The Origin of the Paint & Sip Date
- Sara Connor
- Feb 3
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 4
Valentine’s Day has always felt special to me. There’s something about a good love story that catches my heart strings. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had a few realizations about how we celebrate holidays that have stuck with me.
My husband and I have been together for close to 15 years. In that time frame, we have done Valentine’s Day gifts once. I grew up in a house that celebrated with gifts given any excuse (what kid wouldn’t love this, of course), so this felt like a familiar way to celebrate. While the gifting was spot on, and a lot of fun, something about it felt a little hollow. Of course, we were in love, and the gifts didn’t make or break that by any means. But they were just things. Our relationship was so much more than an exchange of items.
In an 2-day shipping world of instant gratification, we have so many material items right at our fingertips. How easy it is to simply buy a gift without a lot of thought or effort. We exchange our items with one another, and there’s a little rush. Maybe the intention is really thoughtful, and maybe you received something you REALLY wanted. Whatever the motivation, don’t you feel like there’s something missing?
Each year, Valentine’s Day comes up, we check in, and actively decide NOT to gift. Often it feels like Christmas just passed, and we are immersed in winter survival mode. We have the same conversation every year, and it ends with the same conclusion: We both desire more quality time together.
After buying a house, having kids, and both working from home, spending quality time together means something different. By the time the kids are in bed, we are both spent. We are in a busy season of life, and uninterupted time at home isn’t really feasible for us right now.
That’s where The Paint & Sip Date came into existence.
Painting is one of my favourite things to do. I find the texture of the paint on the brush against the canvas to be satisfying and meditative. I get time to slow down, let my thoughts go, and actively create something. Art has so many lessons built right into it, and the thought of sharing this experience with my favorite person in the world brought me a kid-like sense of joy. The times when we’ve sat down at an easels together we’ve made a core memory filled with lots of laughter, grace, and connection. This exercise always serves a host of reminders: We are both human, we both make mistakes, but ultimately, we share the same goal.
I love Valentine’s Day, but not for the chocolates or flowers… Valentine’s Day is a valuable reminder to slow down, take a break from the day to day, and reconnect. I wanted to craft an experience that effortlessly supports this idea for couples without adding more useless stuff. Painting your significant other is a truly hilarious exercise for so many reasons.. but beneath this layer of pure comedy, you are stopping everything else to just look at each other. When was the last time you really did that?
Can’t wait to see you there, February 14 at Tailwater in Pulaski.
💜Sara
Comments