Valentimes

Winter is pretty ho-hum.

This winter in particularly has been below average. It has been extra cold (Polar Vortex!) I missed what snow days we had at work. I've been sick a lot and have had major sinus/allergy problems (thanks Kansas).

But there has been good things as well, even in the midst of February. For example, after never getting around to planning it out, Levent and I finally were able to go on a double date with our friends, Ethan and Janell (with whom we had been bouncing around the idea with since we started dating… almost a year ago). Last Sunday, we went to Wichita for lunch at the Doo-Dah Diner and then stopped at the Wichita Flee market on our way home. That for sure was an out of the ordinary activity for a Sunday afternoon. It was great.

But one of the things I think makes this time of year the most interesting is Valentine's Day. ("Valentimes is Serious Times").

I know. I know. I'm supposed to hate this holiday. Even when I was single, I found myself enjoy it more and more (well, minus any self-loathing that single females have to fight off extra hard on Feb 14th). My enjoyment of the day really started when I made special valentine's desserts at Mojo's and named them really cheesy Valentine's themed names. Who would've thought that I would like that so much?

That was three years ago. Since then, I have continued to not be impressed by the commercialism of the holiday, but have found ways to enjoy it, whether it was using it as a reason to buy myself a coffee that day or blowing up my friend's Facebook wall with cheesy/nerdy/awesome Harry Potter, Downton Abbey and Hunger Games themed valentine's. So fun.

And maybe it's because I am off the market that I feel like I can finally stop pretending that I hate Valentine's day. That's right, people. I said. I actually like it. So what?

This valentine's weekend has been extra great, which is ironic because I barely got to see my boyfriend.  (Don't get me wrong that part was not the great part. It was kind of sucky).

Fridays at work are extra dead. No one really realizes we are open and we are short on staff. So, this Friday, my co-worker, Diana and I streamed the Olympics while we worked in the conference room. Awesome!

Moreover, my friend, Amanda was in town from Goshen and so we (with Janell) went to the Lady Antebellum concert in Wichita. (Oh man. They are so good live). Beforehand, we got burritos for supper at this super dodgey/super wonderful food truck called Tacos la Hacienda, otherwise known (by us) at the burrito stand. This place in is legit. The menu is all in Spanish and the burritos are incredible. We sat in Janell's car and chowed away, talking the whole time about how delicious they were. yum. (It's located on Broadway, close to E 24th street).  Since I am such a food-lover, this was probably my favorite part of the whole night.

 And I got to spend some time with Levent too, so obviously that was wonderful.

When I woke up this morning, I found that my owl salt and pepper shakers had a good Valentine's too, which is good because they seem to be fighting a lot these days. (ha).

But the fun keeps going. I got to see my cousin (who lives in Goshen) today for lunch and tonight I am going to an ice cream cake/Olympics viewing party tonight.

Let the good Valentimes continue to roll.