Love Don’t Have to Cost a Thing

If the explosion of hot pink stuffed animals and heart-shaped candy hasn’t tipped you off, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Every year, I find myself drawn magnet-style to the Valentine aisle in the grocery store. It’s like a disease. I’m basically a marketer’s dream. Just tell me that something (read: anything) is Valentine-themed and I’m your girl. “Buy your Valentine a Honda.” Okay! “This February, fall in love with our new line of humidifiers.” Sold.   If Grease Monkey started advertising “The Sweethearts Oil Change”, I’d be there right now. I don’t like feeling tricked by Valentine’s Day marketing, though, and I’m always on the look-out for free(ish) ways to be romantic. Here’s a few of my favorites this year:

1. Tyler Knott Gregson who writes poems like this one. I feel like if there was a hipster poet boyfriend catalogue somewhere, Tyler Knott Gregson might be one of the prototypes you could order. His tumblr is at the top of my to-read list pretty much any day of the week. Basically, I don’t want to know anything about him or who he is or what his life is like.  I just want him to continue writing poems every day. I feel like Tyler Knott Gregson understands that being in love is wonderful and difficult and painful and important. And I am very, very happy for the person he writes all of these beautiful words for because every single one of them must feel like a Valentine.

Source: Uploaded by user via Maya on Pinterest

 

2. Valentine’s Day at White Castle. If you’re “lucky” enough to live in this part of the country, you can make a reservation for a candlelit dinner at White Castle. You heard me. Kyle and I did this a couple years ago and we had a romantic, greasy dinner for about $10.

3. Cute DIYs on Pinterest like this one

 

Source: modernpartyideas.com via Lisa on Pinterest

 

4. Love letters. Love letters don’t cost anything but the paper you write them on and thanks to the World Wide Web, love letters have gotten even cooler. This site has archived great love letters in history or you can check out Civil War love letters here. Read found love letters here or anonymous love letters at The Love Letter Collection. You can send a love letters to a stranger through The World Needs More Letters or request one for someone you know who might need one this year. Write one to someone you love. Write one to yourself. Write on on your blog. Just write one!

What free(ish) Valentine’s celebrations do you have? Any suggestions?

love, elizabeth