Hey APW!

Is it embarrassing to admit that I’m kind of excited about Valentine’s Day this year? I normally avoid Hallmark holidays like the plague, on account of I like to put too much pressure on myself and then end up disappointed. But this year daycare is having parents’ night out on the 14th, and I’m feeling inclined to celebrate the fact that Michael and I have made it almost a whole year taking care of a tiny human and haven’t murdered each other yet. Go team.

Historically, Michael and I have sucked at gifting around holidays like Valentine’s Day (unless you count when we were teenagers, and didn’t understand that spending all your disposable income on your significant other is a good way to end up broke). But this year I feel like we finally cracked the code. Turns out, our gifting love language is around the personal and the practical. For example, for Christmas Michael got me a new set of baking pans and a fancy ergonomic mouse, and it was the most romantic gesture I could have asked for. As for me, I like to go personal with my gifts. A framed print. A piece of art. Which is why I do a lot of my shopping with Minted. Their fine art is on point and is my default thoughtful #lazygirl option for gifts (case in point: both my grandmother and my mother-in-law got a custom silhouette of baby Link for Christmas this year, and last year my sister and cousin both got silhouettes of their dogs).

Part of the reason Minted’s art is so on point is because they source all their designs from independent artists. So they’re constantly adding new pieces. Minted recently released a bunch of new stuff I’m really excited about about (this letter board–style print is definitely going up in my house somewhere once I figure out what I want it to say) and to celebrate, they are giving away $125 to one lucky APW reader. Use it toward a gift for your significant other, or if you’re me, buy a gift for yourself and tell your significant other they are off the hook. (Michael’s favorite present is the one he doesn’t have to buy.) Just click here or scroll down to enter. And if you need some help picking out what you’d use your winnings for, here’s the art I’d buy for myself for Valentine’s Day right now:

(Fun fact: The “Keys Wallet Phone” print above sits across from my desk at work, and symbolizes my general life philosophy.) My favorite Minted art is their abstract stuff, like this or this, but I’m also a sucker for their more graphic pieces like this and this. And I’m pretty sure Meg just ordered this for her home.

So what are you guys doing for Valentine’s Day? Do you boycott? Or do you try to make it special? As for us, we’re on the road to San Diego right now to visit friends and either a) prove to ourselves that we can still road trip with a baby or b) test the limits of our sanity. Will report back on how that goes!

And with that, it’s your happy hour. Click here or scroll down to enter to win a $125 gift card to Minted! Giveaway ends on Valentine’s Day.

Cheers,

Maddie

Around the Web This Week with Jareesa

It’s tax season! Lifehacker has a quick roundup of the most commonly Googled tax questions.

The CEO of PepsiCo promised us all “Lady Doritos”…and then they walked it back 🙁 As cool as “Lady Doritos” could be, The Cut came up with a list of things women would like instead.

SELF magazine is featuring more content devoted to wellness and intersectionality (yay!), and this piece about yoga and cultural appropriation spoke to me.

Press-on nails are THING again, and I’m here for it!

“How People Die in America”: a somber follow-up to “How to Not Die in America.”

An actual Nazi is running for Congress in Illinois. How the hell did this happen?

In case you didn’t know, winter sports are for rich white people.

In delightful father-son moments: Will Smith, in a Total Dad Move, Re-creates Jaden Smith’s Music Video for “Icon.”

And if you missed the Super Bowl, here are all the movie trailers you missed, the absolutely terrible commercials, and I thought Kevin Hart was someone’s kid on the field after the game (whoops!).

Oh and Quincy Jones is “IDGAF” years old. This interview is B-A-N-A-N-A-S! 

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