There is so much love for us to share. This is our time to fall in love again with each other
Rita Jacobsen.
When I was younger, my mom used to buy a bag of lollipops with the shape of a heart, for me to take to school and give it to my classmates. We would write letters for our friends and give tons of hugs….
I grew up and things got serious: I would give a brownie to my best friends. That was the perfect way to say “thanks for having lunch with me, Monday to Friday, I would like to keep doing it in the years to come”. Let me tell you that it worked, I’m still friends with the people I gave a brownie to, when I was in elementary.
Then the flowers and dinners in crowded restaurants came, and of course, the thought of “why should we have a day to demonstrate love and friendship?” and “It’s just a day to make you buy gifts and spend money on things you don’t need”. I completely agree on that, we don’t need a day to buy flowers and chocolates in order to demonstrate our love. In what I truly believe is in the meaning we can give to it: ee have a day to reflect on our beloved ones, family and friends, our boyfriend or girlfriend. We have a day to remind us to love each other, and why not? to love ourselves. Without it, we probably wouldn’t give a thought to the matter in the entire year.
Valentine’s Day in Finland
I’ve heard from many locals (as a complaint) that in Finland, Valentine’s day is more to celebrate friendship, rather than a celebration about love. How to start celebrating love in an entire country? It’s not an easy task, but all the traditions had a very first action, right?
It can all start with a subtle-forcing the other person to celebrate with you. Could be something like “shall we go out to have dinner on Thursday to celebrate valentine’s day?”. If the answer is no or you’re both living with student budget or you simply don’t feel like going out, there’s always plan B: have a romantic dinner, at home!.
But, how?
I personally like the idea of a picnic indoors. It’s super simple (trust me, If I can do it, even a monkey can do it) and somehow looks VERY romantic.
You can put a cozy blanket on the floor and put your Christmas lights on the top. For the food, pasta is always a good option. There are many easy recipes on pages like “Tasty” and you won’t need more than just a few ingredients. For beverage, a bottle of wine from your nearest Alko will always put you on the safe side. Lastly, and easy and super romantic, a dessert that will take you less than 5 minutes: In a small cupcake baking pan -I got mine for about 3 euros- place melted chocolate -fazer has a very good one, I got mine in Prisma and you only need half of it!- and in the other places, frozen fruits. It looks amazing, it’s impossible to ruin and it perfectly complements the idea of a “romantic- valentine’s day”.
Here you can see the cozy blanket, a light next to the dessert and how it looks like.
Next year we could ask the same question “shall we go out for dinner, to celebrate valentine’s day?”, and if you’re tired of trying, give yourself a brownie, you deserve it.
All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.
Charles M. Schulz.
