149/365 The spirit of Valentine's Day

Remember the exciting but awful time of year in grade school when the time came to decorate a "mailbox", hang it on your desk, and wait and see who gave you a Valentine? Would the girl/boy you liked acknowledge your love and like you back?

Is being a grown-up better or worse?

Most of the Valentine's Days in my life have been spent solo, but I've never really been one to feel down about it. Today was going to be pretty much like every other day. Or so I thought.

Our Cheer Committee at work announced on Friday that we would be having our very own mailbox-decorating contest. We all had until noon on Monday to decorate and display our white paper bags. People bought or made Valentines and distributed them throughout the day, filling everyone's bags with sweets and happy notes.

I walked around the office before the judging began to check out the competition. I'd love to think that I could be a contender in the contest, but I work with people who are designers and creative for a living. Competition was tough! Each person's was completely unique, and I was really impressed with how much everyone got into the spirit of the friendly competition.

Mine is the bag in the photo above. Below are a couple more samples, and you can see more (of the photos I took) on our company's Facebook page. 

 

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope your day was filled with lots of love.

Camera: Canon 40D with 24mm wide-angle lens, various exposures