KEY POINTS:
Pat Benatar said it best in 1983 when she sung the infamous words, "love is a battlefield".
While some will revel in roses and chocolates this Valentine's Day, for others it will be a day fraught with stress as they make last minute arrangements to save their relationships.
Throughout the day we'll bring you the best and worst Valentine's experiences from around New Zealand.
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I'm a spoilt brat. My husband took me to dinner Hotel du Vin and was told "No crayfish - it's all gone to China". He so wanted me to have crayfish. No harm - the meal we ended up having, was delicious. Then we got home and our daughter had lit candles all the way down the corridor and throughout our bedroom. What a lovely night we had.
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I always try and make an effort even thought Valentines is a bit $$$ driven! Its a good excuse to show your partner how much you care. This year I got lunch sent to him - he offen finds it hard to get away from his desk for lunch.. so he got a lovely pasta to enjoy in his rushed day - tonight it will will be a wine on the deck of our first house!
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I have never been one of thos girls who alwys gets a valentines. A few years ago I was young and bright eyed and had first ever "Cool" job at an upmarket clothing store. The girls were all so sophisticated and polished, and had hot rich boyfrinds who would buy them expensive jewellery and Luis Viutton Handbags. The worst of the lot was Emma, although only 21, Emma acted like your typical Paratai Drive Housewife, she was dripping in gold, was immaculate, and would only date heirs to immense fortunes (Think Paris). Being a slightly overweight (due to a solid year of drinking at Canterbury Uni), and poor (also due to a solid year drinking at Canterbury Uni) wee student, I felt like the bottom of the heap, and as sophisticated as a stick. Come Valentines day, every girl got a bunch of flowers...but who got he biggest, most elaborate and Expensive bunch - ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I've been with my boyfriend for 7 months, he's in Las Vegas right now and sent me a box of chocolates, roses and a balloon to work... YAY!
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"My boyfriend and I had (note the past tense) been going out for a couple of years. Usually for Valentine's we did cheap but thoughtful gifts - heart-shaped cakes, treasure hunts round the neighbourhood, that sort of thing. Last year he told me he had the best idea yet. I was pretty excited, but knowing he was working with a student budget I assured him it didn't need to be expensive or extravagant. He assured me otherwise, but "knew I'd love it".
"Come Valentine's Day, I come home from work to find a treasure hunt. 'How nice', I think, 'maybe there's a bunch of flowers at the end'. Oh no. At the end I find my boyfriend. Handcuffed to the kitchen table in his undies. Along with his younger brother. Goodbye, boyfriend."
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My partner and I have been together for four years. Every year I do something original and personally meaningful for him and every year he's either forgotten (even though it's plastered all over the T.V and I mention it every week for three weeks before hoping he'll get the hint) or remembered just at the last minute, by then he's waiting on pay-day and hasn't got any money. This year I came out and asked him if he'd done anything - he said no. We discussed the fact that it wouldn't be a big deal if it was just one day he didn't do anything romantic (not 365). It's to remind all the busy people out there that once a year they should make the effort. He agreed. He just better not forget our anniversary or my birthday again - I'm 21 this year!
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I have been with my partner for 11 years, I have never received anything for Valentines Day from him. Today, a box a metre long, with 1 doz red roses, a soft toy bear, chocolates, rose oil and rose petals in a pouch turned up at my work, for me!!!
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Not one to EVER have celebrated Valentines day before, I wasn't expecting much, although, maybe a little more than I received. Myself and my usually wonderful partner of nearly a year, were meant to be celebrating our first Valentines day together. Instead, this morning i arrived at work to a card that contained a mass produced poem, riddled with typos, and the simple words, "Love you bade" scrawled on the inside. As well as information that our dinner plans are to be cancelled, as he now has plans with his friends.
Sometimes I wonder.
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I think this was for Valentines Day, or maybe our anniversary which is also this week - it was 10 years ago... One day a lady rang me to confirm my hot-air balloon ride at 5.30am. After being a bit confused - having not actually booked for the ride, I realised that my boyfriend had a surprise booked for us. When the lady on the phone realised she had obviously ruined the moment, she apologised. I had to act as though I had no idea what was happening from when I was woken up at 5am and then driven half way into the countryside. It was a wonderful and special morning which I will never forget. I married this wonderful man!
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Thought I would share my wonderment at how Valentine's day continues to surprise me (in a good way), I returned to my desk from an hour and a bit long meeting over the lunch period starving, thinking about what to eat. To my surprise there was a pizza box sitting on my desk upon opening it I found my amazing girlfriend my amazing girlfriend had hand delivered a heart shaped pizza with love you written in sauce. Not only was it perfect timing (as I was hungry) but it was exactly what I needed to lift my spirits as I battle though mid-week. Needless to say my office mates were amazed at how awesome it was as we enjoyed my favourite pizza (which happens to carry my name.. Toni pepperoni) Dominos... Great stuff Nicole... I love you too :)
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It was year 2001, our first year of marriage. As we were low income earners I never expected a gift from him that day, though I was thinking if I could. As usual I got ready to drop him off to work that morning and as soon as I started the car, he took a packet from underneath the seat and gave it to me wishing Happy Valentines Day. He bought me a beautiful silk gown. I still remember this day on every Valentines. He buys me a unique gift every year. Last night at midnight he woke up to wish me Happy Valentine's Day.
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I have been with my partner for nearly 9 years and in that time I have only ever got one Valentine's day gift from him. I still have it... flowers that he had bought from a petrol station. I'll never forget that year. His excuse is "Oh dear! We have Valentines every day. :(
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I've just started seeing this guy. With Valentine's right at the beginning I was fretting that he would feel pressured to buy me a gift. I got to work this morning, and he had sent me a simple email with the Salmonella Dub song "Love your ways" attached. The perfect gift :)
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I'm a regular on the buses around Hamilton, and this morning my bus driver gave me a huge red rose because she knew that my guy is up in Auckland and unable to make it down before the weekend. All for a few smiles and chats on the ten minute drive!
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"Unbeknownst to me, my five year old daughter stayed up late in her room last night and made Valentine cards for all the family. Then she left a trail of stickers with hearts drawn on them down the hallway, and left little deposits of glitter around the house. She greeted me this morning with a flower. I think when she grows up she'll be a fairy."
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"My partner and I had only been seeing each other for three weeks when our first Valentine's Day came around. We both agreed that we didn't really buy into the whole day where you pay exorbitant prices for items that one should expect unexpectedly at any time through the year from a loved one. So, not expecting anything, he announced we were "going out" that evening. Excitedly I jumped in his car (a '91 Corvette - I was barely able to touch it) and we drove to WashWorld in Henderson where he proceeded to groom his car. We are still together four years later - but he certainly set the level of expectation up front!!"
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"The best ever gift I received from my loved one was one that I will never forget, my loving partner was working and living overseas and so Valentines was a day I wasn't looking forward to. My friends and I had planned to go to dinner, but little did I know my partner had organised the whole thing, he surprised me at the restaurant and in front of everyone proposed to me I have to say best surprise and Valentines day ever."
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"My partner has been working overseas now for 13 months and apart from missing Valentines last year and all long holiday weekends/birthdays together he has arranged to fly in this afternoon, has booked the dinner reservation in Auckland and I have two hours left to wait !! This is the best ever."
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A couple of years ago my ever-lovely partner decided that he would surprise me and send a beautiful bunch of roses and a teddy to my work, I decided that I would send him this big leopard print balloon with chocolates to his work and as both of us had said we would not get anything for each other that year we both thought we were being very sneaky. What did we also do? We both took the day off. Well done to us, our Valentines lasted a little longer than everyone else's as our presents were still at our jobs the next day.
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"Mellons Bay Primary, 1992, Mrs Gavin's Standard 2 class - a hotbed of tender emotions where hearts were broken daily and girl germs were rife. Mike Smith* was a shy and innocent blond-haired boy. He was not in my direct circle of schoolyard chums, primarily because he didn't do My Little Ponies at playlunch, but I knew that he must have been pretty cool because he regularly sat up the highest on the classroom mat. However, it was not until he let me use the hallowed mint coloured crayon first that I realised that his feelings for me were more than platonic. I would catch him watching me during stories, and I'm pretty sure he bribed the teacher to be put on guinea-pig duty with me. It culminated in the best love note I have received to date. I caught him dropping it in my letterbox at home: "Dear Fiona, Do you want to come round to my house and draw ninja turtles? Love Mike." I don't recall acting on this confession of love. I do recall that it was adorned with his favourite turtle, the blue one. Mine was Raphael, so I knew it would never work. I didn't tell him as much, but he must have realised when he found "Mike smells" scrawled in the mint crayon on the cloakroom wall. Not my finest hour admittedly. Mike's unrequited love grew dim and we drifted apart. Tragic, but true story.
*Not his real name"
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"Not one for sentimentality, last year I caved and decided to make a non-commercial gesture of love to my other half and father of my child. With a giant pink chalk I laboured for some time drawing a love heart on the driveway and waited for my lover to return. He pulled into the driveway and parked on my artistic expression of love. I didn't say anything and went to work. When I got home rain had washed away the heart and he was none the wiser. Should've stuck to the traditional gift of sex."
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My now husband drove home in his half-an-hour lunch hour one year and blew up 30 red and silver balloons and put then in our front entrance so that when I came home I couldn't get through the door for all the balloons. Didn't cost much, but as they say its the thought that counts. The fact that he thought of it first of all and than drove home in his half an hour lunch break to blow up all these balloons just to drive back to work again...all so I knew he had been thinking of me. No wonder I married him!
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"My wife loves professional massages so one year, on Valentines Day, I booked her a massage at the Golden Ponds in town. Little did I know, it was actually a brothel... D'oh. On the same day (after we cancelled the massage) I had a dinner booked in the evening but we ended up drinking three bottles of bubbly at lunch time, passing out, and waking up at midnight... Double d'oh."
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"My boyfriend surprised me last night with an 'early' Valentine's dinner - which was really cool as the restaurants weren't packed. Later on, he admitted that he had tried to make a booking for Wednesday night [tonight] but anywhere halfway decent were booked out. Ha ha."
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"I'm gay. Nobody knew I was gay. Me and my gay (now ex) boyfriend were shopping at Botany Town Centre, when, in the very middle of the incredibly crowded mall he stopped. I turned around and he just shouted at me 'HAPPY VALENTINES DAY SWEETHEART!!!!' Then he gave me a huge hug. I wanted to crawl down the smallest crack and die in the most painful way. Twice."
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"Determined not to mope about, lamenting our single status last year, a group of single girlfriends and I headed out for a 'single and fabulous' Valentine's dinner. As the evening progressed, we had a bit much to drink and one of the girls started making eyes at a fellow diner, who was there with his partner. When the guy headed to the bathroom, my friend followed him and ended up having a slight dalliance in the loo. Wondering where her boyfriend/fiance/husband was (he'd been gone about 10 minutes), the woman went in search of him. All we could do was look on in horror as she discovered him in a somewhat compromising position, her screams resonating throughout the restaurant. Needless to say, there will be no single and fabulous dinners for us this year."
