Happy Valentine's Day!

"Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition."

Hey everyone! Hope you had a great week! Excited for Valentine's Day? In honor of Valentine's Day, I decided to dedicate this blog post to love songs...of course, they are plenty, but I'd thought I'd share a few with you to share with your special someone if you'd like. :)

I was somewhat braindead when I was trying to think of a list to share with you guys, so I'd like to give a special shoutout and thanks to Donna and Ariel (our very own advice DekoPosh columnist) for helping me out! :)

"And I love her"--The Beatles

Love this song...any song by The Beatles is great!

"Can't help falling in love"--Elvis Presley
"Love Me Tender"--Elvis Presley

Same with Elvis Presley...amazing music. I remember singing "Love Me Tender" and almost becoming obsessed with it back in the 4th grade.

"How did I fall in love with you--Backstreet Boys

Backstreet Boys will always be a favorite of mine...and "How did I fall in love with you" is a great song!

"I Could Fall In Love"--Selena

Selena <3 She was a resident of where I live and was also killed here...we have a museum, a statue, and an auditorium in her memory. Amazing song and amazing performer.

"Sweet Caroline"--Neil Diamond

Love this song too! I remember hearing the Jonas Brothers sing it at the Houston concert I went to on their world tour! So awesome!

"Please Be Mine"--Jonas Brothers

I realize not all of you guys may be Jonas Brothers fans, but this song is absolutely amazing. "Please Be Mine" was the very first song they wrote together and it'll always remain one of my favorites. Such a sweet song and the acousticness (is that a word?) is my favorite. :)

"Then"--Brad Paisley

Love love LOVE this song. I first heard this song on our Bus Radio and fell in love with that. I had never heard Brad Paisley's music until then so it really opened my eyes to country music.

"Hey There Delilah"--Plain White T's

This one's not only one of my favorites, but my sister's as well. Such a cute song and if you haven't checked out the video, check it out! It's the perfect love song. :)

"Morning Light"--Truman

Donna suggested this one :P I haven't heard it yet, but I'm gonna check it out!

Some of the ones Ariel suggested...check them out too! :)

"Two is better than one"--Boys Like Girls
"Only you can love me this way"--Keith Urban
"This never happened before"--Paul McCartney

Hope you guys listen to some of these songs...you never know which ones might end up on your favorites!! Have a great Valentine's Day guys! :)

--Labanya

Amelia's Book Room: Valentine's Day Books!

Haven't you heard? Valentine's Day is next week! Whether you have someone special to spend it with or not, you can always enjoy some romance novels and poetry!

How about Robert Corbet's novel Fifteen Love? Mia, the girl who doesn't want a boyfriend--boys are so immature, and it'd just be tedious! And Will, hopelessly in love with Mia, who hasn't got a clue about what girls really like. This is your literature equivalent of that cute romantic comedy, only way better!
V-Day wouldn't feel right without some poetry stuck in there. Instead of your usual mushy roses-are-red, violets-are-blue (which is so not true, most violets I've ever seen are purple!), try some original poems written by teens like you in Falling Hard. It can be so inspiring to read these lovely and intense poems, and know that someone your age wrote it!

And of course, we have If We Kiss by Rachel Vail, all about, you guessed it: kissing. Charlie has always wondered what her first kiss would be like; suddenly, it happens, and she's not sure if it's all that great at first. But with this kiss, and the guy she shared it with, comes a multitude of complications, with love in the air and jealousy abound!

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little lovey-dovey review, and have a great Valentine's Day!

Mariposa's Connections: Happy Valentines Day <3

Hey everyone! I hope you all have a great Valentines Day - whether you're just with your friends, or whether you're going out with your date tonight. Today I wanted to keep my message short & sweet and just post a little quote on what love really is:

Love is patient, Love is kind,
It does not envy, it does not boast,
It is not proud, it is not rude,
It is not self-seeking,
It is not easily angered,
It keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil,
but rejoices with the truth.
Love always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.
Love bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends.

(1 Corinthians 13:4-8),

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day everyone...We wish you the sweetest day ever!

Valentine's Day Websites

Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!

Today being the Valentine's Day, I thought I might feature Valentine themed websites to honor the holiday. Since today everyone will be scrambling off to spend time with their loved ones, I've made this list short and sweet:

89 Ways to say "I love you" (http://www.electpress.com/loveandromance/iloveyou.htm)- This site tells you how to say "I love you" in 89 different languages. (Btw, they don't have I love you in Esperanto, so I thought I might supply that. It's "Mi amas vin.")

Boycott on Valentine's Day (http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/LoveAndMoney/boycott-the-valentines-day-madness.aspx)- For those of you against the holiday, here's an article in your favor.

E Cards (http://www.care2.com/ecards/)- What better way to say "I love you" than an ecard? Use these ecards, from the care 2 website and share your love with enviromental charities as well.

History of Valentine's Day (http://www.history.com/minisites/valentine/)- This won't help you with your upcoming history test, but it is interesting.

Proposal stories (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/28757125)- A gallery full of cute proposal stories that viewers of the Today show sent in.

Until next week,

Aurelie
Author of The Healthaliciously Good Cookboo, http://www.aurelieshealthycuisine.com/, aurelie@aurelieshealthycuisine.com

Twisted Tweens: The Day of Awkward Hearts

Ah, Valentine's Day...

... how awkward.

Are you going to stress out?

Last year, you liked someone. You wanted to give that person a valentine, but you feared it would look weird if you only gave a valentine to one person. So you stayed up until 2 A.M., making cards for every person you knew. On the front, the card read, “I don't love you...” On the inside, the card read, “but you're a great friend.” And you accidentally made one card without the word “don't” on the front. And your plan was to accidentally give this card to the person you liked. Then, if the person you liked did, actually, complain, you could prove that the whole matter was a big accident.
Of course it didn't work. You really accidentally gave it to the wrong person. Then, that person accidentally started to like you, and you had to accidentally avoid that person for months.

No, this year, you're playing it cool –– cool as the heart of really unconcerned penguin. You are playing it so cool that you completely ignore Valentine's Day. You don't even think about hearts or roses or cards or the color pink or baby archers. Stick your hands in your pockets and take a stroll. Casual. Cool. You ain't got nothing to think about. Hey, look. Your best friend in the world is walking towards you. Cool. Your friend's practically wearing a cupid outfit. Hey, don't freak out. Just don't stare too hard. Pretend your friend always dresses like this, so it's nothing different. Cool.
Now, your friend says like, “Hey!”
And you say like, “Hey.”
And your friend says like, “Hey, I was just thinking about you.”
And you like nearly respond, but your friend pulls out this fifteen dollar box of fancy, delicious chocolates and shoves it into your hands. Cool....
And all you can do is say like, “Oh, yeah, forgot it was Valentine's Day.”
Your friend says like, “Oh,” to make you feel better or something.
And you like dig around in your pockets for minute. You find something. It's a flattened pompom animal that you found on the side of the road. Cool. Only got one googly eye left on it. But you give it to your friend and say like, “Here, why don't you take this.”
Now, you look like Valentino Scrooge. Cool?

So, what will you do?! What will you do?! At this point, you will PANIC!!! You will panic, because you will think, “This Valentine's Day stuff is an unavoidable waste of time and emotions!!!” But before you start feeling like an overwhelmed crazy person, will you listen to this?! (This little gem of a fortune cookie will help you immensely!) You will be a reasonable person, and you will not get your advice from the Internet. To ensure that this sinks in, you will take a brief pause... And you will continue! You will get your advice from your parents, your dog, or your own little Jiminy Cricket, but not the Internet!!! Your Valentine's Day will be lovely, love-filled and lovetastic! You will be busy with construction paper! You will share one of those heart-shaped pizzas with someone! You will feel happy and carefree, because all of your dreams will come true!

You have a happy Valentine's Day.

Heartfeltly Yours,
Zachary W.

Amelia's Book Room: Thwonk

Imagine if this happened to you—you find a cupid. Yep. A real-life cupid. And that cupid—whose name happens to be Jonathan—tells you that he can help you in one of three ways: artistically, academically, or romantically. You’d probably pick romantically, right? After all, he is a cupid.

A.J. Mcreary has been lusting after perfect, popular Peter Terris for months. So when Jonathan gives her the choice, after freaking out for a bit, she tells him to make Peter fall in love with her. However, the events that occur because of her decision put a literal meaning to the saying, ‘be careful what you wish for!’

When Peter, struck in the heart by Jonathan’s arrow with a resounding thwonk, gives A.J. his full attention and adoration, night and day, she realizes how a spell just isn’t the same. Meanwhile, she can’t tell anyone about Jonathan or why Peter has suddenly fallen in love with her, and her best friend senses her drifting away.

At first, I was a little skeptical about Thwonk; A.J. can be a little over-dramatic at times, and it takes her a while to realize she wished for the wrong thing. But, overall, it’s a good book, and definitely Valentine’s Day themed! Author Joan Bauer has written many other novels, such as Squashed, Hope Was Here, Backwater, and Peeled.

I hope you all have a good Valentine’s Day! I compiled a playlist of my songs for Valentine’s Day ’09. Hope it gets you in the mood!

Week of Valentines Day-Make one-of-a-kind Valentines

We are celebrating Valentines Day with a week full of ideas for you for Valentines Day! Have a comment or a question, leave it here!

Love is in the air at dekoposh, Inc.

Mariposa's Connections: What to do for Valentine's Day

There's the chocolates, the flowers, the stuffed animals, the jewelry, etc. for Valentines Day. But do you really just want to buy something for your valentine? Do you want to do something that's expected - a routine? Here's some ideas for mixing it up:

-Have flowers delivered to your valentine's door. 

-Go out to dinner or a concert: after all, what's more special than spending time with that person?

-Do something random: leave a little note with a poem somewhere obvious, give a phone call telling them you love them, or even try singing a song.

Sometimes the thought means so much more than the money ;)

For those who don't have a valentine, hang out with your friends or do something fun - it's usually hard being alone on Feb.14, so set aside some time to do something you want to do.