AlanBarber.Org
Sunday, February 15, 2004
Valentines Day
Well while I watch my new hard drive get partitioned and formatted (see previous post) I might as well tell everyone about what I did for Valentines Day.Being how this was my first Valentines Day with a girlfriend I had to actually make plans to do something. That's surprisingly hard when for every previous year I've just moaned and groaned. I've always considerer it as a stupid holiday for hallmark to sell more card and force guys to waste money on flowers, candy and other gifts. OK, I still think that but now I have to play the game because that's what is expected of a guy.
Actually it's kind of fun being the first time but I'm sure I'll be back to my old sour self next year.
I could sure tell it was Valentines Days when I stopped at the flower shop. The parking lot was full and there were plenty of guys standing around inside looking uncomfortable and feeling awkward. Buying flowers is a hard thing to do because there's so much to think about. How long have you been together? Does she have a certain preference? What is her favorite color? How much do you want to spend? Then when there are other guys there the peer pressure kicks in. If you only get one rose do they think you're a cheap ass? If you know too much about flowers and order some specific arrangement will they think you're a sissy? If you order too many flowers does that mean you're in the dog house and trying to buy her forgiveness? It can be pretty darn stressful.
I have no clue what the meanings of the different colors or numbers are so I just played it safe. When they got to me I just went with a half dozen red roses. I figure you can't go wrong with that. I got her some flowers for her birthday so going with a single rose would make me seem like a cheap ass. Then if I went with a dozen or more it might send the wrong message like I'm trying to buy her love or make her "owe" me for spending so much on her. So at least for me a half dozen seemed like the right number to just say I love you, without worrying about hidden messages.
So anyways I decided it would be the day of four Cs. Culture, Cuisine, Comedy and a Cherry on top. Incase you couldn't tell the "Cherry on top" is a reference to having ice cream! Of course being it's Ohio and in February it's like 10 degrees outside I decided to forgo the ice cream.
I picked her up and boy was she stunning. I am so damn lucky to have such a beautiful girl. I've always feared I'd end up in my 40s still single and finally just settle for some fat chick so I don't end up dieing alone as an old sad man.
For culture I took her to the art museum. The museum has a jazz exhibit right now which I though would be fun to check out. It's a collection of photos taken by Lee Friedlander who worked at Atlantic Records in the 1950s. As part of the exhibit they had a group of jazz musicians that played and also talked about all sorts of things like instruments, music styles, history of jazz, etc, etc. Along with that the local high schools jazz group were playing out in the lobby. Let me tell you those kinds could play! There was this skinny little guy playing the saxophone that could knock your socks off.
So we spent the afternoon just wondering around the museum talking and joking about the art and stopping to listen to the musicians play some good music.
We then went out to eat at a local place for cuisine. Around here there really isn't anything fancy so it's not like we have much of a choice. This town has all the usual fast food places, way to many pizza joints and no fancy restaurants. It really sucks honestly. I like watching the food network and you see all the amazing restaurants around the world and there's nothing close to what you see around here. What I wouldn't give for a four star upscale restaurant!
Anyways, I had this Chicken Roma dish. Basically, it's plate of olive oil coated noodles with two chicken breasts that are topped with diced tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. It was pretty good except for the tomatoes. I just don't like tomatoes. I'll squirt ketchup on sandwiches, fries, etc but can't stand to have a tomato slice. I guess I'm just odd.
Finally, we ended the night by watching a romantic comedy. We went a saw "50 First Dates". It's the new movie with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. It's a very good movie. It has plenty of the usual Adam Sandler comedy bits that'll make you laugh very hard but it also has plenty of serious romantic moments. The ending was kind of bad in my opinion just because it left too many questions open that I would have liked answered. Whatever though, it was still good.
All in all I had a great day and I hope she did too.
on 02/15/2004 at 11:44 AM
I had the best Valentine’s day ever!
xoxo,
Adrianne