I know many of my readers are friends of mine so they are more than familiar with this story. To those of you who have heard this once, twice, or more, you have my full permission to stop reading now.
Adam and I were Sophomores in college. He lived in the Sig Nu house and I lived at the Chi Omega house, the two were less than a mile apart. Valentines was approaching and I decided to make big plans. I was going to cook a dinner made up of Adam's favorites, Chicken Parmesan Pasta, garlic bread, salad, chocolate cake topped with my mothers oh so wonderful home made whipped cream icing recipe, and chocolate covered strawberries. Oh and the sparkling cider, you can't forget the cider..because when you are 20, sparkling cider is as cool as champagne.
The Scheme
I wanted to find some way to set up this entire dinner in Adam's room at the Sig Nu house without him knowing. I then wanted to find a way to get him to his room before the food got cold. The idea I came up with was perfect! I had it all figured out. Adam had a test that evening. His plan was to take me out to a new restaurant in Rolla. I told him to call when he was on his way "so I could be ready upon his arrival." Then as soon as he called me, I would bee-line over to Sig Nu with three of my friends and all of the food. We would quickly set everything up, and when he arrived at Chi O I would tell him I was running fashionably late and to make himself comfortable on the couch in the living room. I would then drive back to my house, come downstairs as if I just finished spraying my hair, and walk out the door. On our way to the restaurant I was going to tell him that I left my camera in his room at Sig Nu so we would have to stop by his house before dinner. Perfect right?
Reality
My phone rang and my I was off, with all 3 of my accomplices. We actually must have gotten there in record timing because we pulled into the parking lot just in time to watch as Adam exited the font door at Sig Nu all spiffed up for dinner. We each took a dish, or two then headed upstairs to where his room was. I was in such a frenzy as I put my hand on the door, thinking we needed to run in as fast as we could without spilling the Chicken Parmesan and get out of there before he suspected anything. Much to my surprise I opened the door and there it was.
A table in the middle of the room.
Two chairs.
A black table cloth, cleanly pressed and draped perfectly.
Red Roses.
Two plates. One with a rose and a Jewelry box laid across it.
And last but not least, food!
We had the same idea! He cooked all of my favorites! Fettuccine, oriental salad, and chocolate cake! I freaked. My friends knew his plan the entire time so they were sure to snap a few photos of me as I stood in shock after opening the door. In a moment of panic I decided the best thing to do at this point was to shove all of the food under his bed, out of sight so he wouldn't know I had been in his room. I know, I was just full of brillian ideas that night!
My friends and I laughed the entire car ride back to Chi O. I snuck back into the house and I walked downstairs the way I always had, 15 minutes late. We walked outside, got into the car, and we were headed to "the restaurant."
"I forgot the directions," he said, "so we will have to make a quick detour to Sig Nu." I couldn't hold it in, my nerves got the better of me and I blurted out, "I have a confession, I saw EVERYTHING and there is an Army's worth of food under your bed!"
We really did have enough food to feed all of Rolla for about 3 days. It was probably the best Valentines to date! We had so much fun stuffing our faces and laughing as we told each other what we went through that day.
4 years later, I entered this story into the "My Crazy Valentine Contest" on St. Louis' local radio station, 92.3 WIL. A few days later I got a call from Bo Matthews himself! He told me if I could tell my story on the air they would send me a $100 gift certificate to the Melting Pot. I was so nervous I rambled on forever. After much editing on the radio station's part and hearing my annoying voice on the air, we had a night out at the Melting Pot!
That year will be hard to top, but this year we had a nice relaxing evening at home. I made dinner, he did not. We watched a movie and cuddled with our puppies.
I hope everyone had a fantastic Valenties day!
