We hope you found our Valentine's Day stories as entertaining as we did. Congratulations to story #1 from Laurel Mills which had the most votes! Laurel receives a pearl and lavendar strand necklace from Manhattan South, a massage and facial from Facelogic, hair products from Tonya Jones Salon, and a bottle of Godiva Liqueur. All stories below:

Story #1

The year was 1993, I was 13 years old and the Valentine's Day dance approached. I had been to exactly one dance before, but that dance hadn't really counted. (I.E., it wasn't school-sponsored. A friend's mom hosted a dance-themed party for our class in the clubhouse of her condominium complex the year before. While we were all very excited about the concept, no one ended up dancing, and because it was more of a "party" than a "dance," talking our moms into special shopping trips had been a bit of a challenge.) The Valentine's Dance, on the other hand, was a time-honored tradition for seventh and eighth graders and came complete with shiny cardboard heart decorations, a DJ and teachers-turned-chaperones.

Naturally, I turned all of my attention to the outfit, and after bugging my mother incessantly, we set out for the mall one night after she got home from work. To share with you why this was an even bigger deal for me, let me reiterate what a late bloomer I was. I was the next-to-last girl in my grade to get her training bra, and sixth/seventh grade was just around the time I could finally start wearing "adult" clothes. (Oh, to have the problem of not being able to fit into a size 0 because it was too big, again.) I was stuck shopping in the kid's department for years, and the idea of showing up to a school dance -- of all places -- in an outfit you could also buy in a child's size 6 was too much for me to bear. In those days, my mother and I always went to Express first because their clothes had a better chance of fitting me. Their outfits came in the now-I-hate-seeing-the-doll-clothes-next-to-my-curvy-body-shapers-built-in-nearly maternity-style-tops 0/1 size. Before we even crossed the threshold, I saw it. Sheath dress. Falling just above the knee. Scoop-necked. Black stripes alternating with neon stripes of pink, orange and yellow. (This was 1993.) It was the most beautiful, sexiest (by seventh grade terms) dress I had ever seen. I instantly saw my crush swooning the moment I walked in wearing it.

"Do you think it will fit?"

"We won't know until you try it on," my mother said, and I rushed to the dressing room. In terms of fit, the dress came pretty close as I remember it. I think my mother and grandmother had to make a few alterations -- most likely taking in the chest -- but all in all, I was in heaven.

The night of the dance, I styled my permed and heavy-banged hair to perfection, zipped up my new and so-bright dress up and topped it all off with a velvet choker that had a single gold heart charm. (For Valentine's Day, of course.)

Arriving at the dance, I was nervous. But spurred on by my stellar look, I had more confidence than usual. And rather than finding boys on one side of the room and girls on the other, this dance actually had members of the opposite sex talking to one another. When the music started, members of the opposite sex even danced with one another. Everyone was being very friendly. (When there's only 24 people in your grade, you kind of have to be that way. Private school. Sigh.) As the evening wore on I danced with my crush many times (!!! as my inner-adolescent would say) and a bunch of other boys, too.

But, it was the end of the night that was the most special of all. "Last song," the DJ called. It was all coming to an end, and everyone knows the last song at the dance is by far the most important song. (I mean, a last song is all about eternal and ever-lasting love. Marriages and babies are built on who you choose for that last dance. You might as well sign up for adjacent burial plots when you pick that partner for your last dance. Am I right people?) "What to do?" I thought. People were already pairing off. I turned towards my crush to see what he was doing, and he looked right back at me. He then gave me the shrugged shoulders that mean "Why not? You wanna dance?" in seventh grade boy speak. I shrugged back. ("Sure," in seventh grade girl speak.) We moved closer together. He put his arms around my waist, I put my arms around his neck, and with enough room between us for a small person, we danced the last dance of Valentine's Day 1993 to "You're the Inspiration." I fell asleep all aflutter, dreaming of rock ballads and would could happen at school that Monday.

Story #2

I will never forget my first Valentine's Day with my husband. It was seven years ago, but seems like yesterday. We had just started dating after New Years 2003. I was finishing my last semester at UAB. I thought he was so old because he was 29. My perspective has definitely changed since that is how old I am now. We had not been dating for long, but everything was just going so effortlessly. We were already in love. Not a day or night passed without a phone call, email, or a dinner date. It was just meant to be. That's right... We were MFEO.

At the time, I was a full-time student and working part-time at an insurance company to pay all of my bills. The funds were very low. These were the days when you would break the piggy bank and roll some coins just so you could get by for the week. I knew that we would probably go to dinner and that he would get me something. I just had to think of something inexpensive to do for him. Many things come to mind... Ultimately, I went online and searched for ideas and decided to make him a Valentine's Day coupon book. Fortunately, being a girl and a working college student, I did not have to buy anything. I had access to index cards, crayons, markers, a whole punch, and string (to secure them together). The coupons included: golf cart driver, car wash, dog bath, and various other intimate things. Needless to say, he loved the personal touch and did not mind that I had taken the inexpensive route on the gift. In hindsight, this probably just made him more interested in me because he works in banking and loves to save money. Maybe that is when he realized that I was the one.

He was very thoughtful in choosing my gifts, as well. He made dinner for me that night at his apartment. He got me a stuffed panda bear because he knew that I loved them. He chose a matching raspberry-colored wool scarf and hat. He had dressed the panda in them. The last present was a book about miniature dachshunds. In the short time that we had known one another, he must have heard me talking about how much I loved them and how I though my sister and her husband were going to get me one for graduation. How sweet and thoughtful is that? In the end, I think that the real present was knowing that I had met a man who understood me and really listened to me. He was smart, handsome, respectful, funny, and he cared so much about me. He was the one.

We were married about two years later and will celebrate our five year anniversary in April of this year. As the years go by, we have come to value birthdays and anniversaries more than Valentine's Day. We still have a special dinner and exchange cards and small gifts, but nothing compares to that first one. I am not sure it could. We still love each other just as much as we did on that day and will never forget the memories that we have created together. I love Valentine's Day, though, because the day always reminds me of how our love began.

Story #3

Last year for Valentines Day was one of the best in history.  We had to go to a wedding at 4 in the afternoon. (Yes, a wedding on Valentine's Day, I was not happy about that.)  I got all dressed up because I thought it was a fancy wedding, and plus I wanted to look hot on Valentine's Day. My boyfriend wore a suit and I wore a Vera Wang semi-formal gown.  Once we arrived I felt a little out of place...seems the wedding was VERY casual and we did not get the memo.  Although we live at the beach, I did not know that shorts and flip flops were proper wedding attire!  I got through the ceremony without anyone saying anything.  It didn't help that my dress was the same color the bridesmaids were wearing.  We arrived at the reception, and I was happy to see that it was candlelit-meaning it was pretty dark in there.  Whew.  After about 15 minutes a guest came over to me and said, "I love your dress!  Are you one of the bridesmaids?"  I shook my head and smiled with a no-but-thanks-for-calling-me-out-on-overdressing smile and thanked her.

Finally it was time to go, my boyfriend did have plans for us so we snuck out early. In the car I whined about being overdressed but my boyfriend just said "Don't worry about it.  You look very nice."   I had no idea where we were going, but he ended up taking me to a pier on a lake.  It was the pier we spent hours talking on for our first date.  I really didn't think much about it because we went there pretty often.  We walked out on the pier, and he got down on one knee and held out a fabulous ring and asked me to marry him!  I was so excited and said "YES!" and put the ring on.  We hugged and cried and then I said, "Wait.  Can you ask me again so I can remember it?  The first one is a blur." So he did it again and it was so sweet.  We left the pier for our Valentine's Date.  He gave me an airbrushed t-shirt and told me to put it on, that we are going to a country bar.  I was so happy about being engaged I didn't care where we were going.  We had matching shirts that said "Cammie N Derek" with a sunset shaped like a heart.  We were having a "Redneck Date" and went to this huge country bar where his family was waiting for us.  We danced and had so much fun.  We ended the night at McDonald's drive through for some food. I can't help but thinking I wish I had that shirt before the wedding because I could have totally gotten away with wearing it at the wedding

Story #4

Well, the "romantic" evening was about 3 years ago.  We had planned a nice evening out to dinner and then a movie and dessert and champagne at home afterwards.  However, when we arrived home from work I noticed water in the floor in the bathroom (never a good thing!).  I called my husband in to determine where the water was coming from; keeping in mind that I needed to get in there to shower and get ready for our much anticipated night out.  After much deliberation he determined that the water was actually coming from underneath the toilet!  Words you never want to hear and especially not on Valentine's day!  He also determined that if we didn't call a plumber immediately we would be in a much worse situation. "Um can't we just put towels around it?" (Apparently not).  "So, okay get the plumber here and quickly because I have to get ready for our special night."  Ha!  After a couple hours and a missed dinner reservation the plumber assessed that we needed a new toilet.  WHAT??  That toilet was fine this morning when I left for work and now why is it crying (leaking), whatever!  After 3 long hours our brand new Super Low Flow Toto toilet was installed, all shiny and new and more importantly not leaking.  The total cost of this little "gem" was about $800!  The plumber finally left and my husband turned to me and said,  "Happy Valentine's Day!"

A toilet is what I got! A sparkling, shiny, toilet!  Not exactly the "sparkly", "shiny" gift I thought I'd be getting!  We ate a quiet dinner at home, skipped the movie, had our dessert and saved the champagne for a night that didn't involve plumbers and toilets!

Story #5

I recently read a study which stated there is only a 17% chance of having a second date with someone a friend sets you up with.  It‘s a good thing I have good friends. Being recently single, I found myself going on dates again. As social as I am, I actually find the idea of a first date as horrific as walking into a room with your skirt tucked into your pantyhose. It’s so hard to be clever and charming for an entire hour while trying to pretend you didn’t have half a bottle of wine prior to the date. However, it seems the FD is a must if you want to get to the second and third date.  I got an email from a friend on a Tuesday night. ” Are you officially single? There is a really great guy who has been asking about you for a few months now.” End of email. After a few exchanges I managed to finagle his name so I could properly stalk via the book of faces, as it seems the only legal and socially acceptable way of stalking these days. I patiently waited for this mystery man to contact me via text, MMS, SMS, email, fax, carrier pigeon. Nothing. So one night, after the first annual ‘Girls, Gobble and Gab’ dinner, I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands.  I sent him an email on facebook simply stating I heard he was someone I needed to know. My version of the story is that I hunted him down romantically on facebook but if you ask him, the tale unfolds a in a different way. He claims he went to every myscoop event for months with the promise of meeting me. He said with determination and persistence, he one day would. I say tomato, he says tomahto. I guess we can debate the story when we head to Mardi Gras for a romantic Valentine’s Day on Bourbon Street. Nothing says happy Valentines like a 19 year old ‘screaming show me your…..!!!’ This happy ending along with talking to people about the trials and tribulations of dating in Birmingham, lead me to start my own matchmaking service, Connections.