This week is Valentine’s Day, so to celebrate I’ll be posting seven days of Love.

Today is dedicated to my mom! She’s my best friend, she’s the one I call after good days and bad, and she inspires me to be a better person. She is smart, pushes me to always be smarter and push harder – most of all, she is compassionate! She also helps me balance my emotions with logic and always gives me the best advice. She’s the shit.

My mom knows me better than anyone and makes me laugh all the time. Last week, she sent me an early Valentine’s Day present that is 100% me. This little bottle of perfume from the Harajuku Lovers is hilarious. I laughed when I opened it because I knew my mom was trying to cheer me up. She’s good like that! When my dad lived in Japan, I picked up a habit of loving all things Japanese, and have a super soft spot for Hello Kitty and Japanese packaging. And superheroes named Super G? That are blonde and wear glasses? Yep, this is one of my alter-egos in a jar. My mom lives far away but she knows how to make me smile and always reminds me that she is never too far away.

Another great thing about my mom is that I see a lot of her in me. A few of my favorite characteristics – sensitivity, intuitiveness, kindness, passionate and compasionate – are directly from her!

Day one of Love goes to my mom! How do you celebrate the people you love?