Happy Valentine's (and belated Gal-entine's) Day!!

Never heard of Gal-entine's Day? Allow Leslie to explain....

I love this tradition! Huge thanks to my gal pal Courtney for pointing out the super significance of February 13th :) Too bad my girlfriends would disown me if I ever made mosaics of their faces using pieces of their favorite soft drink cans...

...or would they? I may have just settled on next Christmas' gifts.

What a lucky girl I am to have been flooded with extra love the past few days and to have 16 sweet little Valentine's right here at work (that I can't help but spoil!) :) This year the V-Day treats include confetti cupcakes with strawberry frosting, fudge brownies with dark chocolate and almond brittle and goodie bags filled with sweets...and a toothbrush, as per the suggestion of my hygienist buddy, Dr. Dre.

Let's engage in some real-talk now, shall we?

Today is, indeed, quite the silly holiday.

But...and here comes the hokey side of me coming out in full effect...I think if we take the pressure off ourselves to make it more "special" than it is, it can serve to be a cute reminder of all the love that surrounds us on a daily basis.

Love is everywhere, my friends.

It exists within the special phenomenon of old acquaintances becoming new friends. There is magic within opening your heart and speaking your truth with another soul.

It exists within exercises of gratitude from new start up companies thanking you for helping them test and perfect their services. (A wine thank you? Oh you know I'll be using them again!)

It exists within kisses from four legged buddies.

It exists within waking up to kind and thoughtful text messages from dear friends (and even in the goofy reply you choose).

It exists within homemade cards given over cups of coffee. Heart to hearts with someone you spark with in that soul-connected-friends-for-life kinda way should be a weekly occurrence for all of us.

It exists within the way we interact with our coworkers, strangers on the bus, waiters or waitresses at dinner, customers on the phone, the UPS guy, the FedEx guy, the Postal Service guy (what can I say? Weebly gets a lot of things delivered).

It exists in how we treat others.

It exists in how we treat ourselves.

It exists in the big and the small.

In family and friends.

In kindness.

In forgiveness.

In our thoughts.

It exists because love is a supremely powerful force that *is*, whether or not we choose to see it.

It exists, mostly, because we are worthy of it.

So, I say we embrace the silliness of Valentine's Day. I say we eat candy and call our parents and do a mini dance in front of the mirror because good lord child, your ass looks great in those jeans and go for walk outside while sending thanks to mama earth for all of her fabulousness and hug a friend or a partner or even a tree if there is no one else around to hug.

To be blunt--not having big plans or a romantic date or maybe even a partner in your life is only negatively meaningful if you choose (yep, choose) to see it that way.

I'm choosing to see today as a wonderful day; a wonderful opportunity to spread the love. Tonight I'm headed out to volunteer at the San Francisco Food Bank. As I told my friend this morning, I am surrounded by so much generous giving in all areas of life that it only feels appropriate to use today to pay it forward.

Whatever your plans are, I hope you are feeling the love.

I know I'm sending you lots :)

"True love is here and now. Whatever we can remember or anticipate is only a shadow of love. We know we have fully experienced love when we turn into love...that is the spiritual goal of life." -Deepak Chopra

In Gratitude,

Trish