This Valentine's Day was a little extra for us because we were celebrating our 15th Valentine's Day together. That's right. 15 Valentines. Our relationship is old enough to be a freshman in high school. Our relationship could be my student! Our relationship could have already had a 10 year reunion and is well on its way to the 20th!
But let me start at the beginning. On our first Valentine's Day, way back in the early 2000s, I was working as a server in a family-run restaurant. And of course, I was scheduled to work because Valentine's Day is one of the busiest nights of the year. After my shift ended around midnight, I had the chef make an extra pizza which I brought home for Ryan. Let's be clear: when you are in college and your girlfriend brings you a free pizza in the middle of the night, you know she's wifey material. I wasn't playing. The next year, I classed it up a bit and got Ryan a heart shaped pizza. And every year since. So, it's become our little Valentine's Day tradition. And I have to say, having been on the service side of the restaurant industry, Valentine's Day is not the night I would opt to splurge on an expensive dinner. You'll get better service, fresher food, and a quieter ambiance if you go pretty much any other night, with the exception of New Year's Eve and St. Patrick's Day. Fast forward 15 years later, and there's still no one I'd rather share a pizza with, especially when that pizza eating involves yoga pants and the company of Sadie at our feet. I love our Valentine's Day ritual.
This year, in full tradition, I picked up our cheese-less gourmet veggie pizza on my way home from work, and then whipped up a lovely salad with fennel, edamame, avocado, scallions, and a lemony vinaigrette, just to add a little bit of green to our plates. It was a great pairing and it could not have been a more simple dinner.
But the best part came after dinner, after chocolate covered strawberries, and after the exchange of Valentines. In true Ryan style, he had somehow smuggled in a gift for me, well hidden behind the giant teddy bear I received from a student. As we finished the last bits of those inevitable chocolate fragments that never quite stay on the strawberries, he quietly placed a little blue box in front of me. You know, the one with the white ribbon. THE little blue box. And just like that, I fell in love with him all over again.
But let me start at the beginning. On our first Valentine's Day, way back in the early 2000s, I was working as a server in a family-run restaurant. And of course, I was scheduled to work because Valentine's Day is one of the busiest nights of the year. After my shift ended around midnight, I had the chef make an extra pizza which I brought home for Ryan. Let's be clear: when you are in college and your girlfriend brings you a free pizza in the middle of the night, you know she's wifey material. I wasn't playing. The next year, I classed it up a bit and got Ryan a heart shaped pizza. And every year since. So, it's become our little Valentine's Day tradition. And I have to say, having been on the service side of the restaurant industry, Valentine's Day is not the night I would opt to splurge on an expensive dinner. You'll get better service, fresher food, and a quieter ambiance if you go pretty much any other night, with the exception of New Year's Eve and St. Patrick's Day. Fast forward 15 years later, and there's still no one I'd rather share a pizza with, especially when that pizza eating involves yoga pants and the company of Sadie at our feet. I love our Valentine's Day ritual.
This year, in full tradition, I picked up our cheese-less gourmet veggie pizza on my way home from work, and then whipped up a lovely salad with fennel, edamame, avocado, scallions, and a lemony vinaigrette, just to add a little bit of green to our plates. It was a great pairing and it could not have been a more simple dinner.
But the best part came after dinner, after chocolate covered strawberries, and after the exchange of Valentines. In true Ryan style, he had somehow smuggled in a gift for me, well hidden behind the giant teddy bear I received from a student. As we finished the last bits of those inevitable chocolate fragments that never quite stay on the strawberries, he quietly placed a little blue box in front of me. You know, the one with the white ribbon. THE little blue box. And just like that, I fell in love with him all over again.
