I love-

I love playing skeeball at Coney Island with a yard of pina colado. I love the memory of Angelina and I getting pink unicorn fake tattoos there after a Brooklyn Cyclones game.

I love barbecuing with hickory chips and diverse sauces from Uncle Brutha's. I love sitting around on my back porch with friends listening to Rosemary Clooney in Brazil and smelling barbecue smoke in my hair.

I love Cadbury Mini Eggs. I love when they finally put them out in stores around Valentine's Day, and how they disappear after Easter.

I love the smell of a real vintage dress before it's dry cleaned. I love knowing it has been stored away for years and feeling like a piece of history wearing it.

I love driving down Old Shell Road in Mobile on the same route from my house I took everyday to elementary, middle, and high school. I love seeing what has changed, but, more importantly, what has stayed the same. I love that the high school students there still meet at "The Dick" to start a party train on weekends. "The Dick" was an abbreviation for Colonel Dixie (a fast food chain in Mobile once upon a time) which was torn down in Springhill back when I was in Middle School. We used to go there for french fries after Ballroom Dance classes. It then became an empty lot throughout my high school days, and we'd still call it "The Dick." Now, there's CVS and a bank in the place of Colonel Dixie, and yet, kids still meet at "The Dick."

I love watching reruns of The Nanny on Lifetime.

I love throwing peanut shells on the ground at minor league baseball games and getting excited about the silly games the mascot gets the fans to play during innings.

I love horse shows and state farms and elephant ears and getting dizzy on the Tilt-A-Whirl.

I love the People Mover at Epcot. I love how in the 1980s, the ride claimed this would be how people in the next century got around town. Instead, it has helped us get from terminal A to terminal I in the Atlanta airport.

I love road trips. I love road tripping with my Mom and planning our driving around where the Crate and Barrell Outlet or Macaroni Grill might be located. I love road tripping with my Dad who makes me stop to go caving in the Shenandoah Valley or for coffee in Asheville. I love road tripping with my friends who moon truckers and stop only to eat at Denny's.

I love the cheesiness of Vegas. I loved playing slots with real quarters and a Sinatra-esque lounge singer behind me. I loved seeing Wayne Newtown's name on the Stardust marquis.

I love the Chi Hair Iron. I love that "chi" or "chai" in Hebrew (one of the few things I know) is the letter that signifies life. I love that a Chi Iron can literally give you back your life.

I love that I've had the same Magic 8 Ball since middle school. I love that I received another one at some point and gave it away.

I love that I can look through the one album I still have here of Jerk and I (the other's are home in Bama) and not feel upset. I love that this is possible because the one album I have left is of the two of us camping with his family in the cold Vermont rain.

I love when Ali bakes brie into Pillsbury croissants. I've tried to replicate the recipe, but I always burn the croissant.

I love how Lyss says "pardon me" instead of "excuse me."

I love that Erica has two different color eyes. I loved how while buying Almay's Bring Out eye color, she laughed that she didn't know which eye color of which to buy the palette.

I love that the Master keeps her Prada boots in a box on top of her dishwasher. That's something I would do.

I love that Peter and Ralph own two or three copies of the Red Sox winning the 2004 World Series on DVD. In case one breaks, I suppose.

I love that District Belle, Vive, and Sassy go out all over the city and are willing to try out anything. I love that it makes me more adventurous as well.

I love that I finally have a toile bedspread. I love that I wandered by Laytner's Linen Store for months eyeing the expensive set and that my mother graciously bought it for me as a present while she was visiting.

I love that it's just Valentine's Day. It is the first time in five years I'm single, and here it is. Here I am. Guess what, I'm okay. I love that I'm not so sad. I'm not so scared of being alone. I'm going to be just fine.

I love you for reading this blog entry. Hope you have a wonderful day filled with chocolate rivers and edible flowers and a goose that lays a golden chocolate egg.