True Romance

There was a time when my definition of romance was flowers and over-the-top gestures. I literally demanded jewelry and chocolate from boyfriends on every significant occasion, from anniversaries to Valentine's Day to my half birthday.

And let me just say it upfront, guys love it when you request that they shower you with gifts. They like it even more when you withhold sex until said gifts are given.

So basically I was every guy's worst nightmare and could have been seen as, oh I don't know, a manipulative gold-digging bitch.

I don't know if it's being older, actual maturity, lowered expectations, that being a material girl living in a material world has gone out of style, or just not being able to get away with acting like a spoiled brat anymore, but my idea of romance these days is completely different.

It's also possibly because I finally came to the realization that flowers die, chocolate gets eaten, and jewelry gets pawned post-breakup.

(But the cocktails I bought with the money I made from selling the jewelry? Priceless.)

The things I actually kept are the ones that really matter. The note that said, “I fixed your heater so you wouldn’t be cold all weekend." The stuffed animal that he drove twenty miles out of his way to surprise me with. That time he gave me his favorite t-shirt because he knew I liked to sleep in it.

Nowadays, all I require to be swept off my feet is a small act of consideration that shows you care and were thinking about me. I think we've been so conditioned to think that romance requires showering a girl in dozens of roses, or closing down Tiffany's for the night and telling Reese Witherspoon to pick a ring, that the tiny things are overshadowed and underappreciated.

One of my friends recently told me that she makes a list of demands from a guy when he wants to prove himself to her, which consists of fancy dinners and presents she wants. And most of these guys actually comply with these stringent demands.

And I remember thinking to myself that even though that is awesome and I give her mad props, that my list would consist of things like always being honest to me, giving me your jacket when I'm cold, buying my favorite snacks at the movie theater, being respectful and kind to my friends and family, etc, etc.

They're not quite as glamorous as dinners at Per Se or a Gucci handbag, but hey, that's just how I roll.

That's not too much to ask, is it?