I am a romantic. I love sappy love stories, a good romantic comedy, and silly love songs. I've always been that way. Anyone else out there like me? If so, what is it about romance that gets us all swept up? Real life isn't terribly romantic, so maybe that's part of it. We personally don't walk or kiss in the rain. We don't sit by a roaring fire sipping wine with only the flames of the fire to light the room. And we don't run off on last minute trips to romantic cities just to get away from it all. Instead, we fall asleep on the couch from exhaustion most nights. We have a date night maybe once a month which consists of dinner and/or a movie. And we haven't taken a trip together since before McKinley was born. It's not to say that there aren't romantic gestures from time to time. But again, real life isn't all that romantic.
This is why I've fallen in love with the Hallmark Channel. They feed my need for romance. I've been a fan of their Countdown to Christmas for years, but I've never really tuned into their movies throughout the rest of the year. That is until this fall. And I'm hooked! It started with their original movie All Of My Heart and the sequel All Of My Heart: Inn Love. I missed the first one which debuted in 2015, and because of it's popularity, the fans begged for a sequel which premiered earlier this month. And of course they aired them back to back so I was forced to record them both. And I loved them. And I cried during both. And I have decided I want to move to the country and open a bed and breakfast complete with baby goats! That's what these romantic movies do to me! They cause me to start thinking about what life would be like, if I lived in a small town, and had unlimited fake money to spend while fixing up a dilapidated house, and turning it into my dream B&B! To quote Sleepless in Seattle, "You don't want to be in love. You want to be in a love in a movie." And it's true!!
Movies allow you to escape real life and to have a fleeting thought of what could be. For instance, the most recent Hallmark movie, Love Struck Cafe, is about a man and woman who have both come back to their hometowns, as adults, and who just happen to be high school sweethearts. And of course you know they end up falling in love again, but you find yourself completely engrossed in the entire story line because it's endearing. And it reminds you of your youth and your first love. Could it possibly happen to you? Could you move back to your hometown someday and find your first love, (and you both happen to be single for whatever reason), and fall back in love like the first time? Of course you can! Because it's a movie. It's a story. How many people do you know find their first loves and just pick up where they left off 20+ years later? And if they do, I applaud them for living out their real life romance!
Is it wrong for us romantic types to let our mind wander and think about a life filled with all those movie scenarios? To allow yourself a fleeting moment of imaging life with a vampire that's half our age? Or to fall in love with the forbidden priest and then spend a week on a deserted island only for him to leave you, yet again, for God? Uh, I cry every time I watch that movie. To let a photographer into your home, while your family is away, and then fall madly in love with him. And then letting him go as quickly as he arrived. I tell her every time to open that pickup truck door. Open it, I beg you! Those love stories are incredibly beautiful, yet so unrealistic. And, I fall for them every time! I tell you, I'm a hopeless romantic!
So what is romance in a real life? For me, it's not about being wined and dined. Or flown off to romantic cities for a brief getaway, although that sounds amazing! It's small things like opening a door. Filling up my car with gas on a winter day so I don't have to get out in the cold. Helping me with my coat. Buying me a chocolate cupcake from the grocery store bakery when running in to just get a loaf of bread. And going to see a romantic comedy when you would rather see anything else! It's supporting my crazy dreams about opening a B&B, or a children's bookstore, or a traveling Airstream boutique, or any other ridiculous idea I come up with regarding my entrepreneurial spirit. Most importantly, romance is just allowing me to be me and not questioning any of it.
Do you live the movie like romance? Or do you live the common every day romantic life like me? Which would you prefer? And, what is romance to you? Whatever it may be, I hope your day is filled with chocolate, roses, champagne, and fire light!
XO,
Andrea
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