Thoughtful Thursday | Be My Valentine

With Valentine’s Day coming up in nearly 12 hours, I figured it was a suitable topic for this week’s Thoughtful Thursday. Indeed, love is in the air – or at least something is in the air. It is a season of heart shaped boxes of chocolate, enormous bouquets of roses, and stuffed animals galore. Our thoughts become scrambled and suddenly we are either considering which of these items to purchase from the local grocery store, or deciding what kind of ice cream to eat as we watch The Notebook alone tomorrow night.

www.mixaroma.com

This holiday, which collects over $14 billion each year in America, has become narrow and meaningless. The material gifts you receive do not determine how much your valentine truly loves you. The amount of ice cream you eat tomorrow will not determine how long you will be single. And this day certainly is not just about the love among couples. (All the single ladies, you hear that?!).

Don’t get me wrong, if you want to shout your love from the rooftops, please do! It is extremely important to express your affection for the one you love, not just on Valentine’s Day, but throughout the year. But I believe it is also important to appreciate those that you love, though not romantically.

If you are single this year, don’t hate on all the couples out there. Will that help you get a boyfriend/girlfriend any sooner? Perhaps this year, you should use that energy to express your love and gratitude to those that have stood by you through the romance-less year. Take your best friend out for ice cream, treat your parents to dinner, or buy your dog that delicious bone he loves so much.

How does that sound?

Thanksgiving

When you ask me which holiday is my favorite, Thanksgiving is not near the top of the list. First, I would say Christmas because of the music. Second, 4th of July because of the fireworks. Third, New Year's because of the fireworks. Fourth, Halloween because of the candy.

However, at this moment in time, Thanksgiving is now in second place. I absolutely cannot wait for five days in a row, free of homework, lectures, and labs. It is going to be heavenly. Not to mention some of my most favorite people are coming down next week, that just tops it all off!

So Thanksgiving: please come quick, and please last forever. In the meantime, I will work on my three essays due today in the hope that the next few days will fly by in a blink of an eye. 

And, as a special gift during this holiday season, I have created a Recipes page. I will add to it more in the future, but for now I have included three recipes that I do not think I could ever live without.