Happy Valentine's Day !

Valentine’s Day will soon be upon us. For me personally it was never a day I took seriously but always enjoyed. I fondly remember Valentine’s Day during my childhood.

 A few days before “the Day”, my parents would take me to purchase Valentine’s Day cards for my fellow elementary school classmates and then I’d sign my name to each one. Unlike when my kids were young we had to address the envelope with the recipient’s full name and the card with sender’s full name. The entire process could be daunting for an eight year old. 

 On Valentine’s Day there would be three little heart shaped boxes of chocolate from our father on the kitchen table carefully placed where my two sisters and I sat. It wasn’t until years later that I learned that my mother reused the same heart shaped boxes, refilling them with chocolate delights year after year to save money.                                                                         

                                 

My favorite type of chocolate

Fun Facts about Valentine’s Day:

·         About 1 billion Valentine's Day cards are exchanged in US each year. That's the largest seasonal card-sending occasion of the year, next to Christmas.

·         More than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are sold for Valentine's Day each year.

·         On average, men shell out $130 each on candy, cards, jewelry, flowers and dates. That’s more than double what women commit to spending.

·         About 8 billion candy hearts will be produced this year; that’s enough candy to stretch from Rome, Italy to Valentine, Arizona 20 times and back again.

·         In order of popularity, Valentine's Day cards are given to teachers, children, mothers, wives, sweethearts and pets.

·         Worldwide, over 50 million roses are given for Valentine's Day each year.

·         Richard Cadbury invented the first Valentine’s Day candy box in the late 1800s.

·         In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.

Receiving chocolate is my favorite part! And I will anxiously await my eldest sons visit on Friday! He always gives me chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine's day - Yum.
                       I hope everyone has a very Happy Valentine’s Day!