Photo credit, Gabe McClintock, Perspectiveye Photography, Calgary, Canada

I’m not a big fan of Valentine’s Day. It’s such a hokey, Hallmark, twee sort of holiday, and unlike other holidays, it seems so much more difficult to make it your own: to celebrate love in your own way, with or without chocolate, or flowers, or cheesy red hearts. Maybe it’s just my contrarian nature: the mere fact of someone telling me that this is the one day that you must celebrate love makes me feel, well… unlovey.

Love, however: love rocks. I’m a big fan. And in my opinion, Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be about a boyfriend or girlfriend, partner or spouse; it can be about a child or a parent, a favorite uncle or a godmother, your dog, your cat, your favorite plant. Love really does make everything better and whether it is your partner in life or the barista at your favorite coffee shop, your oldest and dearest friend or someone you’ve just met, I say spread the love around. The world can always use more.

One of the best ways I know to show someone you love them is to cook for them: it doesn’t have to be chocolate, and it doesn’t have to be heart-shaped (although I sometimes do that, when the mood strikes), it just has to be made with love. I’m planning on making these shortbread cookies for my Valentine today; and even though they will include chocolate, I refuse (refuse I tell you!) to cut them into heart shapes. So there.

Happy Love Day, everyone. May your celebrations be joyous, and all your own.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention our utterly fantastic wedding photographer, Gabe, artist behind the image above. We were so lucky to have found him for our wedding in the wilds of Canada last year; not only is he an amazingly talented photographer, he managed to make our photo session not the torture-fest that I was dreading, but actually an enjoyable experience, and one of my fondest memories from our wedding day. Check out his images at the perspectiveye blog.