Have some cash and boost the creativity quotient by making a card or present for your favorite person instead of just plunking down cash for a ready-made gift. Craft stores like Michael’s have the ingredients for some memorable customized presents at costs much lower than the marked-up presents mainstream stores offer this time of year. It takes more time and effort to make a present, but that’s exactly the point — and it’ll all be worth it, because the look on your lover’s face when he or she receives a gift made with your own hands simply can’t be bought in stores. Even if it’s just an old-school valentine made out of ribbon and construction paper, a little gluing, cutting, drawing or cooking will create the perfect Valentine’s Day mood.
Don’t: Try to surprise your valentine without gauging his or her personality and desires beforehand. Not only could it break the bank and leave you stressing over elaborate plans, but your surprise plans might not be what your lover wanted for the day. Gauge whether your partner would prefer a quiet evening at home over a night on the town, or a small, thoughtful gift over something ostentatious, and focus on what your valentine would appreciate the most, not what Valentine’s Day “should” be like. Having an offbeat holiday could be more memorable and fun, if that’s your and your partner’s style.
— Marianne Madden, Senior Staff Writer
For most people, Valentine’s Day is a day for showing your significant other just how much you really love them. This usually entails buying them roses, taking them out to a fancy restaurant and having heated bouts of sex under the stars. Well, something to that effect anyway. I had a similar conception of V-day when I was 16, but my girlfriend at the time (whose name I will change to Jennifer to save her any embarrassment) did not.
It was Feb. 13, 1998, and I was diligently searching for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for Jennifer. I tossed aside the old roses-and-chocolates idea in favor of a more personalized gift-giving option. After deliberating for a while, I decided to get her a gold-plated Guess wristwatch with an endearing engraving on the back and a bouquet of pink and white carnations, which I knew she adored, and in addition to taking her out to a nice dinner.
That very same day, without my knowing, Jennifer had been searching for a gift to give me. Her only problem was that she had no clue what I wanted, because she simply forgot to ask, and I never told her because I wasn’t expecting anything. Nevertheless, she found something … and I damn near choked when I saw it.
That night, after having given Jennifer her gift and reveling in the giant smile she gave me when she opened it, I went to shower and got ready to go out to dinner. Little did I know the surprise that would be waiting for me when I stepped back into my room. I pushed open the door, and there sitting on my desk was an enormous black scorpion. It stood, pinned to a stick, staring at me with its beady eyes through a plastic case. At the foot of the casing was a letter that read, “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
Happy Valentine’s Day indeed! Nothing says I love you like a skewered, dead arachnid.
— Hans Fellman, Features Editor
Take what you know about your lover’s tastes and obsessions and your own talents and creativity into consideration. I had a friend who absolutely adored discovering new indie music and was an environmentalist. Her boyfriend at the time had a masters degree in English and was an exceptional writer.
So he set up an entire Valentine’s Day dinner with very carefully chosen gifts: a vegetarian dinner, cooked with all-organic materials, a pair of tall green candles (she loves the color green), a little angel made from recycled bicycle parts and a poem. Not just any poem, though: a 14-line poem where each line was composed of lines from different songs that he knew my friend would like. Her job was to find out where each line came from, put the songs together in that order, and then burn two CDs (one for him and one for her). Ta da! Valentine’s Day CDs of cute, personalized songs that would forever remind her of him. Dorky? Maybe. Sweet and personal? Definitely.
If you have no clue what to get a lover, delve into your own creativity and the little everyday hobbies of your partner, and see what you can come up with on your own.
— Lillian Nedwick, Staff Writer
Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for a Valentine’s Day your significant other will never forget. The ultimate thing to do on Valentine’s Day is to surprise your lover and do something unexpected. This idea is taken from a friend’s ex-boyfriend who worked at Party City. Working at Party City provides easy access to many Valentine’s Day goodies, and, most importantly, balloons. He acquired about 50 balloons in his girlfriend’s favorite colors.
The gift seemed typical at first, but the catch is that he placed a necklace with a heart pendant into one of these seemingly ordinary balloons. He left the balloons in his room and went to pick up his girlfriend. As soon as he saw her he exclaimed that he had forgotten something at home, so he and his girlfriend went back into the house to search for the “lost item.”
When his girlfriend saw the balloons, she thought that he was planning on having a party, but instead he handed her a needle and requested that she pop as many balloons as it would take until she could find her present. With vigor she popped balloons until the necklace with the heart pendant dropped at her feet.
— Vanessa Peng, Contributing Writer
L‘Amour is in the air, and what better time is there in the year to confess your true love to your true lover? Valentine’s Day is a wonderful excuse to spill the beans and admit your crush. Both single guys and girls will appreciate any form of recognition on the ultimate day of love.
If the timing, situation, and moment is right, one thing you should consider doing on Valentine’s Day is admitting that secret buried within the depths of your soul.
So what have you got to lose? If he or she shoots you down, be comforted by the fact that you confessed your secret in the name of all-encompassing love.
— Christine Pae, Associate Features Editor
My friend and her semi-new boyfriend decided to try new foods in the bedroom on Valentine’s Day last year. The deal was that each person got to put three foods on his or her own body for the other to lick off. The catch was that they were blindfolded, so they didn’t know what foods they were going to be eating.
My friend’s boyfriend decided to use peanut butter as one of his foods since it’s hard to lick off, thinking that his girlfriend would have to work extra hard to get the peanut butter off, if you know what I mean. Well, he put it on and she licked it, but when she tasted the peanut butter she flipped out, because she’s allergic.
They hadn’t been together that long, so he didn’t know of her allergy. He had to rush her to the hospital immediately and they spent the rest of Valentine’s Day in the emergency room while she recovered from her anaphylactic shock.
The moral of the story is, don’t use a food in the bedroom unless you know neither you nor your partner is allergic to it. Who really wants to spend Valentine’s Day in the emergency room? And maybe even worse, since most food allergy reactions are accompanied by a rash or hives, who really wants to risk an allergy rash, well, down there?
Be creative, be careful and have a wonderful Valentine’s Day.
— Shauna Kanel, Contributing Writer
My friend’s boyfriend seemed to know the right things to do on Valentine’s Day, and he surprised her with many gifts. These gifts were plentiful and intricate, but he didn’t buy or deliver the gifts himself — his mother did. Needless to say, the most exciting part of my friend’s Valentine’s Day was waiting and watching her boyfriend’s mom deliver and present gifts to her.
The moral? Don’t ask your mom to buy the gifts for you, and don’t ask her to deliver them for you. At least this way your significant other will know you made an effort, and not your mother.
— Vanessa Peng, Contributing Writer
For a holiday stereotyped by hearts, chocolates and flowers, showering roses onto your significant other may seem unimpressive, but with the right touch, a flower can say a thousand words.
One girl (to remain anonymous) sent her ex-significant other two red roses and a yellow one. A red rose to signify each of their love, and a yellow rose to signify the friendship between them.
For this Valentine’s Day, you too can say “I love you” in primary colors.
— Jia Gu, Associate Features Editor
