Valentine's Day
Friend: "Whoa, everyone, I mean every couple is posting on Facebook today. Are you gonna do one, too?"
Me: "Post what?"
Friend: "I don't know. Whatever it is you're doing for Valentine's day."
Me: "Oh, you're right."
The truth comes out. I don't remember half (or more) of any holiday or special event if Facebook didn't exist, which is what happened since I deactivated my account. Pre-Facebook days I lived with my mom, who would remind me of these things because she had one of those Chinese calendars I swear every older generation Asian household has. I didn't know looking forward to free calendars from the Asian supermarket (like 99 Ranch) or banks was even a thing until every aunty or uncle I've visited during CNY always shove a stack of it in my face going, "Free calendar! You want one?" with such excitement. Anyway, I suppose older people keep track of dates more frequently than I do. To be fair, I *do* have a rough idea when those events are coming up, but I'm not consistently checking my calendar so I'm never prepared ahead of time. Unless it's John's birthday...only because his friends like to plan things on that day. Hahaha.
You can tell by now I'm obviously not doing anything this year given I didn't even remember what day it fell on. I don't recall what we did last year either. Oh, apparently we only celebrated CNY (according to my blog that I just looked up) because they coincided? Hahaha, you know you've been together too long when you decide a holiday like Valentine's is too commercialized and overpriced. That said, we *did* do a "fancier" cookout this past Sunday to "celebrate" Valentine's. You always need an excuse to treat yourself to unhealthy but super delicious food right?
John decided to cook up pancakes, bacon, and egg on Sunday morning for no apparent reason. He said he just felt like doing something sweet for me. I asked if it was for Valentine's and he was puzzled and then said, "Oh, is that this week? I wasn't thinking that but sure." Maybe he has some internal calendar/clock? He's always been the more romantic type but I think my indifferent attitude has rubbed off on him over the years from my lackluster responses to surprises. Guess no matter how much conditioning, instincts cannot be killed, only suppressed (haha)? Anyhow, that's how our "screw being healthy today" food adventure started.
I had leftover napa cabbage from a soup night, and wanted to make a "complete" and yummy meal out of it without needing too much prep, so Okonomiyaki was the answer. I could have made a simple stir fry, but then I'd need to make meat and rice too to balance it out...and that's so much work. Despite the large amount of cabbage and "veggies" that go into this, it's not healthy at all if you take into account all the mayo and sweet sauce for the topping. But soooo delicious nonetheless. Trust the Japanese to make something simple and boring like cabbage and turn it into street/fast food.
And finally, taco's for dinner! I didn't realize we had an "international" theme going on. From an American breakfast to a Japanese lunch and finally a Mexican dinner. Hahaha. Would you believe all these came about from me wanting to clean out all the random leftover ingredients in my fridge? That's why most of them are on the unhealthy/unbalanced side. I usually try to incorporate a good portion of fruits/veggies into our meals, which makes it harder to plan and more things to prep. I guess the quarter cabbage head I used in the Okonomiyaki counts as our serving of veggies? hahaha.
We spent most of the day cleaning up the house and our cooking mess. So nothing very eventful. Mostly because we spent the day before in Walnut Creek (the bay) where I got to celebrate my friend, Heather's, birthday. While the night was fun and the food so good, interacting with so many ladies (or people in general) all at once was super draining. Having a chill Sunday was nice.
I think that's the point. As our relationship matures, Valentine's take on a different meaning for us. No longer are we about the flowers and chocolates (not that I've ever been about them, but tbf, I was totally into the steaks and gourmet dinners XD) to show love, but more about being comfortable, appreciative, and respectful toward the other person on the day-to-day. These days, love to me means he remembers to do the laundry (even separating the whites from the darks!) or when he's willing to do the dishes every night, taking walks with me at the park when I express I want to start becoming more active, letting me have a say on how and what to budget for (lol), appreciating my cooking and telling me every night how delicious my meals are as if he'd eaten them for the first time etc.
Having been married for 2 years now, I'd be more swooned over him telling me that we have extra in our savings than that he booked an expensive restaurant for us. HAHA. I guess now I'm all about stability...okay, maybe even more so since I've always kinda been that way. I'd rather have 365 days of simple acts of love rather than one day of exaggerated displays of love. I'm not dismissing those who still take time to make Valentine's a little extra special in addition to your daily display of love, more power to you. I think that's sweet. But I'm okay if doesn't celebrate it if he's giving me his all on the daily already.
If you're reading this John, know that I appreciate you so much! And I hope you feel the same way too. If not, I'll bake you a chocolate cake tonight...yeah? Or *shock* I'll do the dishes. Hahahaha.
Anyway, Happy Valentine's day to you all! May it be a good one. ;)
Me: "Post what?"
Friend: "I don't know. Whatever it is you're doing for Valentine's day."
Me: "Oh, you're right."
The truth comes out. I don't remember half (or more) of any holiday or special event if Facebook didn't exist, which is what happened since I deactivated my account. Pre-Facebook days I lived with my mom, who would remind me of these things because she had one of those Chinese calendars I swear every older generation Asian household has. I didn't know looking forward to free calendars from the Asian supermarket (like 99 Ranch) or banks was even a thing until every aunty or uncle I've visited during CNY always shove a stack of it in my face going, "Free calendar! You want one?" with such excitement. Anyway, I suppose older people keep track of dates more frequently than I do. To be fair, I *do* have a rough idea when those events are coming up, but I'm not consistently checking my calendar so I'm never prepared ahead of time. Unless it's John's birthday...only because his friends like to plan things on that day. Hahaha.
You can tell by now I'm obviously not doing anything this year given I didn't even remember what day it fell on. I don't recall what we did last year either. Oh, apparently we only celebrated CNY (according to my blog that I just looked up) because they coincided? Hahaha, you know you've been together too long when you decide a holiday like Valentine's is too commercialized and overpriced. That said, we *did* do a "fancier" cookout this past Sunday to "celebrate" Valentine's. You always need an excuse to treat yourself to unhealthy but super delicious food right?
John decided to cook up pancakes, bacon, and egg on Sunday morning for no apparent reason. He said he just felt like doing something sweet for me. I asked if it was for Valentine's and he was puzzled and then said, "Oh, is that this week? I wasn't thinking that but sure." Maybe he has some internal calendar/clock? He's always been the more romantic type but I think my indifferent attitude has rubbed off on him over the years from my lackluster responses to surprises. Guess no matter how much conditioning, instincts cannot be killed, only suppressed (haha)? Anyhow, that's how our "screw being healthy today" food adventure started.
I had leftover napa cabbage from a soup night, and wanted to make a "complete" and yummy meal out of it without needing too much prep, so Okonomiyaki was the answer. I could have made a simple stir fry, but then I'd need to make meat and rice too to balance it out...and that's so much work. Despite the large amount of cabbage and "veggies" that go into this, it's not healthy at all if you take into account all the mayo and sweet sauce for the topping. But soooo delicious nonetheless. Trust the Japanese to make something simple and boring like cabbage and turn it into street/fast food.
And finally, taco's for dinner! I didn't realize we had an "international" theme going on. From an American breakfast to a Japanese lunch and finally a Mexican dinner. Hahaha. Would you believe all these came about from me wanting to clean out all the random leftover ingredients in my fridge? That's why most of them are on the unhealthy/unbalanced side. I usually try to incorporate a good portion of fruits/veggies into our meals, which makes it harder to plan and more things to prep. I guess the quarter cabbage head I used in the Okonomiyaki counts as our serving of veggies? hahaha.
We spent most of the day cleaning up the house and our cooking mess. So nothing very eventful. Mostly because we spent the day before in Walnut Creek (the bay) where I got to celebrate my friend, Heather's, birthday. While the night was fun and the food so good, interacting with so many ladies (or people in general) all at once was super draining. Having a chill Sunday was nice.
 |
| Look at how many girls there were. I think the max I've ever gone out with is 3...yeah, my sisters make 3 hahaha. |
Having been married for 2 years now, I'd be more swooned over him telling me that we have extra in our savings than that he booked an expensive restaurant for us. HAHA. I guess now I'm all about stability...okay, maybe even more so since I've always kinda been that way. I'd rather have 365 days of simple acts of love rather than one day of exaggerated displays of love. I'm not dismissing those who still take time to make Valentine's a little extra special in addition to your daily display of love, more power to you. I think that's sweet. But I'm okay if doesn't celebrate it if he's giving me his all on the daily already.
If you're reading this John, know that I appreciate you so much! And I hope you feel the same way too. If not, I'll bake you a chocolate cake tonight...yeah? Or *shock* I'll do the dishes. Hahahaha.
Anyway, Happy Valentine's day to you all! May it be a good one. ;)
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