Happy Valentine’s Day! I am sure you have everything under control. But if you don’t and you need some last minute ideas. Here is how GotFreeCards.com can help

1. Free Valentine Ecards – Email your loved ones an instant animated valentine ecard

2. Free Printable Valentine Cards – Print one at home so you can take it to the party you are going to

3. Photo Ecards – Add your photo and send ecards

And since 14th is also the Chinese New Year click the link below for Chinese New Year Ecards

1. Chinese New Year Ecards

The good thing about Valentine’s Day and other such occasions is that is gives us an opportunity to think about and do something nice for the people we love once a year. The not-so-good thing about it is that we often take that as an excuse for not being as nice on other days of the year! ( How many times have you done or said something terrible during an argument and thought,” I’ll make up for it on Valentine’s Day or our anniversary”?)

So this year, I was wondering, instead of saving up all your love and expressions of love( read gifts!) for Valentine’s Day – why not spread it out a little? Instead of Valentine’s Day, why not celebrate a Valentine’s Week? There are two benefits of celebrating this way – 1) It takes your spouse or that special person in your life completely by surprise when you start showing your love and appreciation a few days earlier than expected! 2) It extends the celebrations for both of you and when it comes to romance – who doesn’t like an extended stay?!

If you’re game for this route or are at least willing to give it a shot, here are a few of my suggestions for celebrating a beautiful Valentine’s Week -

1. Spread your budget- Instead of splurging on one huge, expensive gift, buy a few smaller, but nice gifts that your Valentine would really appreciate. Leave these around as surprises for him or her to find throughout the week – in her coat pocket, under his pillow, at the car’s dashboard, in her laptop case, in his grooming kit…

2. Tease a little – Why reveal your Valentine’s Day plans when you can send her on a treasure hunt instead? Create clues about where you’ll be going and place the clues strategically so your Valentine finds them in sequence and tries to guess your plans. Each clue that he or she cracks successfully is accompanied by a little present leading to the real Valentine’s Day gift on the final day.

3. Be nice – Isn’t it funny how simple, thoughtful gestures like making breakfast and giving a massage are relegated to special occasions such as Valentine’s Day or Mother’s day? This time, take the time to indulge in nice gestures throughout the week and beyond. Show your Valentine how much you care even when it’s not Valentine’s Day.

4. Spend time together – If you both lead busy lifestyles, work full time, have kids or simply have too much on your plate all the time, you probably don’t spend as much time together as you’d like. This year, make a change. Plan your work and chores in such a way that throughout Valentine’s week, you get off work on time, meet each other and spend time in the evenings doing something you love – be it a walk, watching movies, playing a sport, cooking together or just hanging out. Taking time to do the things you both enjoy is very essential to nurturing a healthy relationship.

5. Send free Valentine’s Day ecards. One for each day of the week leading up to Valentine’s Day. There are so many wonderful ecards to choose from, it just doesn’t make sense to send just one. So, on each day of the week, pick a Valentine’s Ecard you like and send it to the one you love. This way, you’ll have a chance to express all sides of your personality – from witty to funny to sentimental or serious – there are so many ways to say Happy Valentine’s Day. So, why say it just once?

How do you plan to spend your Valentine’s Week? Tell us!

Valentine’s Day – What’s your take?

When it comes to Valentine’s Day – I come across two stark contrasts in people’s attitude towards the occasion. Either you go completely overboard with every possible budget-blower on the list from flowers and chocolates to an expensive dinner to diamonds and a moonlight cruise….or you pretend nothing’s going on around you and shirk all the eye-popping pink off as a silly indulgence for starry-eyed fools.

I myself fall somewhere in between - leaning more towards the latter than the former. I mean, sure, I enjoy my diamonds and flowers – who doesn’t? But, I’d much rather we do something unconventional, meaningful and something that adds value to my relationship. Like take a trip somewhere or enroll in a fun couple’s class or watch a show together.

But, I think, one thing we can all agree on and pretty much anyone can afford to indulge in is – sending free ecards to the ones we love. Regardless of your views on Cupid and this holiday, sending free ecards is something that’s easy and fun to do, which brings a smile to everyone and requires no investment in terms of time or money. It’s just a simple, sincere, fun way of expressing yourself. Whether you want to say the three magic words or just want to ask someone out, or even just want to reconnect with an old fling – sending a funny, witty or sentimental Valentine’s Day ecard is a great way to do it.

Here are a few that I like -

To Someone Special – A simple, elegantly designed ecard that conveys the message without much ado. I love the colors and the simplicity of this one.

Taj Mahal – If you’re in a committed relationship or approaching that stage, what better way to express your sincerity than by sending the person you love your very own virtual Taj Mahal? You can’t go wrong with this monument of love.

Lost Without You – Ok. This one’s for you if you prefer to express yourself visually…I just like the cute sentiment behind this ecard.

Love Magic – What do sunshine, a rainbow and love have in common? They can make the gloomiest of days and toughest of moments disappear….like magic!

Nurture the Garden of Love – I love this one for its symbolism – it takes several elements to nurture a beautiful garden. Just like it takes two people and a lot of trust, caring and understanding to nurture love into full bloom.

If ecards are not your thing – no problem! Check out these beautifully designed, free printable Valentine’s Day cards. These tastefully created cards match the quality and design of paper greeting cards and come without the price tag. Add your personal message or photo and print them out at home. The perfect option for those who want to avoid crowded greeting card aisles to buy ridiculously expensive cards.

So, no matter what your style – be it ’overboard’ or ‘just not-into-it’ or something in between – you’re sure to find a free Valentine’s Day ecard to match it.

And that’s my take!

It’s a great place to start if you’re looking for love!
If you have a shiny new 2010 calendar in front of you, the month of February no doubt looms large at you. The 14th stares back silently. You may not have circled it, but, everyone knows that every time your eyes fall on the calendar, you sort of draw a mental circle around the date. For some of us, it’s a pleasant reminder of the blessings we have in our lives. And an opportunity to do something nice for the ones we love. Be it sending Valentine’s Day ecards, flowers, planning an elaborate date or a romantic getaway. For others seeking passion and adventure, Valentine’s Day holds promise.
But if you’re one of those millions of hopeful people looking for that elusive thing they call love…what does Valentine’s day mean to you? If you still haven’t found the One or feel betrayed by past experiences, you are probably wary of giving it yet another shot. If you find yourself feeling unworthy of love or think that you’re probably not desirable enough – I have one word for you. Stop! Instead of beating yourself up for being alone or not being able to find the right person, think of Valentine’s Day as a chance to get to know yourself better and to do something nice …for YOU!
It doesn’t matter how old you are, or how much success you’ve had with relationships. Before you find that someone who loves you, you have to learn to love yourself. So, if you don’t have a date for Valentine’s Day( and even if you do), why not start with these simple steps to celebrating YOU -
1. Do what makes you happy. Pick a hobby or sport. Indulge. Make time to enjoy it. Invest in yourself. It’s not your looks, career, bank balance or real estate investments that define your worth but the quality of time you spend with yourself and with those around you. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t danced or painted in ages. If it makes you happy, you should make time for it. It’s as simple as that.
2. Travel. Go somewhere you’ve always wanted to. Either by yourself or with a friend. Explore, experience and enjoy. Send your friends free photo ecards from wherever you are. Come back with pictures, memories, a journal and a rejuvenated spirit.
3. Join a class, club or group. A book club, writing group,marathon training session or sculpting class may help take your mind off some of the depressing, negative thoughts and help you realize the wonderful gifts you have.
4. Offer help. Whether you offer to care for your neighbor’s kids as she works her second shift or join a volunteer project in your community or tutor underprivileged kids – using your gifts and time to help someone is one of the surest ways to feel grateful and find a purpose, especially if you’re going through a bad patch in your own life. When you spread love around, you find that you’re surrounded by more of it.
5. Pamper yourself. Whether it’s a long-overdue spa visit, a luxurious massage session, an expensive dress you’ve wanted for months or a vacation you’ve been putting off – why wait until the perfect ‘One’ shows up to treat yourself to something special? Allow yourself the indulgences that you have earned and deserve to enjoy.
There you have it. Five simple ways to treat yourself to a beautiful Valentine’s Day, regardless of where you are in life. Each of these things is guaranteed to do one thing – help you learn more about yourself and appreciate your life. And, that is even better than having someone else say how great you are!

Valentine Ecards

When we were kids in grade school, Valentine’s Day at school meant a party in the classroom, treats for everyone, and no school work. What fun! The week before, my mom would take me to the store to pick out small Valentine’s cards for my classmates and some candy to go with it. The Valentine’s cards usually were red or pink and had an assortment of colorful characters on them; bears and hearts for the girls and superheros for the boys. The night before our Valentine’s party, I would fill out and address all of my little cards for all of my classmates and tape on a piece of candy. Sometimes there were those boys I didn’t like, or the bossy girl that I would rather give a bag of dirt to than the precious candy, but my mother would remind me that Valentine’s Day was for everyone and that no one wants to feel left out.

The day of the party, we’d all show up with our bags of goodies for our classmates, and once class started, we’d put our bags on our desk or the back of our chairs and walk around the room, putting our cards and treats into each person’s goody bag. And oh the joy when we got back to our desks and dumped out our bags to see all of the goodies our classmates had given us! This Valentine’s Day I want to recapture that joy by sending each one of my special friends and family Valentine’s e-cards to their email inbox, for what a special treat to get a special card just for them on Valentine’s Day. And the special treat for me? That all of the e-cards at GotFreeCards are FREE! Happy Valentine’s Day!

Valentine Ecards

Besides Christmas, for which holiday do people buy and send the most greeting cards? You guessed it, St. Valentine’s Day! We know some of the history of Valentine’s Day, but when did people start traditionally sending Valentine’s Day cards? Before the 1400s, people recognized St. Valentine’s Day only by orating their Valentine in song or speech. The only record that we have of the first handmade “card” written for Valentine’s Day is from the 1400s and is preserved in a British Museum.

These handmade Valentine’s were popular in Europe in lieu of gifts, but it wasn’t until the 1800s that Valentine’s Day cards started to be mass produced by factory workers. These cards were very elaborate and delicate at the same time, some proving to be very expensive, and all had to be hand delivered. Some were embossed in gold, others were 3-D, and a few even had movable parts!

The Valentine craze hit America around the 1800’s, and they became even more popular in 1840 when the world’s first postage stamp was introduced. This of course made it possible to send the cards rather than hand deliver, however hand delivering them may have proven to be more romantic! A woman by the name of Esther Howland was one of the first to create and sell Valentine’s in the US in the 1850s. Her cards and others were hand painted and decorated with frilly accessories, but by the end of the 19^th century most cards were mass produced by machines.

Esther Howland probably never in her wildest imagination could have foreseen that her first cards would ultimately lead to e-cards; cards sent to loved ones via an invisible highway known as the internet. But the truth is that we have gotten here, and that St. Valentine’s Day is as important as ever, and that because e-cards are easy to send, they have become the wave of the greeting card present and future. Here at GotFreeCards.com, the Valentine e-cards are just as elaborate as their ancestors from the 1400s, but they are FREE! Happy Valentine’s Day!

Are you one of those people who make elaborate Valentine’s Day plans? Are you easily disappointed if everything does not go according to plan? Do you intentionally take it easy, not bothering to do anything special just to prove a point? Or is it just another day to you? 

Whatever you choose to do this Valentine’s Day, it might be a good idea to avoid doing certain things on this day.  

Don’t spring nasty surprises on your loved one

This is not the time to announce that you are quitting your job to write a book or that you have to cancel an upcoming vacation or that you may be going bankrupt soon. Unless it’s an emergency that can’t wait another day, resist announcing bad news on Feb 14! You have 364 other days to do it, after all. 

Don’t blow your budget

Avoid overspending, unless you have the key to a hidden treasure or are related to an Arabian prince. This might be tough to do if you’re in the habit of having Valentine’s dinner at the fanciest restaurant in town and splurging on the biggest rock available. However, if you know for a fact that you might spend the better part of the remaining year paying off your credit card debt, well, maybe you should reconsider downgrading to a nice, but less fancy restaurant and maybe a gift that you can afford.  

Don’t bring up pending issues

Maybe he forgot to pick up the dry cleaning….again.  Maybe you had a big fight last evening. Maybe, you are worried about losing your job. Whatever else may be on you mind, try pushing it away for at least a few hours and have a pleasant day or evening. Problems, issues, fights and the economy will still be here when you wake up on Feb 15. So, why let them ruin the one day you have been looking forward to? Our free Sorry and Love you ecards can help you make up just in time. 

Don’t stress yourself out

Holidays and special occasions aren’t meant to be stressful, but who would have guessed?

It’s ok if you haven’t been able to buy the perfect gift, couldn’t get the dinner reservation you wanted,  or if you are not feeling well enough to go out. Bottom line – don’t worry that you won’t have the Valentine’s Day of your dream. That will only make it worse. Make the best of whatever you have and enjoy yourselves no matter what you do or where you are. 

Don’t let pressure or guilt take over

I suggest turning off the TV at least a week before the big day. Switching channels during commercials won’t work because you’re bound to encounter them some time and they have this way of making you long for something you can’t afford or don’t even want. Same goes for friends, cousins and coworkers who go on and on about what they’re getting/giving/doing. If you feel pressured to match their lifestyle or to beat their budget, start running. The farther the better.  This is one time of the year when just listening to someone else’s plans can make you want to do crazy stuff either out of guilt or peer pressure. Don’t give in to either. It’s your day to spend as you choose with your loved one/s. And don’t let anything lead you into thinking otherwise. 

Don’t overlook the simple stuff

Sometimes all you need to express you love are simple things like a hand-written love note or a free Valentine’s Day ecard. Check out all our ideas for spending quality time with your loved one on Valentine’s day and don’t ignore the simple, beautiful gifts that cost nothing, yet create memories that last a lifetime.

Valentine’s Day offers an opportunity to reconnect with your loved ones. If you are looking for something fun, yet meaningful to do this Valentine’s Day with your special someone, here are some ideas you could try. 

1. Sign up for a class – Is there something you and your significant other have wanted to learn or try for some time now? Why not sign up? Whether it’s a new language, yoga, skiing lessons or a creative writing class – just choose something that you both are interested in and new to and enjoy the experience of learning, sharing and exploring a new skill together. It’s like going back to high school or college, only, more enjoyable.

2. Save up and spend, together -Valentine’s Day could be the day you go shopping together and finally reward yourselves with something you both want and have been saving up for. A new car, a video camera, an exercise bike, a new laptop, maybe even the down payment for your home….the gift may not be romantic in itself. But the fact that you both worked hard to earn, save up and spend time to pick out something that you can share for years to come, certainly is. 

3. An unplanned road trip – Remember how you always wanted to take a spontaneous road trip to nowhere? Well, why not do it on Valentine’s Day weekend? Just get in the car and drive. Go wherever your heart(or your GPS) takes you. We often spot beautiful sights on our planned road trips – bridges, little towns or lakes we wish we could stop at and enjoy. But we don’t because we’re always in a rush to get somewhere else. Well, this Valentine’s day, why not make it to nowhere and yet stop everywhere your eyes and heart tell you to. You never know – you might even end up experiencing the most gorgeous sunset of your life or the most spectacular view that you won’t find in travel brochures. 

Valentine’s day ought to be more about doing the things we love and less about doing what the TV commercials or store displays tell us to. Me – I’m not a greeting card and bouquet person.  A long mountain drive, steaming hot coffee on a hill top and a free ecard from my sweetie is all it takes to make my Valentine’s Day. 

Watch your inbox for more meaningful Valentine’s Day gift ideas, in our next issue of Let’s Catch Up. Haven’t signed up for our newsletter yet? Please register on our homepage.

St. Valentine’s Day may well be believed to be a Western Civilization holiday, commercially created by candy makers and florists alike. But in actuality, St. Valentine’s Day has been celebrated for ages, since around 300AD. There are quite a few legends of lore that tell the tale of St. Valentine and his quest to protect the sanctity of marriage and the rights of lovers.

A popular legend has St. Valentine as a Roman Catholic Priest in the 3rd century AD, who secretly performed forbidden marriage rites, much to the displeasure of the Emperor at the time. He was caught and sentenced to death, and as legend has it, he died sometime in the middle of February.

Another legend tells the tale of St. Valentine imprisoned to be put to death for angering the Romans, all the while being visited by the enamored daughter of the prison warden. St. Valentine fell in love with her, and before being put to death, sent her a love note signed: “From your Valentine”.

Whichever legend holds the truth or if the real story is something else all together, what matters most is that St. Valentine was to the world a figure of romance and heroism, and was someone to be celebrated. February 14th could have been chosen to commemorate St. Valentine because it was his final day, or because the French thought it marked the beginning of the bird mating season; either way February 14th is a day for romance, for young lovers and old lovers, those who are married and those who are single. He gave the world hope and an ideal to achieve. Whatever legend you believe, St. Valentine is someone to be remembered, so this year on Valentine’s Day, do what St. Valentine would have done and send your loved one a love note. The most romantic ones can be found here at GotFreeCards.com. “Let live and let love!”

Before you shoot me, let me explain. I am not against love or expressing love or any such thing. In fact, I look forward to Valentine’s day as much as anyone else. (Mostly because I like to catch all the mushy movies on TV, but that’s a different story!) But, think about it. Who really benefits the most from Valentine’s Day? 

It’s not the people who have been in love with each other for years. They already know how much they love one another. It’s not the newly weds. They are already in love and have just sealed it with wedding vows. The new lovers? Nope. They are too starry eyed to think about everlasting love and such things at the moment. 

You may not want to admit it to yourself, but the ones who benefit the most from Valentine’s Day are businesses, stores, greeting card companies. There, I said it. 

Well, let’s say Valentine’s Day is a day to express one’s love for a special someone – not that you need one specific day to do so, but that’s another subject, again. So where do cavity-forming chocolates, environment-unfriendly greeting cards and budget-breaking gifts come into play? Since when has love become a commodity? Why do we need material expression to reinforce the most intangible, powerful and life-giving force on earth? Love is after all, that which cannot be measured, quantified, defined, compared or forgotten, isn’t it? So, how come we have reduced it to something that can be expressed with a box of candies or a bottle of perfume, even if they are the finest?

I just don’t get it. To me, the most beautiful expressions of love are those that are known to and shared only between the two people concerned. Maybe an understanding smile, a meaningful glance,  a shoulder rub, a kiss, a timely hug, a hot cup of cocoa when it’s most needed, a concerned phone call, a tight embrace…

Maybe an occasional love note or greeting card would be nice. But to be honest, when I see aisles and aisles of the same stuff in every store – heart-shaped pillows and teddy bears and chocolates – and I realize that at least a thousand other women will be getting the very same thing from their ‘one’, I pretty much lose interest in those gifts. They hold no meaning, no special place in my heart.

What I value most is the unique way in which two people express their love for each other, to each other. Not just on Valentine’s Day but all through their lives. Those special moments, which like our free ecards are personal and unique. 

That’s what I call the perfect gift! 

So, this Valentine’s Day (and every day), don’t forget to personalize your expression of love. Buying a gift or a greeting card is easy.  But to make your expression special, make it your own. After all, isn’t that what you love about each other?