there may even be a childrens book on him.
Maybe if we look at it in the way he did; it is about serving others that shows we love them. No matter what that serving may entail - bringing our child a drink of water in the middle of the night when we can barely keep our eyes open and are dog tired!
Posted by: Carolyn | February 12, 2008 12:13 PM
Personally, I love Valentine's Day! LOL! We haven't done much the last few years, but this year I'm throwing a party for my family. We've been making garlands out of construction paper and foam stickers, we'll be having a heart-shaped pizza and pink hot chocolate. I think we're also going to do some reading from 1 John about how we're to love each other. I've also found an icon of St. Valentine and we'll read the troparion (I'm no good with tonal singing!). I found a book about St. Valentine that I won't get in time for this year, but I'll use next year.
My kids are making paper heart finger puppets for their classmates and we'll tape a sucker or candy to them. No fancy gift bags here!
Posted by: Lucy | February 12, 2008 3:23 PM
