You're single and it's Valentine's Day. Your happily coupled-off-friends are busy receiving carnations, white teddy bears and their choice between soup, salad or breadsticks at The Olive Garden, leaving you alone in your singledom to do...what? The natural inclination would be to take a $5.99 bottle of wine and plop down in front of the computer for a solid afternoon of Facebook ex-stalking. Resist the temptation. We both know sooner or later the persuasive powers of sauvignon blanc will lead you to send that message to your scumbag ex-boyfriend, describing exactly why you are better than his new girlfriend (the size of her nose, that trashy leopard-print dress she wore in all of their NYE pictures and her tendency to use captions like "me and my baby" in their couple's albums). Instead, spend the day with other single ladies (or alone, even), restoring your belief in the existence of true love. Noah and Allie, or Jack and Rose are classic options, but if you are looking for something new, check out these movies or books this afternoon.
Movies:
1). Paris Je T'aime: This 2006 movie boasted a pretty great range of actors, actresses and directors, but four years later, most people still haven't heard of it. There are 18 short films (shot by 22 different directors, each in a different district of Paris) that are all brief, unconnected stories about love. The stories explore all kinds of love (parent-child, new, old, same-sex) in funny, sweet, and touching ways and you will see everyone from Natalie Portman to Elijah Wood to Maggie Gyllenhaal to Rufus Sewel featured throughout the film.
2). Chocolat: Juliette Binoche shows us that you don't need to be in love to be happy (you just need a 2,000 year-old family hot-chocolate recipe and the willingness to challenge tradition in a small, uptight French town). She gets the people of the village to let their hair down and catches gypsy Johnny Depp's eye along the way. My one piece of advice for watching this movie: have chocolate on hand. Your tastebuds will be very put out if you don't.
Books:
The Secret History of The Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig: Pure, escapist fun. Modern-day history student Eloise Kelly travels to London in search of research to support her dissertation on Napoleonic-era spy The Pink Carnation. Naturally, she finds her way barred by the sexy heir Colin Selwick, who does not want her poking around in his family history. This story parallels with the late-18th century adventure love story of Amy (who may or may not be The Pink Carnation) and Richard. This book is a pure-guilty-pleasure, as Amy and Richard battle French spies, endure royal balls and end up happily-ever-after. If you get sucked into the plotline, there are several more books to follow (to get your single self through the nights when your best friend is off celebrating Sweetest Day or her 4 and 1/3 week anniversary with the new bf).
I also have to admit, I went to the theaters and saw the movie Valentine's Day yesterday (and yes, if you read my post a couple of weeks ago, I was ALL skepticism about such a big, ensemble cast really managing to make a storyline cute enough for me to invest in). It was good if you go into it expecting nothing more than chick-flick entertainment: you will have fun, you will tear up once or twice and you might even be mildly surprised by who ends up with who.
There it is single ladies. Four viable options. So stay away from Facebook, and stay away from that bottle of wine (at least until after 5:00). Happy Valentine's Day!
Movies:
1). Paris Je T'aime: This 2006 movie boasted a pretty great range of actors, actresses and directors, but four years later, most people still haven't heard of it. There are 18 short films (shot by 22 different directors, each in a different district of Paris) that are all brief, unconnected stories about love. The stories explore all kinds of love (parent-child, new, old, same-sex) in funny, sweet, and touching ways and you will see everyone from Natalie Portman to Elijah Wood to Maggie Gyllenhaal to Rufus Sewel featured throughout the film.
2). Chocolat: Juliette Binoche shows us that you don't need to be in love to be happy (you just need a 2,000 year-old family hot-chocolate recipe and the willingness to challenge tradition in a small, uptight French town). She gets the people of the village to let their hair down and catches gypsy Johnny Depp's eye along the way. My one piece of advice for watching this movie: have chocolate on hand. Your tastebuds will be very put out if you don't.
Books:
The Secret History of The Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig: Pure, escapist fun. Modern-day history student Eloise Kelly travels to London in search of research to support her dissertation on Napoleonic-era spy The Pink Carnation. Naturally, she finds her way barred by the sexy heir Colin Selwick, who does not want her poking around in his family history. This story parallels with the late-18th century adventure love story of Amy (who may or may not be The Pink Carnation) and Richard. This book is a pure-guilty-pleasure, as Amy and Richard battle French spies, endure royal balls and end up happily-ever-after. If you get sucked into the plotline, there are several more books to follow (to get your single self through the nights when your best friend is off celebrating Sweetest Day or her 4 and 1/3 week anniversary with the new bf).
I also have to admit, I went to the theaters and saw the movie Valentine's Day yesterday (and yes, if you read my post a couple of weeks ago, I was ALL skepticism about such a big, ensemble cast really managing to make a storyline cute enough for me to invest in). It was good if you go into it expecting nothing more than chick-flick entertainment: you will have fun, you will tear up once or twice and you might even be mildly surprised by who ends up with who.
There it is single ladies. Four viable options. So stay away from Facebook, and stay away from that bottle of wine (at least until after 5:00). Happy Valentine's Day!
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