We had elected to skip Valentine’s Day this year, but we ended up with a nontraditional celebration instead.

I’m not keen on overpriced menus at overcrowded restaurants, and we both had to work the next day, so with our anniversary in just two weeks and Christmas (and my birthday) a little over a month behind us, it seemed silly to buy a present just for the sake of buying a present.

The plan was to exchange cards. Even Sweetie got one  from Romeo! Not only do these dogs use the postal service and apparently have the longest names ever according to the envelope, but they both have an odd sense of humor.

Since Valentine’s Day is my favorite holiday, as well as the day Mike and I met and the day we got engaged, I originally imagined we’d have some grand plan. I had made a hair appointment weeks back so I would be all girly and pretty. Even though we ended up with no plans, I figured it would still be a nice treat. As I sat there gossiping and getting primped, I realized how disappointed I was that we had put no effort into this year at all. Despite the fact that I believe it’s a made up, commercial holiday for the florists, chocolate producers and Hallmark, it has always been my favorite, with all the pink and glitter. More importantly, it had always been a special day for us.

I decided to pick up goodies from the bakery on the way home since I had no plans for dinner; let them eat cake! I think that made me one of those annoying people who celebrates something they said they wouldn’t, but I’ll  take any excuse for a cupcake, and I was driving right past the bakery.

It still didn’t feel like enough. Those of you who follow me on Facebook know that we had talked about matching tattoos, but hadn’t really settled on anything (since Mike didn’t like my idea that he get 99 and I get ain’t 1 – see the video if you don’t get it).  I called to tell him I thought V-Day was the perfect day to get tattoos; he actually agreed IF we could find one, and someone could fit us in, that it might not be a bad idea.

I knew I’d have to sketch something if we’d both agree on one and would have meaning. Did I mention my career as an art major lasted about one semester? My draft went through many, many revisions as I combined the symbols and quotes we had thrown about when we first had the idea. I finally came up with this:

I’m a total weirdo, so I work in Sharpie, white out and photocopies instead of pencil. This was just one of many. We had talked about the infinity symbol with initials, the word agape, and song lyrics but had also liked one we saw with a ship’s wheel and an anchor with the words “be the one to guide me, but never hold me down”.

It was relatively easy to incorporate the anchor into the infinity because of the shape, but the wheel was a challenge, as was getting the lines the right width. I finally nailed it, and Mike agreed! The tattoo shops were definitely not working with us. We called the ones in the area, and they were all booked or closed too early. It seemed that our Valentine’s Day was going to be a bust even after my brilliant idea and hard work. I remembered one last place a little further away that a friend had recommended, and although they originally said they were booked, when Mike told them what we wanted they agreed to squeeze us in – thank you N-Less Ink!

While other couples were buying flowers and eating fancy dinners, we rolled out in our finest  sweats. It didn’t take long since there wasn’t any color or shading and the design was pretty simple. By 7 o’clock, we were the proud owners of matching tattoos.

Mike opted to get his on his chest, were it wouldn’t be seen in his uniform…or most of the time. While we opted to both get the wheel and the anchor in the infinity symbol, his says “be the one to guide me” above the wheel.

I have a less non-visible real estate than Mike, so I opted for my left foot. Unlike the one on my right, I put this one on the side instead of the top. My half reads “but never hold me down” under the anchor.

After running to Target for our tattoo care, we decided pizza delivery would be the perfect end to our day. Although we had been lazy originally, it turned out to be a perfectly fitting celebration for the two of us, and I couldn’t be happier.

I hope all of you spent quality time with your special person, or some quality time loving the most important person (yourself) and indulged in some chocolate or candy hearts without any guilt!