Valentine's Day Q&A

Happy Valentine's Day, all! I've always sort of been a sucker for Valentine's Day even when I didn't have someone romantic to share it with (but, in full disclosure, I've had a traditional Valentine for many years, so this point is somewhat mute ;) ). I just love another reason to show people how much they mean to me. SUPER corny and mush but true.

I saw some bloggers doing the TBB Asks questions for February a few weeks ago and was bummed to have missed the link-up, but I thought they were appropriate to answer and post ON Valentine's Day too, so here we are. 

Who is your oldest friend? How did you meet?
I've mentioned her many a time on here—Chelsie! She's my oldest and dearest friend and we met in kindergarten.

 I call her my soulmate and I truly mean it. I'm grateful for our friendship every single day.

Tell us about your circle of support. Who are your people?
Oh my. You want to get me going? Ask me about "my people." My people are the greatest people. I'm truly lost for words when I think about how many people I have in my circle of support. It's unbelievable. I'm so blessed and lucky and grateful, grateful, grateful.

My parents are my greatest supporters by far (which is saying a lot since I really do have so much support from so many people). They are my best friends and my favorite people to talk to—I talk to them every day. And my siblings are as good as they come.

I have the best girlfriends that have ever existed on earth ever in history ;) and from all aspects of my life. I have my core group, the ones that feed my soul every day. And I have another best friend I met at work (my former company) who just lights up my life. And I'm very fortunate to have friends from college and high school (and even earlier) and some who work at my former company that I still talk to and catch up with from time to time. I'm also close with all the women Sammy's friends are dating which has been such a joy.

I've mentioned several times, but my current coworkers have certainly established themselves as a great form of support. They're beyond kind and thoughtful and I'm so grateful to work with them.

The support I get from my extended family is almost a joke. My grandma is SO proud of me it borders on unstable. She tells me every day how proud she is of me haha which makes me want to work harder honestly because I want to live up to the person she believes me to be. My aunts and uncles and cousins are endlessly supportive and have been a well of knowledge my entire life. Their love is exceeding and I love them for it.

an oldy but goody

And it goes without saying Sammy's family is unbelievable. His parents are always there for us, his brother and SIL are always willing to do anything to help us, and it goes on and on to his aunts and uncle to his cousins and beyond.

I have no idea what I ever did to deserve the circle I have but not a day goes by that I'm not endlessly grateful for it (could I say grateful one more time?). I just hope I give an ounce of the support I receive back to these people.

How did you meet your partner?
We met in second grade! (obviously a suuuuper quality photo but sorry, it's a screenshot of a picture of a picture etc.)

How is Valentine's Day celebrated in your home?

This is our first Valentine's in our home! In past years, we've gone out to dinner but it honestly feels so forced and we can never get a reservation at a restaurant we actually want to go to, so in the last few years we bought ingredients and cooked dinner together at our parents house. One year we made homemade pasta and meatballs, last year we made steak (for him) and shrimp (for me). It's soooo much better for us than going out to a fancy meal. I think if we ever go out on Valentine's Day, it'll be to be Freddy's in Cicero, our favorite restaurant, 'cause it's so old school Italian and chill and has the best food ever.

This year Sammy is working so I'm making dinner for us. I think I'm going to do some kind of chicken dish with pasta using vodka sauce from...Freddy's ;)

We normally don't exchange gifts on Valentine's day except maybe candy and cards, but this year Sammy said he got me something small, so I took inspiration from his cousin's blog (which is amazing if you want to check it out!) and got him a bocce ball set which is so Italian of me I could throw up. Not romantic at all haha but we have the perfect yard for the game and he doesn't have his own set yet, so I think he's going to enjoy getting it.

What is your love language?
Words of affirmation. *I'll wait while everyone puts on their surprised face.*

Do you prefer receiving flowers or chocolates?
Flowers all. damn. day. I like chocolate but I'm not a crazy person about it, so I would much prefer flowers.

What is the most meaningful gift you have ever received or have given?

I'm lucky to have received a lot of meaningful gifts, so this is hard!

When we were kids, my dad used to leave a book on our bed at night on our birthday and he always wrote something on the inside cover. Those are incredibly meaningful to me. My mom made my dream come true and took me to Paris as my graduation gift. My grandma gave me the tea set my great grandmother brought over from Italy as our housewarming gift and a Lladro figure that belonged to her and my grandpa as an engagement gift. And it goes without saying my engagement ring is incredibly meaningful to me.

One year for Christmas my uncle gave me a collection of essays by Nora Ephron that she signed and I have it on display in my library. She's my favorite writer, so I absolutely treasure that.

I feel like one of the more meaningful gifts I've given was when I had my grandpa's signature engraved into jewelry and/or ornaments for my grandma, mom, and uncles. They loved receiving those gifts.


Well, this was fun! It reminded me of doing surveys when MySpace was a thing haha.
I hope everyone was a wonderful Valentine's Day however you choose to celebrate (if at all)! xo

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