@kjady For 29 years, my partner threw a Chocolate Decadence party on some weekend after V-day, to give herself a reason to loot the half-price sales starting on the afternoon (and in some places, morning) of the 14th.
@tweezak Heh. I made ours on the 7th so we could take advantage of the discount prices on things. I should have done it on the 17th so we could take advantage of the clearance prices.
@xobzoo The people who make a lot of this crap pre-package it in such a way that the Valentine’s labeling can be pulled off of the outside, leaving it looking more generic, so that it can be kept to be put out again for Mother’s Day. The rest, of course, gets sold off at half price or less. But there’s always some left in the warehouses. So maybe there’s an opportunity?
@xobzoo I can confirm that there are piles of leftover Valentine’s candy at the Russell Stover factory outlet in Ennis for months and months and months after the day.
A day where we are told to buy out of season flowers and trek through blizzards to eat at restaurants I’m still hungry after isn’t what I call a good time.
Manufactured holiday to get people to spend money. Have you seen these special, pre-set restaurant menus where the meal is 3x what it normally would be? What a joke.
If you treat Valentine’s Day as a reminder to spend an extra bit of special time with your significant other, then it’s delightful. There are a lot of cultural forces pushing it to be a capitalist nightmare, but even that side means discount candy the next day.
@blaineg@chienfou I have an Amish market around the corner and they have a wonderful flower shop that I visit every month or two. I’ve gotten to know the owner over the past… geeze… 15 years or so and while they have a bunch of pre-made bouquets from $10-20, I just hand over thirty or forty dollars and say, “make something great for my Jenny”. The owner knows my wife loves sunflowers and fall colors, so I always walk out with an obnoxiously large, absolutely perfect bundle of flowers. I don’t buy flowers on Valentine’s day… because yes… they are typically poor-quality overpriced stems. I take that money and put it into a delicious meal that I will likely spend way too much time on. Same with Mother’s Day. Don’t really buy flowers, but I do try to plant a rose bush (or similar) every year if I can. I learned that one from my dad. I think my Jenny is ok with my flower schedule…heh.
Back when I was dating my now ex-wife, I pitched no scheduled gift-giving to my spouse. The idea was we’d skip the pressure of birthdays/Christmas/Valentine’s Day/etc. and buy gifts for each other whenever we saw something the other would like.
It worked out quite well: she got a steady supply of various high-end body lotions and candles along with a digital picture frame, robe, or some other long-term item thrown in every once in a while. Almost all of it was sourced from deal sites. And I didn’t receive much, which is fine since I prefer choosing my own gifts. We’d still celebrate birthdays/anniversaries with a nice dinner or weekend trip, but no gifts. So much less stress.
I’ve told several couples I know about the idea, and I think at least two of them have adopted it. Obviously wouldn’t work well with a person whose “love language” is gift-giving, but it’s at least worth discussing.
@Kabn This is how my family does holidays in general - presents are a surprise and not an obligation! And I would say that presents actually are our “love language” but having them unlinked from specific days doesn’t hurt at all.
@Kabn@Kyeh Everyone’s situation is different, of course, but I feel like a gift means more when it can’t be construed as “mandatory.” I like the idea of detaching from the official schedule.
I just hope everyone enjoys their VD!
@yakkoTDI
/giphy I-see-what-you-did-there
@yakkoTDI There are shots that will help with that.
@phendrick But enough about your unfortunate rabies diagnosis!
@ircon96 Time to check with your doctor if you think your VD came from a skunk bite. (Any way, that kind of a skunk.)
@phendrick I prefer the cribbage variety.
I only care about 1/2 price chocolate day on the 15th.
@kjady For 29 years, my partner threw a Chocolate Decadence party on some weekend after V-day, to give herself a reason to loot the half-price sales starting on the afternoon (and in some places, morning) of the 14th.
I held the 30th one as her wake.
I don’t really do the day anymore.
Nay, except for the overabundance of chocolate products. Yay for chocolate.
Meh.
Readily available Mini-Snickers are awesome though!
LEGOS! EGGOS! STRATEGO! AWESOME!
@Clumber And chocolate is much safer than cheap jewelry.
Valentines Day = SAD for me!!
SAD is Singles Awareness Day. Thanks for rubbing it in meh.
/giphy up yours
Meh.
My wife thinks I clicked Yay!
Can’t believe how many party pooper Rexes there are!
/youtube iNJlacYKr3k
/showme the day after Valentine’s day with half price chocolate in the style of Walmart
@mediocrebot Looks like half eaten chocolate, not half price chocolate. The red things are cute.
@heartny You asked for “in the style of Walmart” — are you claiming you haven’t seen half-eaten food at Walmart?
@heartny @mediocrebot Well it is half off!
@mediocrebot Well, it is Veiutuir Dar Shit. Or something like that. I don’t know it’s AI alphabet.
It’s my anniversary so it has to be yay.
It will be 35 years together this month so we’re pretty ok with just doing dinner or something.
At least I hope we’re both ok with that.
@tweezak Heh. I made ours on the 7th so we could take advantage of the discount prices on things. I should have done it on the 17th so we could take advantage of the clearance prices.
How many weeks until Meh has truckloads of “totally not melted (probably)” chocolate and other valentinish stuff to unload on us?
I just realized that should probably say “… to offload onto us” instead. But I missed the edit window. Meh.
@xobzoo The people who make a lot of this crap pre-package it in such a way that the Valentine’s labeling can be pulled off of the outside, leaving it looking more generic, so that it can be kept to be put out again for Mother’s Day. The rest, of course, gets sold off at half price or less. But there’s always some left in the warehouses. So maybe there’s an opportunity?
@xobzoo I can confirm that there are piles of leftover Valentine’s candy at the Russell Stover factory outlet in Ennis for months and months and months after the day.
@werehatrack @xobzoo There’s a freight damage/surplus store nearby. You can always buy candy for any holiday there, at any time.
The only question is which year’s holidays.
If you got the right one everyday is Valentine’s Day.
The day itself- meh
Cute pink and red heart stuff- yay!
Candy- also yay!
A day where we are told to buy out of season flowers and trek through blizzards to eat at restaurants I’m still hungry after isn’t what I call a good time.
Manufactured holiday to get people to spend money. Have you seen these special, pre-set restaurant menus where the meal is 3x what it normally would be? What a joke.
@kittykat9180
Was pretty funny though when Bob’s Burge… I nean when “Urge” did it though!
“So you’re only 1 rose in love?” -Louise
If you treat Valentine’s Day as a reminder to spend an extra bit of special time with your significant other, then it’s delightful. There are a lot of cultural forces pushing it to be a capitalist nightmare, but even that side means discount candy the next day.
SWMBO’s standing request is “Buy me flowers AFTER Valentine’s day, they’re too expensive to buy for the day.”
@blaineg
She’s a keeper!
@blaineg @chienfou I have an Amish market around the corner and they have a wonderful flower shop that I visit every month or two. I’ve gotten to know the owner over the past… geeze… 15 years or so and while they have a bunch of pre-made bouquets from $10-20, I just hand over thirty or forty dollars and say, “make something great for my Jenny”. The owner knows my wife loves sunflowers and fall colors, so I always walk out with an obnoxiously large, absolutely perfect bundle of flowers.
I don’t buy flowers on Valentine’s day… because yes… they are typically poor-quality overpriced stems. I take that money and put it into a delicious meal that I will likely spend way too much time on. 
Same with Mother’s Day. Don’t really buy flowers, but I do try to plant a rose bush (or similar) every year if I can. I learned that one from my dad. 
I think my Jenny is ok with my flower schedule…heh.
@chienfou Yes, she is. For many, many reasons.
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Couple of local businesses around here
[1]:
@Star2236
Back when I was dating my now ex-wife, I pitched no scheduled gift-giving to my spouse. The idea was we’d skip the pressure of birthdays/Christmas/Valentine’s Day/etc. and buy gifts for each other whenever we saw something the other would like.
It worked out quite well: she got a steady supply of various high-end body lotions and candles along with a digital picture frame, robe, or some other long-term item thrown in every once in a while. Almost all of it was sourced from deal sites. And I didn’t receive much, which is fine since I prefer choosing my own gifts. We’d still celebrate birthdays/anniversaries with a nice dinner or weekend trip, but no gifts. So much less stress.
I’ve told several couples I know about the idea, and I think at least two of them have adopted it. Obviously wouldn’t work well with a person whose “love language” is gift-giving, but it’s at least worth discussing.
@Kabn This is how my family does holidays in general - presents are a surprise and not an obligation! And I would say that presents actually are our “love language” but having them unlinked from specific days doesn’t hurt at all.
@Kabn @Kyeh Everyone’s situation is different, of course, but I feel like a gift means more when it can’t be construed as “mandatory.” I like the idea of detaching from the official schedule.