Happy Valentine's Day!

Let me first begin by saying: I love Valentine's Day.

Now I know I'm single, and I know Valentine's Day is technically a day for people in love (or some version thereof), but I still love it. I like to wear pink and eat chocolate and buy little kid valentines at the drug store and watch romantic comedies and affix temporary heart tattoos to my face. I'm suppose I'm just your run of the mill, cheerful, hopeless romantic...sue me. ;)

So today was no different. I got all dressed up in my favorite pink sweater (because black shirts on Feb 14 are simply not allowed) and opened my front door to a winter wonderland. I think weather.com technically called it a "wintry mix," which means some combination of snow, sleet, rain, and wind, but I call it a winter wonderland. It appeared that most others thought it was a disastrous mess outside, but I thought it was just splendid. I braced myself with my puffy coat, fur-lined boots and red umbrella and trudged through the snow to work for Valentine's Day '07.

It was a great day all around...the candy flowed through the office, I received a few ecards and lovely gifts from my family, and all the while I got to look out my boss' window at a whirlwind of white. White and gray, that is...snow gets unpleasantly dirty when trampled on for hours at a time. Either way, though, the view from where I sat was lovely and I was quite content with my first real glimpse of a New York winter.

The highlight of my day came after work. Lauren, Erin, Michelle and I were each other's dates for the evening, and we had a fabulous evening. We traipsed down to the East Village - Alphabet City, folks - for a great night out at Yuca Bar. We sat right across from Tompkins Square Park, one of the few areas of the City that had managed to stay unscathed by the footprints and tire treads that otherwise ruined the pristine white snow. We ordered empanadas and drank mojitos as we laughed and compared our lives to Sex and the City, except that we didn't have a Samantha. The evening was made complete when the waitress let me take my red helium balloon home.

All in all, it was a cold, blustery, frigid holiday, but I am happy because my heart is warm.

(Did I really just write that? I probably lost you all because you're rolling your eyes at my cheesiness. I apologize, but in my defense, I did warn you...hopeless romantics just can't help themselves.)