• Home
  • About The Arners
    • Contact
    • FAQs
    • Arner Adventures Resources
    • Press
  • Blog
  • Podcast
    • Episodes & Show Notes
  • Wanderlust(ing)
    • Travel
  • Mental Wellness
    • Mindfulness
    • Self-Care
    • Anxiety
    • Grief

Arner Adventures

In Bevs Holidays self-care ·

Valentine’s Day: From Depraved Origins to Self-Love and Fancy Drinks

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin

The Depraved Origins

For much of the last century, Valentine’s Day has been a hugely commercial holiday due to the sales and exchange of chocolates, flowers, and cards. It’s also a time for lovers to acknowledge their bond to one another. However, the origins of this holiday present a much darker and complex picture. Starting in the 3rd century AD, the Romans celebrated a holiday called Lupercalia, running from February 13th – February 15th. To say it was a depraved event would be a broad understatement. The event involved slaying animals, whipping nude women with these animals, and the pairing of couples through a lottery style arrangement for the duration of the three-day event. By the way, these lottery style arrangement parties exist today, and we even know some neighborhoods that host them, and no, we are not participants. 

The name, Valentine’s Day, may have evolved from the same period. The Romans executed two men named Valentine on February the 14th of different years. The Catholic church regarded both men as martyrs and designated St. Valentine’s Day in their honor. 

Through the ages, the celebration became less brutal, starting in the 5th century when Lupercalia and St. Valentine’s Day combined subsequently ditching the many pagan rituals. Still existing were the love and matchmaking rituals, along with a little drunken revelry that still exists in our present day celebrations. Just hold on, we’ll get to the fancy drinks. 😉 

Romantic love, in reference to Valentine’s day, was first alluded to in a poem by Chaucer in the 1300’s and later by Shakespeare in his play, Hamlet, in the 1600’s. The romantic trend continued during the 1700’s when handwritten homemade Valentines were exchanged and began being sent through the mail. This continued when in 1847 the New England Valentine Company became the very first commercially produced Valentines cards. In 1913, Hallmark got on board, and commercial sales of Valentines cards exploded and continued as an annual tradition through the present day. 

Self-Love

For many, Valentine’s Day can be a harsh reminder of their single status. Thankfully, it is starting to be embraced more by the self-love culture as many make a point to buy for, and treat themselves on this special day. If you are looking for a quick way to check in with yourself, here is a great self-care checklist that you can use on Valentine’s Day, to practice some self-care and self-love. Not that you need a day to celebrate some self-lovery, but honey, if you need a day to remind yourself of just how fabulous you are, Valentine’s Day is just the day! Soak it in!

Now, the fancy drinks!

One of our fave places in Key West  (they have other locations, too) is Better Than Sex Dessert Restaurant. It’s sort of a speakeasy, a few streets off of Duval, away from the tourists. It’s a quiet spot, one that makes you feel that you have entered into another world, and another time for a few hours while in southernmost Florida.  Their desserts are ah-mazing, but so are their drinks. We thought, while spending this Valentine’s Day at home, we would dupe their signature flair of giving our glass a “rim-job” (he-he, yes, you can totally laugh, how can you not?!) with chocolate. All of their drinks and desserts align with sex innuendos and make you giggle when you order, but totally worth the experience! 

We are going to call our creation, “Lick’n Sparkle” Any association with a real life stripper is totally coincidental. It is easy to create, and really pretty to look at, again, no association with a stripper, though we realize the verbiage here is getting really similar. 

All you need is:

  • Prosecco (or any sparkling wine)
  • Chocolate (we had leftover chocolate chips from holiday baking)
  • Red sugar (again, leftover from holiday baking)

Melt the chocolate, dip the rim of a glass into the melted chocolate. Dip the chocolate rim into a plate of red sugar. Pour prosecco into the glass, and enjoy. This drink is so yummy! Each sip is a taste of yummy prosecco, chocolate, and sugar. The really sexy part is the licking of the glass, and well, you can do what you will with the rest of the evening. 

Happy Valentine’s Day!  

Related posts:

An Ode to Turkeys and Not Eating Them
Joy and Sadness of Christmas Day
Cultivating a Healthy Life with Healthy Boundaries
Tweet
Share
Share
Pin

3 Comments

About arneradventures

Hi, we are Shannon and Gerry Arner, and our rescue, fur baby, Betty White. After owning our own business, working 24/7, we made a lifestyle change and decided to make the most out of life. We sold our house, downsized, and moved to the coast. We are wanderlusters; we live life minimally, but fully. We live each day as an adventure, and enjoy sharing them with you!

Comments

  1. arneradventures

    at

    That’s hysterical! Can’t imagine watching over 40 students in Key West! 👀

  2. Laurie

    at

    Oh, man…the only time I was in Key West was when I was chaperoning a group of 40 high school students. I need to go back there with just my hubby! Better Than Sex is definitely on our itinerary. Your Valentine’s drink sounds uh-may-zing!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • TikTok
  • YouTube
Arner Adventures Free Travel Prep List

Looking for something?

Arner Adventures Declutter Challenge

Arner Adventures

Once my favorite bag, now my favorite pillow. 🤎 Once my favorite bag, now my favorite pillow.
🤎
This was a gift from @scoutsobel - an amazing woman, @emotionalentrepreneur and CEO/Founder of @scoutsagency
🤎
I carried this tote everywhere and when the handle recently broke (I overload it most of the time) I knew that the message was one that I needed to see every day in my office.
🤎
If you know me, you know I cannot sew, but with a bit of patience (it's truly a virtue), I was able to sew it into the most endearing pillow.
🤎
In case you didn't know, you ARE safe in your emotions. Now go read Scout's book, #TheEmotionalEntrepreneur and practice some self-love this weekend!
This is just a friendly reminder from Betty White This is just a friendly reminder from Betty White to celebrate every win! Big or small, all wins are important!
🐾
January can be challenging for a lot of people. With the struggles from the holidays, whether expectations were set high, or post-holiday letdown, January leads the year with the highest depressive episodes.
🤎
There are also factors such as holiday bills coming due, less daylight, and cold weather.
🤎
Take a moment today to breathe, give yourself a great big hug, and write down 3 things you're grateful for in your life.
🤎
We're with you, and #BettyWhite is definitely with you!
It's #podcasttuesday and our #sparkinourlives gues It's #podcasttuesday and our #sparkinourlives guest today is Alise Saunders of @talesfromanuntamedsoul
🎙️
Alise, alongside her husband, are travel bloggers. You can find their blog at Tales From an Untamed Soul. Alise and her husband’s story aligns so closely with ours. We were really intrigued by their journey surrounding selling their belongings, being travel bloggers, traveling 365 days a year, and staying in Airbnbs. Their story differs in that they are digital nomads. Alise wants to help individuals create a life they don’t want or need a vacation from. 
🎙️
We chat with Alise about:
☑ The catalyst for making the decision to sell all of their belongings and travel full time.
☑ Alise discusses stored emotions in the body, and how that can make you ill.
☑ How Alise practices checking in with her body and her healing process.
☑ Work-life balance in her lifestyle and boundaries.
☑ Alise discusses living life to the fullest, and how her e-book can help you to do the same.
☑ Alise answers our “Fast Five” questions and the most important question, “What does a life well lived mean to you?” Swipe left to hear a snippet of her answer! 👈🏻
🎙️
This convo was beautiful, raw, and a testament to why it is necessary to open your own doors to your dreams and make them real! We hope you will check the episode out and follow their journey!
Each year we set the intention of focusing on our Each year we set the intention of focusing on our wellness. #AD Despite planning adventures and travel, I won’t let anything block my path. New Chapter Multivitamin Gummies are there with me, wherever I go.
🛤️
New Chapter Multivitamin Gummies fill any nutrient gaps I may have in my diet, which is great since the nutritional value of many of the foods we eat is out of our control, especially while traveling.
🛤️
The best news? @newchapterinc Multivitamin Gummies are available at @wholefoods and are 25% off, this week only! LOVE that New Chapter Multivitamin Gummies AND Whole Foods are right on my wellness path!

#NCxWFM23 #WellnessWellDone
Follow on Instagram

© 2023 ARNER ADVENTURES LLC | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Affiliate Disclosure | Consulting

 

Loading Comments...
 

    🍪We use cookies (yum!) to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Who doesn't love cookies?! Ok