dates

so my high school barkada has been celebrating vday girl's day since we were freshmen in high school. it started when we were but scrawny girls who were just beginning to know each other.

i remember the first year we did it, my part in the celebration was to bring pink and red gummi worms for our little group to commemorate our first valentine's day together as an official barkada. we were all not yet ready for boyfriends, but it was good to know we had each other.

in the years that followed, our valentine's day celebrations took on different forms - exchange gifts and whatnots, but since we began it, it has always been tradition that we would eschew dates with boys to spend it with each other - boys would come and go (not true now for K who has a husband and a new-born - he BETTER not come and go), but you get what i mean.

it officially became vday dinner our sophomore year in college, if i remember correctly. i wish we had documented it better, because i find it to be an enriching part of our friendship to be honest - even if i am always the one constantly without an actual date to spend it with.

this year's vday was different because k now has a baby to rush home to - but it was sweet that even with the changes that a baby brings we are still able to keep some things (like this) the same.

as we saw the many couples "date" each other on this evening, it occurred to me to ask k and j what their best dates were.

j, ever the siren, topped the "best date ever" category with the memory of her first boyfriend - a very carefully planned series of surprises that started with dinner at some swanky restaurant (where everything was pre-ordered, natch), then topped off with a gargantuan bouquet of flowers that had tickets to david benoit attached to them. (i wonder why she has this effect on men - she seems to bring out the most romantic in all men she meets!)

k shared that she thought her best dates with r (now her husband) were the casual ones where they stay in and get good food delivered while watching DVDs in the comfort of their home. also a great date, in my opinion! especially if you love the one you're with.

it then occurred to me (quite by surprise actually) that my idea of the perfect date was somewhere in between j and k's. i would prefer a low-key, out of the box setting where we could both be relaxed and unstuffy and perhaps a little bit crazy. maybe a theme park, or an activity center full of random street food, punctuated by lots of walks and lots of talking and of course, some fabulous dessert and coffee in the end. sadly, ive never been on the perfect date (in whatever way, shape, or form)

this bothers me because i sense that i have yet to meet someone who i can imagine sweeping me off my feet. most of my "dates" if you can call them that are awkward date/hanging out events where you date for the sake of dating and nothing more. where are you, oh perfect date?

on the upside, at least i know i will never have to spend vday alone. it's vday already and i am not bitter! a good sign, me thinks.