Jan
25
2009
Planting Seeds for Valentines Day
We are less than one month away from Valentines Day which means I can begin to plant seeds. My mom taught me how to plant seeds when I was a teenager. Like when I wanted to go out on a date with this cute boy who had his own car. My dad hated that guy, his cocky attitude and little red mustang, but I adored him! I knew my dad would say no so I went to my mom to ask…or in some cases, beg. We both knew my dad would flip a lid so my mom would start planting seeds. Little seeds in casual conversation “Sweetie, Lola is doing so well in school, I’m so proud of her” or “I can’t believe Lola is already 16! She’s practically all grown up!”. During the seed planting phase she would never, ever nag him. Then she would take my Dad out to his favorite restaurant, or bring home a surprise for him and before you knew it, he was totally agreeable! It was like magic! I didn’t really appreciate my mom’s gift until I had to start using it myself.
My honey is an absolute doll but he has no clue when it comes to buying gifts. He knows I love lingerie so I always know to expect it on Valentines Day, but after two years of red lace teddies I knew it was time to start planting. I could never tell him I didn’t like what he picked – it would just crush him. So I would parade around in the ridiculous outfits and pretend to love them. I mean, I know it’s Valentines Day and everything but how much scratchy red lace can one person take?
I usually start planting seeds 2 or 3 weeks before Valentines Day knowing full well that he won’t actually go out to buy anything until the night before. His procrastination explains his odd choices in intimates – he’s probably just picking up whatever’s left! So I start by printing out my favorite pieces from the website and leaving them scattered around the house. I write little notes on them so my master plan isn’t totally obvious. Things like “looked great on fit model!” or “Coral color was amazing!”. I always make sure to leave the style number so he can search for it on the website. To him they are just job related notes but something must happen subconsciously, because he always ends up buying them. And not just one or two. If I print out five styles he always buys all five! He thinks he’s soooo sneaky reading my notes, little does he know
The most important piece of this plan is that I make a huge deal about how much I love the lingerie (and I do, ’cause I picked them!). I make sure to wear them that night and continue to wear them throughout the year. This makes him feel like a rock star – I’ve even heard him helping his friends pick out lingerie for their ladies! He now fancies himself a lingerie connoisseur and I get to expand my lingerie collection. Even though I do feel a little guilty sometimes, we both get to enjoy the purchases, so everyone wins
What are your Valentines Day tricks?

Rebecca Jennings Chats with Sunny Anderson,



