I have a soft spot for Valentines Day, despite the fact that I, like many, am rubbed the wrong way by the obligatory nature of it – the pressure to produce an appropriate expression of adoration for your partner in an incredibly conventional champagne-and-red-roses-sort of way on this one specific day. Or else.
Valentine’s Day hasn’t really factored into my life for a while now, but I always remember my mom making a big deal of it for my siblings and I. On Feb 14 our places at the breakfast table would be decorated with pink and red, filled with cards and little gifts, and cinnamon hearts would be strewn around like confetti. It was such a special treat to wake up to in the middle of dreary February.
So, if you can somehow get past Hallmark and those schmaltzy jewelry store ads, if you can shut out all of the “buy buy buy! perform perform perform!” noise, Valentine’s Day simply becomes a reminder to bear witness to the love you have in your life, and take a few moments to pay homage to that. (Even if it does mean suffering through tacky advertisements for a full month beforehand.)
Given that we sort of missed the boat on sending Christmas cards this year, Valentine’s Day seemed like the perfect opportunity to play catch up. In late January my sister Hilary helped Olive and I stage a little Valentine’s Day photo shoot – Behold!
It was a grey and drizzly day when we walked out into a copse of trees by our house and took these pictures, which just made the hot pink heart and lipstick that much better. When we got home, Olive picked her favourite picture (the first one above) and we put together a little card to send to the amazing people who have filled our lives with love throughout the years, and especially in the past few months, my family, my in-laws, and our friends old and new.
It made me so happy to be able to mark the day in such a pure, back-to-basics way. I feel lucky, loved, and so grateful for that.
I hope you have a fabulous Valentine’s Day! Thank you for bringing so much love into our lives.
8 Comments
I love that you are holding hands in the pictures!
What wonderful pictures! You can see the special bond between the two of you. When Olive is older, she’ll look at these and know she was happy and loved – always.
My parents always made the holiday special for me too. My mom carried the tradition on especially after my dad passed as a way to make sure we always knew we were loved. I think it helped me to place more emphasis on familial/friend love for the holiday instead of just the hallmark-y romance variety.
Btw, Olive has THE most adorable smile and little expressions. Hashtag blessed hahaha
Gorgeous. Both of you. Simply touching!
Aw! So tender. I’m a new follower, looking forward to getting to know you.
You are such a charming couple… Bless little chuchi face Olive! X
Thank you, Francesca!
[…] year Olive and I staged a cheesy V-day photo shoot and sent out Valentine’s Day cards to our friends and family near and far. As […]