Valentine’s Day: despised, adored, dreaded, avoided, relished. How can one holiday encompass so many sentiments? Regardless of how everyone else feels, V Day and I are cool with each other, cool enough for nicknames. Seriously, why would I carry a grudge for a holiday that gives me a chance to spoil my favorite man and do awesome stuff with him?

It was Jason’s turn to plan our V undertakings this time. He decided to spread things out. From Desert Star Theatre’s production of Pirates of the Scarribbean to the Extreme Mammals exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Utah, we did a number of V Day activities not on V Day. Attending Alton Brown Live! The Edible Inevitable Tour, part of Jason’s V Day plans, even happened weeks after the holiday.

The one thing we did do to celebrate Valentine’s Day precisely on Valentine’s Day was go to the Regency Romance Ball. We’ve attended this Jane-Austen-themed dance a few times but it never loses its appeal. Since Jason and I are now “experts” on vintage prancing, we ended up offering a lot of assistance to confused dancers at the ball, which was actually rather fulfilling. I decided to make a new dress for this event…again. Yes, I’ve sewn three for this particular time period but a girl can never have too many Regency gowns. I believe that’s rule #72 in the Girl Handbook. (Don’t try to look it up; the Girl Handbook is completely incomprehensible.)

This February Jason and I had a lot of fun in the name of love. V Day, no matter what others say, you are A-OK with me.