Creative Ways to Say I Love You on Valentine’s Day

Yes, yes, we know. Valentine’s Day is a commercialized, “Hallmark” holiday. It’s all about the chocolate and roses. The overcrowded restaurants. And let’s not think about all that pressure to find the perfect gift and create the perfect experience so you don’t wind up in the dog house until spring.

Relax. Let’s look at Valentine’s Day in a different light.

As our lives get busy, we often don’t take time to think about the things that really matter, like the person we love. It’s important to spend grown-up, one-on-one time together, getting back in touch with the personality aspects that brought us together as a couple in the first place. And Valentine’s Day gives us the perfect excuse to do just that.

So why not ditch the crowded restaurants and skip the overpriced roses this year and focus on pampering your lover in a variety of low-cost ways? Here are some suggestions to celebrate Valentine’s Day on a budget.

Romantic dinner at home. For about ¼ of the price of a restaurant meal, you can enjoy filet mignon, lobster tails, or your choice of culinary indulgence right at home. Make sure to include foods with aphrodisiac properties, http://blog.vibrator.com/do-aphrodisiacs-exist.html like oysters and asparagus. For dessert? Fresh strawberries dipped in dark chocolate.

Visit the place where you first met or had your first date. What better way to get in touch with the person you fell in love with than to go back to those hangouts from your early dating days? You can re-enact your first date, or pay a visit to the bar, park or store where you first met. If you met in a more unique location, even better! When you get there, spend some time talking about what first attracted you to each other.

This thought crossed my mind the other day and I thought it would be fun. Unfortunately, if my husband and I were to go back to the site of our first date – a casual but classy locally-owned restaurant and grill – we’d wind up at an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. It’s a shame, really.

Sexy photo album
Put together a racy photo album for his-or-her eyes only. You can use a service like Snapfish.com or Shutterfly to put together the photo album digitally, or buy an inexpensive photo album and photo prints. If you’re afraid of facing the kid behind the counter at CVS, you can print them yourself. (Highly recommended!)

Start off with some fun, fully-clothed photos of you and your sweetie having good times, and let the photos get sexier and sexier with each page, until you’re giving your guy the full “Hustler” view.

The coupon book of his (or her) dreams. Make your lover’s fantasies come true. The X-Rated Hugs and Kisses coupon book provides plenty of fun suggestions. Or you can make your own – don’t forget to leave one coupon as a “fill-in-the-blank,” so your lover can redeem it for something you may not have thought about!

Enjoy one of your favorite hobbies together. Couples that play together — play together after hours, too. If you’re like most couples, you and your Valentine probably have plenty of common interests… and too little time to pursue them all. Reserve February 14 to pursue a hobby you both love – perhaps something you haven’t done together in a while.

Keep up the tradition after Valentine’s Day, too, taking at least one day or weekend a month to bond over your favorite sports, games or interests.

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