I love holidays. The themed decorations, the food/treats, the *sales*.

So I'm tired of feeling badly on Valentine's Day. Like it's just a holiday for couples–and if you aren't in one, you've gotta act like it's just another day or feel all bitter and upset about it.

Most years, my mom sends me a box of chocolates. And it's so sweet of her. But this year I wanted to do something nice for myself.

I was at brunch with her one Sunday, at Sprig & Vine (a vegan restaurant in New Hope, PA), earlier this month, and I saw that they were going to be having a specialized 6 course V-day menu. It looked amazing. So, I made a reservation for one.

I was apprehensive about it because, obviously, there would be a bunch of couples dining there that night–and I'd stick out like a sore thumb since I'd be alone, and also, since New Hope is a predominantly white area.

Also, my mom, aunt & I had gone back there for dinner about a week or so before The Big Day, & had a pretty shitty customer service experience with their hostess, Melinda. She was so rude to us that I actually called the following day to request that she not handle my reservation if she were to be working that night, because like, I was anxious about it already. I was going alone, & I didn't want to be concerned that I may be treated poorly while I was there.

I couldn't get any assurance that she wouldn't be handling my reservation, so I felt even more nervous. Still, I was determined to go. I wanted that food. I wanted to have a nice Valentine's Day.

So finally, it's February 14th.

I finished up my bio-lab. I went to the gym to sit in the steam room. I applied a sheet mask. I let it dry up in the sauna. I drove home and got ready.

I'd practiced a makeup look that I was really excited to debut, so I spent about an hour working on that. I hated the way my eyebrows came out, but I was otherwise happy about my appearance.

I left for Sprig & Vine.

Naturally, people were driving like fucking maniacs because, well, New Jersey & Pennsylvania drivers are some of the *worst* on the east coast, if you ask me. But I made it there in one piece & on time.

I brought my headphones and a notebook to doodle in.

Pro-tip: When dining alone, it's always good to have something to do, besides scrolling through the apps on your phone, because eventually those go dead & then it's like, "Okay, fuck. What am I supposed to do now?"

By the time I'd been seated (and not by mean ol' Melinda), I felt fine.

I thought I'd be super uncomfortable, but I guess since it was a familiar setting it was okay... although it was clear by the body language and shift in conversational tone of the couples seated around me, that my being there alone made *them* uncomfortable.

I ignored it, put my headphones in, and started blasting my music/doodling at the table.

I listened to some of The Cure, some Biggie, some Tupac, and even a little classical.

I drew faces and figures.

About a quarter of the way through my meal, I had decided to write about it for this week's article. So I started taking notes, & photos of each plate–at which point, I think some of the other patrons may have thought that I was like a food critic or something, which was pretty funny.

Anyways, maybe you'd like to know about this menu that I was so stoked about and which led me all the way out to Pennsylvania (I live in N). So, I'll share it with you... and the pictures too!

Course one was a serving of rutabaga toast with black beluga lentils and truffle-cashew puree:

Two: roasted carrot puree, aka soup:

Three: a grilled baby romaine salad topped with hearts of palm & dressed with a lime-cumin-caper dressing. It was garnished with avocado and pumpkin seed dukkah. It was really fucking good:

Course numero four consisted of a fennel risotto cake with smoked beet puree and red-wine braised fennel. And I was surprised that I liked this because I commonly refer to risotto as "that mushy rice dish." That is to say, I don't really care for risotto. But this was yummy:

The last savory thing that I ate was my absolute favorite because it was tasty, but I also thought it was the most visually striking. Purple sweet potato ravioli, in a tomato-cashew-cream sauce with sauteed greens. When you cut in to the ravioli, the contents were a beautiful bright purple (my favorite color):

And I asked for my dessert to go because I wanted to get cozy on the couch & have it in my pjs.

It was a red wine & chocolate vegan cake, garnished with powdered sugar, kumquat, strawberry coulis & blood orange "ice cream." It was amazing. Like, so so fucking good. I ate it so quickly that I forgot to take a picture of it. But, if you're absolutely dying to know what it looked like you can find it here.

Plus, on the drive home I blasted the radio, and sang along to Rihanna's "Love On The Brain", maybe a little too loudly. I felt weirdly elated.

It was a good night.

So basically, I'm really glad that I went. And I think that I'll do something like it again next year. Maybe I'll make a tradition out of it. Like, even if I do find myself in a relationship, I'll go out and do something nice for myself, on my own, anyway.

I think we all should, if/when we can (regardless of the day of year), because self care is awfully important. It's essential, really. We should all drink water, stretch, take plenty of deep full breaths.

Well, that's all I have to say about that.

Ttyl8r, xoxo -Kip