Joyeuse Saint-Valentin!

Yesterday started out like any other school day. Juliette and I made the extra effort to wear something pink, but that was all we really did for Valentine's Day. We headed off to classes, not really expecting anything in the way of valentines.

So, imagine our surprise when we saw this in our dorm room:

"Sophie, tu as un petit ami?" Juliette asked as she stared at the rather extravagant pile of presents heaped on our bed.

"A boyfriend? AS IF! Valentine's gifts don't have to come from a boy, you know. It's a holiday for friends, too," I replied, surprised that Juliette would even think that I'd have a boyfriend. I wasn't emotionally mature enough for a boyfriend. There would be plenty of time for dating later, when I'm older.

I stared at the pile of presents, muttering to myself, "I wonder...? Yes, I think so!" Turning to my sister, I reminded her of my friendship with the Valdez quintuplets. "...and, so, they had Christmas presents to send me, but unfortunately, the package got lost in the mail. It was returned to them, but they promised to mail it out at a later date. Looks like they kept their promise - and they stuck some Valentine's gifts in here, too! How nice of them!" I finished.

"Sophie, regardes! J'ai reçu les cartes pour le jour de la Saint-Valentin aussi. Tes amies n'ont pas rencontré moi. C'est trop gentilles de leur part!" Juliette exclaimed, looking at valentines addressed to her.

I smiled, "Well, Juliette, they may not have met you, but they are aware of your existence. Sabina, Catalina, Zipporah, Tatiana, and Violeta are some of the sweetest girls ever. Of course, they wouldn't exclude you! Let's sit down and take a closer look at all of this stuff."

After we had settled down on the floor, I pulled the candy over. "Yum, what is Valentine's Day without chocolate?!" I asked, to no one in particular, as I opened a bag of peanut butter M&Ms.

Juliette laughed, pretending to scold me,"Tu et tes bonbons! Ça va te couper l'appétit pour le dîner!"

"It's only 4:30 pm! Having these delectable peanut butter M&Ms will not spoil my appetite for dinner! Aww, come on, you know you want one...or two...or three! I'll even give you the first one," I teased, though - true to my word - I handed her a green M&M.

After I'd had my share of the sweets, I tossed the bag aside and started looking at the valentines I'd received. There was one from my dear friend, Inky, who I'd visited last year in New York City. She'd written a sweet message in her best cursive and had even attached an UglyDoll pin to the card. I had to laugh when I read what was written on the pin: "I ❤ U and also candy." That saying seemed to describe me perfectly!

From the quints, I received a variety of Disney Princess-themed valentines. From Violeta, there was an Aurora valentine. From Tatiana, a Cinderella valentine. From Sabina, a Snow White valentine. From Zipporah, a Jasmine valentine. My favorite was from Catalina - a Belle valentine! Belle is my favorite Disney Princess!

Juliette received her own Disney Princess-themed valentines from each of the quints. Her favorite card came from Tatiana since she loves Cinderella best.

Putting our cards aside, we began to look at our other gifts. We each got teddy bears - Juliette claimed the pink one, while I got the blue one. Hugging our new bears tightly, we wondered what we should name them.

"Mon ours en peluche s'appellera Rose," Juliette declared, turning to me expectantly, "Ton ours en peluche t'appelleras...?"

"Well," I replied, thinking hard, "If your teddy bear's name is Rose, then this one just has to be called Félix! Rose and Félix!

"Rose et Félix? Les caractères dans le film 'Décalage Horaire,' n'est-ce pas?" Juliette laughed.

"Well, yes, if you are going to suggest the name Rose for your bear, then of course I'm going to think of the name Félix. You know how much I love movies, particularly 'Jet Lag' starring the fabulous Jean Reno and Juliette Binoche!" I smiled, explaining why I'd been so quick to choose the name Félix for my bear. Juliette just rolled her eyes, but why I don't know - she loves films (almost) as much as I do!

One of the other presents I found waiting for me was this shiny new microscope! I'm particularly excited about this one because every budding forensic detective / scientist needs a microscope! I'm going to paint this one black so it looks more professional, and then I'll be all set!

Juliette and I received a lot of other neat things, from two shiny black cauldrons (perfect for Harry Potter role-playing) to a set of glass vials (again, perfect for Harry Potter role-playing) to our very own strawberry plant to grow (or to attempt to grow, as the case may be).

Unwrapping my final present, I found something I'd been wanting for quite a while: Molly's Treasure Tote. There are loads of fun things packed into this package, including paper dolls of Molly and Emily and a secret decoder to make!

Here we are with all of our loot! We're feeling a tad spoiled (but mostly very loved!) right now. Thank you so much, Sabina, Violeta, Catalina, Tatiana, and Zipporah, for the belated Christmas presents and Valentine's Day gifts! We love everything! Thank you so much, Inky, for the adorable valentine and pin!

I should add that there was one final present, but it was addressed to neither Juliette nor me, rather to the girls of Fair Hollow as a whole. Since Juliette and I had definitely opened our share of presents, we decided that it'd be unfair to open this one. So, I decided to visit my good friend, Chiara. She never asks for anything at all, so she was pleasantly surprised that she had a gift to open. What did she find inside? A flower press! When spring (although it feels like it has come already, to be honest!) comes, we can learn to press flowers. What a fun activity that will be!

I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with Chiara. I hadn't really talked to her since before I left on my travels. It was really good to be able to spend time with her again!

What did you do for Valentine's Day? Did you spend it with friends and/or family? Did you receive some nice cards and gifts? Did you pig out on candy?

Sophie