Creative Ways To Spend Valentine's Day
Seven V-Day ideas for skipping the cliché dinner plans and trying something truly memorable.
"Where are you guys doing dinner on Valentine's?"
If we had a nickel for every time we heard this one…well let's just say we'd be sunning on a yacht in St. Tropez instead of sitting here in the office. Dinner and some x-rated cuddling afterward? So cliché. Why not have the bedroom action serve as the aftershocks of an invigorating and romantically spontaneous event?
The countdown is on, and if you don't have dinner reservations yet – consider yourself better off without them. Get a clue from some of our YourTango staffers, who dreamed up their ideal Valentine's Day plans that don't include a snooty maitre d'.
"'Travel abroad night': choose a city/country that you've always talked about visiting/vacationing, then buy food (prepare or order in), wine, and music that represents that area. Rent a movie that is from or about the area and settle in to watch with dessert."
"Relaxing and unwinding together. My boyfriend and I stumbled upon this amazing Korean spa that's open 24 hours: We plan to go for a really late-night visit—recline in the sauna, hop in the steam room, take a dip in the sake-infused wading pool, then get massages side-by-side."
"Bowling or rock climbing; some sort of activity that you don't do every weekend. I'm sure there would be cause for some good laughs."
"Just a blanket, my honey, a bottle of Veuve Clicquot and some fresh fruit on the beach, watching the sunrise."
"Volunteering at a soup kitchen... together."
"She loves the movie, Coming To America, where Prince Akeem takes Lisa McDowell to that restaurant in Brooklyn at the Hudson River Cafe, so that's where I'd take my woman out to dinner and to see her reaction."
"I'd take him to the late night set at a hole-in-the-wall Jazz lounge where there aren't too many people—words can't express how much he means to me, but the perfect riff might just come close."
Discussion
We did a traditional valentine's day where I made my husband's favorite food: Japanese. I made miso soup, sushi, fried tempura shrimp and veggies, teriyaki chicken and green tea ice cream for dessert. Then I showed him my positive pregnancy test. Unforgettable.
My boyfriend recreated our first date last Valentine's Day. I met him through an online dating service. Because of our busy schedules, we were not able to meet for six days after the first email and phone call. But he called me every night before we met and we talked for hours, but mostly we just laughed. Last Valentine's Day, though the winter storms prevented us from going to the beach as we did on the first date in June, he sent me a very cute dinner invitation, and when I got to his house, he had spread a blanket on the living room floor, brought out a bottle of champagne with some strawberries, and presented me with another cat dancer (my kitten's favorite toy), another mango (my favorite fruit)and best of all- a bottle of blond hair dye, because we laughed for a long time when in one of our early phone calls, I had told my boyfriend that one of my worst first dates ever told me that I would look better as a blond (good to know and thanks for sharing!!). My boyfriend invited me to the beach on our first date because I had told him that was my favorite place. But instead of listening to the waves on Valentine's Day, he put on my favorite cd's - James Taylor, James Blunt, Sting. And we still laugh all the time!
I met my boyfriend on Valentine's Day. We were both volunteering from our Single Volunteers Group at a fancy ball for the American Heart Association. We were working together at a silent auction table and we just hit it off so well together. After our shift, we got to enjoy the ball and it was so much fun. We had a lot of fun eating dinner and dancing the entire night. That was three years ago and we are still together today! It was a magical night that we greatly enjoyed together. My advice for meeting a great guy is try a volunteer group. The guys involved are truly nice people and definitely are so down to earth plus you get to enjoy some very nice events for free!
