Happy Singles Awareness Day!

That's what my rebellious, cynical high school friends and I used to call this holiday, anyway. Pretty accurate if you think about it. Today's just another holiday to separate "us" from "them." Pfft. Them.

At least I don't feel too left out of the lovey-dovey loop over here. Valentine's Day... not that big in Brussels. I saw a few people carrying around a rose or two, but they were basically dragging them along the concrete. Miss America would be so offended.

In fact, after scouring numerous shops for a legit Valentine's Day card to send home, Priya and I deduced that American's are some of the only ones who pump this holiday with so much commercialized sweetness. (The search results included a whopping selection of about 5 cards, all in French, so for all we knew they said, "You're sexy, let's mate," or perhaps, "You're cute but this card is to tell you I want a divorce.")

Speaking of love in a foreign language, remember those candy hearts with the adorable messages on them? My favourites were always "BE MINE," "LUV YA" and "BOOK CLUB." Today I saw a bag of Dutch candy hearts at the supermarket. I won't say I wasn't tempted to buy a pack and have my host lady translate them for me. If American candy hearts have messages as ridiculous as "FAX ME" (euphemism?), I can only imagine what the Dutch phrases might be.

So. After all of this complaining, you may ask just how am I spending my Valentine's Day...

Well, this morning I worked on dreadful Statistics homework for about four hours. Then, I took pictures of myself, angling them in such a way to show off my fancy new barrette clips.


Impressed? I bet. Tonight we're going to tear up the karaoke stage at O'Reilly's for my buddy's birthday celebration. I'm hoping for another stimulating and 1980's-tastic adventure. I think Garret and I made Belinda Carlisle proud last week:


Well, Reader- from the bottom of my pixelated heart, I hope your day is as warm and fuzzy as humanly possible.


Awwww. That's for you, Mom.

Love,
Lauren