Valentine’s Day just passed and I was HYPED. It’s one of my favourite days of the year. There are so many different ways to celebrate it, no matter what your relationship status is. You can always find some way to show a little extra love, whether it’s for your significant other, your friends, your family, or yourself. In honour of Valentine’s Day and the countless ways to celebrate it, I asked 12 of my friends and family members to share their best Valentine’s Day memories. Here’s what they had to say:
1. “One of the best times I’ve had on Valentine’s Day was actually at a “Galentines” Day party! A huge group of girls crammed into a student house to watch the Bachelor. We all wore cozy jammies and slippers; everyone brought delicious romance-themed junk food (think chocolate covered strawberries and “stud muffins”). And of course, there was wine!”
– Hannah, 23, female
2. “One year, Valentine’s day with my girlfriend started off like most do, with a nice dinner. We then headed to the park in the dead of night for dessert (as one does). After about 10 minutes of scouring the park for twigs (in formal clothing I might add) I brought out the newspaper clippings, the lighter fluid, and the marshmallows. While keeping a vigilant eye out for law enforcement we roasted some marshmallows and talked for hours. The night ended with a rom-com and some popcorn at home.”
– Prathmesh, 22, male
3.“One year my Don partner and I had rounds on Valentine’s Day, so we opted to do them dressed in Power Ranger morphsuits. I was the pink ranger, he was red…we figured our colour scheme was on point.”
– Delaney, 26, female
4. “For my first Valentine’s Day with my high school boyfriend, we didn’t make plans because Valentine’s Day was on a school night, and going to different schools meant we couldn’t see each other (we were only 15 and didn’t have our driver’s licences). I was in my room that night, focused on doing homework when he burst through the door with flowers and chocolate. His mom drove him 25 minutes to my house so he could surprise me! That was hands-down my favourite Valentine’s Day ever!”
– Amanda, 23, female
5. “Got one of these bad boys [pictured below] from my mom when I was little and she gave my siblings and I little trinkets on Valentine’s day. Her hairdresser had one and I wanted one.”
– Cornelius*, 24, male
6. “Last year, I drove through a snowstorm to visit my long-distance boyfriend for his birthday, which fell on the weekend before Valentine’s Day. That weekend, we went out for his birthday and then I met his parents for the first time the morning after. Even though we didn’t spend Valentine’s Day itself together, I’m super glad that we still had the chance to celebrate it in some way (along with his birthday).”
– Becky*, 22, female
7. “One year I took myself out to dinner (using Scene points, ’cause I’m a cheap date) on Valentine’s Day. I even treated myself to dessert. Best V-Day date ever.”
– Maria*, 26, female
8. “Because of co-op, my girlfriend was in Toronto and I was in Waterloo for Valentine’s Day. Also because of midterms we actually didn’t get to see each other on Valentine’s Day so we met up in Toronto a week or two before. We went for dinner in Yorkville and spent the night wandering the area. This night is definitely my favourite Valentines moment (excluding when I was 8 and I tried the sugar heart candy for the first time).”
– Ricardo*, 23, male
9. “Last year, some of my friends and I were on co-op terms in Toronto. It was during the winter Olympics, so we cooked at our place, got wine-drunk and watched figure skating. One of my friends got roses for everyone.”
– Yan, 23, female
10. “One year for Valentine’s day my girlfriend and I went to a rave. We got a hotel and had to walk 30 minutes from the train station to the hotel. It was so cold we couldn’t feel our toes! We got VIP passes and the show was fantastic! We normally don’t make a big deal out of Valentine’s day, but that year we decided to do something special.”
– Reid, 24, male
11. “For Valentine’s Day every year, my sisters and I would bake something together – cupcakes, a cake, cookies, you name it. Whatever we made, it would never last for long!”
– Harneet, 22, female
12. “When I was in grade 12, I went over to my best friend’s house after school on Valentine’s Day. I brought a box of pizza, a container of Pillsbury heart sugar cookies, and a bunch of DVDs. We spent the evening eating junk food and watching rom-coms. We had a blast and it is still my best Valentine’s Day memory to this day.”
– Leah*, 23, female
No matter what your relationship status is or how you celebrated Valentine’s Day, I hope you had an amazing one!
*Some stories have been lightly edited for clarity. Starred names have been changed for privacy.
Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12