People around the world once again expressed their affection for one another in many ways with balloons, cards, flowers, chocolates, gifts, and kisses to name just a few. The National Retail Federation said Americans alone will spend some $17.6 billion on the day that traces its origins to Roman rituals and the legend of Saint Valentine from the Catholic Church. -- Lloyd Young (34 photos total) A
![Seeing red: Valentine’s Day 2012](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/b665ed9b91d743b5f1c04b168b5558ba0c62c245/height=288;version=1;width=512/http%3A%2F%2Finapcache.boston.com%2Funiversal%2Fsite_graphics%2Fblogs%2Fbigpicture%2Farchive%2F232985.jpg)