Be My Valentine?

GIRLFRIENDS CRUISE WITH AUTHOR DEBORAH A. OLSON

By Alisa Star

Come sail with us on this once in a lifetime opportunity to join the sisterhood cruise adventure with renowned author Deborah A. Olson. Take this time to reflect and rejoice in the healing power of girlfriends and sisterhood. This exciting journey will take place March 22, leaving the Galveston port at 4 p.m. on the Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas. The cruise will include stops to Cozumel, George Town, Grand Cayman, Falmouth, and Jamaica, arriving back in Galveston on March 29. The author has created an exciting itinerary of mixers and group meetups, to encourage and help strengthen the bond with your girlfriends both on the boat and back at home. Deborah will help you rediscover your own power as a woman and how to harness it for good. Come celebrate this amazing journey of female friendships that we have in our lives, and how richer our lives would be in this world because of our friends, and learn how to utilize the bond between the two. You can book with your sister, mother, best friend, or co-worker for a great deal. Bundle pricing starts at $1,730 for two people -- $865 per person for double occupancy cabin. Workshop sessions with Deborah are at a discounted price at $200 per person. +Sessions price include welcome cocktail party, free gifts, session material, great swag and more. If you’re cruising solo, no problem. Give them a call and they’ll help you out! Take advantage of this amazing cruise, learn how to deal with toxic friends, and the one big drama queen friend we all have. Learn how to find the real friendship we all crave and need. Share ideas on how to make new friends at any age or stage in your life. Start the new year with a new outlook on friendship! Visit https://deborah-olson.com/ cruise/ for more information.

Be my Valentine? Love or not Love

By Alisa Star W hen we think of Valentine’s Day we generally think of the spirit of love and romance. The day usually includes flowers and chocolates or a card from your lover or friend, or maybe a romantic candlelit dinner at a fancy restaurant somewhere. People from all over the world celebrate this day on February 14th, in the name on St. Valentine with the meaning of “LOVE” in mind.

Valentine’s Day is a very old tradition; it originated from a Roman festival Lupercalia in the year 496. Though no one has pointed out its exact date, only that it was celebrated sometime in February. This holiday as we know it for the expressions of love really isn’t romantic at all. The holiday was celebrated by men hitting on women by, well, hitting on them. The brutal battle included a matchmaking lottery, where men drew the names of young women from a jar. The couple would then enter the ring together and fight for the duration of the festival. This event was actually quite brutal. In many cases young women would line up, eager for the men to hit them, believing that being hit by a man would make them fertile.

As the years went on, the holiday grew a bit sweeter. Chaucer and Shakespeare romanticized it, and it gained popularity throughout Britain and the rest of Europe. They began to make handmade paper cards, that became the tokens-du-jour in the Middle Ages.

Who is this St. Valentine and where did he originate from? Saint Valentine was widely recognized as a 3rd century Roman saint, commemorated in Christianity on Feb. 14th. That’s where the exact date came to play for the holiday. From the high Middle Ages his Saints Day is associated with a tradition of courtly love. He is known today to be the patron of lovers, epileptics, and beekeepers. He also had an edict that prohibited the marriage of young people. This was based on the hypothesis that unmarried soldiers fought better in battle than married soldiers because married soldiers might be afraid of what might happen to their wives and family if they died. Valentine also performed polygamy as in that day and age a man marrying more than one woman was popular. Valentine was later caught and imprisoned and tortured for performing secret ceremonies against the command of Emperor Clausius the second.

As we think of Valentine’s Day today, we take a more modern approach. February 14th is celebrated by millions of people. It’s a big event at some schools, where each student makes a homemade Valentine box for the exchange of cards, and candy. So if you have a child in school, make sure they have enough cards for the whole class. Students also take a Valentine gift for the teacher. Chocolates, or a small gift.

Some other Valentine classics are the conversation hearts. Every American knows this candy. These little hearts have messages on them like “kiss me,” “be kind,” or “love you,” but now times have changed to messages like “tweet me,” or “girl power.” We can’t forget the felt cut out hearts we used to make in school, with your crush’s name on it, the heart shaped cookies, or red velvet cupcakes. Either way you look at it, Valentine’s Day has Love written all over it.

So, as you approach this year in celebration of Valentine’s Day with your significant other, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife, and you pick out the perfect gift, or the perfect card that took forever to find the right words, or that beautiful fragrant bouquet of flowers, remember the true meaning of the day. Appreciate the person you‘re celebrating with, show them love, kindness and support. Love is a partnership of two unique people who bring out the best in each other, and who know that even though they are wonderful as individuals, they are even better together. Happy Valentine’s Day! “Love is a partnership of two unique people who bring out the best in each other.”