Delightfully in love

  This post was inspired by a friend at work. She is the ultimate lover of love. We constantly have conversations about everything love. With it being Valentine's Day, I thought it appropriate to dedicate this post to Hillary, the champion of love and all of it's delights!

  So, Valentine's Day... why do we celebrate it? Well of course, there's all that LOVE in the air, but have you wondered what/why/who started it all?

  A quick search on my favorite online tool shows the day first became associated with romantic love in the High Middle Ages of Geoffrey Chaucer, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. The first recorded association of Valentine's Day with romantic love is in Parlement of Foules (1382) by Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer wrote:
For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.

["For this was Saint Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate."]

Valentine was thought to be a priest who refused an unattested law attributed to Roman Emperor Claudius II, allegedly ordering young men to remain single. The Emperor supposedly did this to grow his army, believing that married men did not make for good soldiers. The priest Valentine, however, secretly performed marriage ceremonies for young men. Valentine was arrested and thrown in jail. On the evening before Valentine was to be executed, he wrote the first "valentine" card himself, addressed to a young girl variously identified as his beloved, the jailer's daughter. It was a note that read "From your Valentine."


  And so we keep the custom alive; sending notes of love, flowers, sweets, and other thoughtful delights to the people we wish to show our love and affection.
What are the special somethings you are doing for your beloved(s)? Plural only because my best friend is always on my Valentine list. 


  I made some strawberry jam centered chocolate muffins for my special someone. He's been working long hours all Valentine's weekend and it is quite probable we won't be able to do a "proper" Valentine's Day. So, we've agreed to have a lovely early breakfast to start our day off. Although, it's not the ideal Valentine's Day, it has all the most important features. Often we tend to get caught up in the minutia of the day, it shouldn't be about the flowers or the dinners. We should instead use the day to remember how wonderfully loved we are and the special people to whom we should return the love.  I think this Valentine's Day is the first that I've learned this lesson to be very true.


  I hope your Valentine's Day is wonderful and filled with love. Even if you're not in a relationship, remember all the love that still surrounds you and how truly blessed you are to have it.
So, whether you show it with muffins or hand written cards don't forget to show it. It's your chance to be as cheesy and lovey dovey as you want! So go gangbusters with the love folks!


With a little extra "XO"
DV