Dear readers, please forgive me. You see I’ve only had a few serious relationships in my life. I chose to spend a good chunk of my life living alone and not dating so I could figure out who I was and what I really wanted. This is why I am so inept at this relationship business at times.
Take, for instance, the other day when our friend Angie asked Liz and I if she could come over on the Sunday after next to catch up on Project Runway and I immediately said “sure!” Angie did the math and said “oh, but that’s Valentine’s Day. I’m sure you two want to have the evening to yourselves,” to which I replied — oh, it’s almost too embarrassing to admit, dear readers! I replied… (gulp)….
“Nah, it’s just another day, come on over.”
*sigh*
It’s not that I’m not a romantic. I am. And it’s not like I haven’t spent dozens of Valentine’s Days alone wishing I had someone to wine and dine or even to just cuddle with on the couch while watching a lesbian romantic comedy. But Liz and I just feel so solid that, well, every day feels like a celebration of our love to me. I may be dumb, but I’m not blind; the look on Liz’s face shortly after Angie left quickly told me that she was a bit disappointed by my dismissal of the holiday. I reassured her that we would celebrate it, just maybe not on Sunday the 14th.
Shortly thereafter I stumbled across A Valentine Supper Club via Facebook — a local event in San Jose featuring a prix-fixe dinner, entertainment including the fabulous Molly Bell and swing band Joie de Vivre and dancing in The Corinthian Club’s grand ballroom. The website says the evening is “a throwback to the classic Hollywood of the ’40s & ’50s, set in a nostalgic dinner & dance club.” It just so happens that Liz and I plan to start Swing dancing lessons soon so we can perform our first dance at the wedding without me embarrassing myself. So we get a nice meal, entertainment and a chance to see some talented swing dancers up close and even try our hand at it. Perfect!
To seal the deal, my best man and his wife will be there for the dance portion of the evening and they might show us a step or two. And best of all? It’s on the Friday before Valentine’s Day. We can still have the friend over for a nice quiet supper and a surfeit of Project Runway episodes saved on our Tivo.
I love swing dancing! You guys are going to have a blast.
My best friend and her husband steadfastly celebrate President’s Day, not Valentine’s Day, and it doesn’t always include presents. I admire the fact that they resist the pressure to demonstrate love on one particular day, just because Hallmark and Godiva would like them to. So I say your setup is just perfect!