I was set to hate Valentine’s Day this year. You can call me a fair weather Valentine’s Day-hater. The holiday has always been nice when I’m with someone and kind of crappy when I’m not. Those people who hate the holiday for its crass commercialism… well, that hasn’t been me. Yes, the holiday means lots of money for the chocolatiers, greeting card companies, and florists, but I was always one who thought it could be celebrated with a good dinner in, good wine and good conversation.

So this year, I was bracing for people being all schmoopy and sickening sweet, running off to a special night out, all around me. But surprisingly, it wasn’t that way. I purposefully didn’t wear red, but I also didn’t dress in all black. The day started with a wonderful card from a friend sitting on my desk… a total pleasant surprise! I hit another co-worker up for a dose of dark chocolate from her Dove chocolate stash. For lunch, I joined a couple of my work friends for a lunch of crab cakes and Starbucks coffee. I worked late, but came home to a silly Valentine’s Day card and gift from my parents… a girl-y gift of earrings and a cute top (Thanks Mom and Dad!).

As the day wore on, I realized V-Day isn’t really all it’s cracked up to be, and it’s nothing to be upset about. Most of my coworkers were spending the day low key–a simple dinner in, quiet dinner out, or even just doing things with their children.

In the end, it was just another day in my life, nothing more or nothing less.  In the future, I now know that I can say to Cupid: “Bring on Valentine’s Day. It doesn’t scare me anymore… just leave the dark chocolates when you leave.”