I just think it's forced and overcommercialised and unneccesary and I don't appreciate being told when it is required that I express my love for my partner, as if on all other days of the year that's optional. 

Maybe I'm just a Valentines Grinch, but that's the way I see it.  I've never celebrated it, and don't intend to start.

For people who do enjoy it though, that's great, and I enjoy hearing about everyone's cute/romantic/fun plans : )

I felt the same way for years. I hate commercialized holidays. Don't get me started on Christmas either.

I fixed it in my head that I will celebrate Valentine's Day it with gifts and such, but never with a bought gift. Only something made by hand and personal.

My husband's birthday is 2/15, so we do our own version, where he does something for me on his birthday eve, and I do something for him on my birthday eve (a couple months later). We don't really do store-bought presents, just usually something fun and thoughtful. Such as...

Once I bought a big bag of accidentally-vegan fortune cookies, carefully cut open each wrapper and removed the fortune, typed up my own personalized ones and carefully inserted them and taped the packages closed again. He loved it - he strategically opened and ate one per day, then slowed to one every other day to make them last longer.

He once surprised me a day early, when I got home late from an evening class, with a homemade candlelight dinner on our patio using a table and tablecloth and candlesticks he had borrowed from work (he works at a church), and it was cool because I came in and everything looked normal and all, and then before I could eat he asked me to look at something in the backyard, and it was all set up out there - so cute!

Although terribly unhealthy, I found this a really easy way to make something adorable last year despite being buried under grad school:  http://bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/2006/02/17/everyday-romance/

now i want to do something sweet but i can't think of anything not involving food. hmmm....

Valentine's Day festivities have been cancelled due to lack of funds. No romantic fun for Heli.

Just as well I thoroughly enjoy any and all time spent with my man, no matter what we are or are not doing.

I am in the same boat. That is why I am doing nothing but food related things.

Update: I found a cute little gift to give him, in a second-hand shop. Now, he loves musicals, and he already told me his gift to me/us will be tickets to Joseph & The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, which is showing in April. So... guess what I found the original soundtrack for on vinyl?!? Oh yeah. :D I grinned so much when I walked out with that under my arm. Fortune was smiling on me, because I don't usually even look at second-hand shops. I'm so glad I did today. And the place where I looked for cheap wrapping paper had some bright, printed paper with VW-ish looking cars and a whole lotta flowers on it... I'm gonna wrap the record and write 'Hippy Valentine's Day' on it. ::) 8-)

And (another and!) since the partly-improvised, gigantic banana cake I baked tonight seems to have worked after all, I'm gonna make the traditional cream cheese & lemon icing(frosting) for it, and take it along to his house for dessert. He's working tomorrow, but has a break from six until seven. And afterwards I'll hang out there until he gets home at midnight. And we'll sleep in in the morning. ;)b

I just think it's forced and overcommercialised and unneccesary and I don't appreciate being told when it is required that I express my love for my partner, as if on all other days of the year that's optional.  

Maybe I'm just a Valentines Grinch, but that's the way I see it.  I've never celebrated it, and don't intend to start.

For people who do enjoy it though, that's great, and I enjoy hearing about everyone's cute/romantic/fun plans : )

this  ^
I don't think we've ever 'done' valentines day.  I'm just totally not romantic and neither is N.  We'll be doing our normal Sunday routine of Farmer's Market in the morning, but may have a treat of a trip to the pub at lunchtime, because Sunday lunch drinks are naughty and I now don't have to go to work on Monday.  BUT I don't want to get cuaght up in other people loveyness at the pub so not sure.

I am such a valentine's grinch!  I didn't even realise it was valentines until the other day when someone asked me what I was doing on Sunday and for ages couldn't figure out what was so special about Monday.

And like oww, I still enjoy hearing what other people are doing though. ;)

eta: I don't knwo why I feel this way about Valentines day specifically because I will celebrate other commercial holidays - eg I celebrte Christmas but am not religious.  m'eh, just hypocritical I guess!