Okay, cheese alert ahead so if you’re not down just scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipe, haha! I know this is sometimes a polarizing opinion but I LOVE Valentine’s Day, I really really do. Even aside from Valentine’s, I’m always down for any reason to celebrate anything. So a holiday to celebrate one of my most favorite things, loved ones? Um, yes!! I’m sure my enthusiasm for this will get me some eye rolls from the Hallmark holiday-ers and the salty singles but I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be this way.

To those that write off Valentine’s Day as a “Hallmark holiday”, Valentine’s has actually existed since the 3rd century (that’s 201-300 AD). It became more romanticized in the middle ages by Shakespeare and others which lead to the sharing of hand written notes, poems, and cards with loved ones. Hallmark wasn’t founded until 1910 and first offered Valentine’s day cards in 1913. So to be clear, we’re looking over 1800 years of existence, while Hallmark valentines have only been around for 107 of that. Also, the top holiday for card sells is actually Christmas, by a landslide, 1.6 billion compared to 151 million for Valentine’s Day…sorry but…mic drop.

That said, I’m sure the real hostility towards Valentine’s Day comes from it reminding people that they don’t have a significant other, which in turn it makes people feel lonely. Honestly I can sympathize with this. No one likes to feel lonely. But just because you don’t have a significant other on Valentine’s, or any day, doesn’t mean you deserve to feel bad. Valentine’s is a celebration of love and love is felt in a variety of ways. You can feel loved by your family, friends, even your pets, and you can spread it to others just the same. So rather than being overtaken over by loneliness, I support embracing love in all its forms.

Whether you’re celebrating loving your boyfriend, wife, best friend, dog, or yourself, love is worthy of being appreciated to the fullest! For me that’s with handmade valentines cards, chocolate, and you guessed it, festive cocktails. I made this cocktail on a whim recently and the coloring immediately made me think of Valentine’s Day. Being the red, pink, hearts, and glitter obsessed wannabe cupid that I am, I knew I had to put this recipe up as my way of spreading the love this year.

As for the details of the margarita, my first recommendation is to use quality tequila. This isn’t a sugar-filled blended marg or pre-made margarita mix so it isn’t going to mask that funky flavor cheap tequila often has. This margarita should be fresh and flavorful, meaning you taste the tequila and that’s a good thing! Next, I recommend using fresh lime juice. Fresh juice will always take your drinks up a notch. Plus if you’re already using quality tequila, why take it back down a step by using preservative juice? Lastly is the strawberry simple syrup. As with the lime juice, fresh is always best so I’ve included a recipe for that here as well! That said, there are some decent simple syrup companies out there. If you do plan to purchase one, I just recommend looking for one that’s only made of water, sugar, and the fruit/herb/spice it’s infused with. To make this a full on valentine’s love potion, rim the glass with pink Himalayan salt and garnish with a strawberry skewer. May you enjoy and feel all the love this Valentine’s Day!