Last Minute Date Ideas

Still mulling over what to do for your sweetie on Valentine's Day? With only a few days left, we're offering up some easy and affordable date ideas to give you a little inspiration!

• Make a gourmet dinner for two, at home. Valentine's Day is best when shared so put together a tasty menu, grab the goods and spend a leisurely afternoon preparing your feast.


• Set up a scavenger hunt. Write down things you like to do/eat/see and go urban exploring with your partner through the city trying to find your favorite things. If you can enlist the help of a friend, end your hunt at home and have wine and glowing candles at the ready.


• Create your own drive-in: Get a few of your favorite movies (the more romantic the better, it's Valentine's Day afterall!), set up a pile of pillows and blankets in your living room, popup some Jiffy Pop and enjoy.
  
• Go bowling! And to make things a little more fun, place a little wager. Whoever gets the highest score gets . . .


• Pack up a picnic. If it's sunny out, pick an outdoor spot with an amazing view and bundle up! If it's chilly in your region, pack a thermos of hot chocolate, hot gourmet soup and bread, and other tasty treats that will fight off the chill. Then when lunch is done, snuggle under a blanket and enjoy the view and your company.


• Go wine tasting by finding a tasting room in your region. Learn about the different qualities of regional wines and at the end of the afternoon, bring your favorite bottle home to have with dinner (double points if you get some tasty cheeses to go along with it!)


• Wine tasting: the at-home-version. Go online for instructions on how to host your own wine tasting for two! Pick out a few bottles of what you'd like to try, prepare your own cheese plate and challenge your partner to finding all of the different flavor notes in the wine you've selected.


• Create a fondue night for two. Make cheese fondues for breads, fruit, and meats and follow that up with a chocolate fondue complete with strawberries, marshmallows and other goodies.


• Take a hike or just play outside. Try finding new trails or head up to the mountains and go sledding together or find a park and make like 6-year-olds by playing on the playground.


• Still trying to put together a night out but need to keep it affordable? Opt for cocktails and appetizers during happy hour instead. Then hit up a comedy show or dancing at a club. Cap off the night with dessert (to-go dessert perhaps) at your favorite restaurant.

Eco-friendly spin:

Just about any of these date ideas (or special evenings out) can be made eco-friendly. It's all in the choices we make. Looking for a bottle of wine? As your wine retailer if they offer biodynamic wines, choose to bring real plates and silverware along on your picnic, buy organic strawberries, chocolates and cheeses. Purchase beeswax and soy based candles (need incentive? some retailers offer soy based candles that turn into massage oil when heated) and keep the lights off (save energy+more romantice in candleglow!)

If you're still considering those dozen red roses go better by finding a retailer that offers organic or rainforest alliance flowers. Go best by offering your sweetie a potted flowering plant that will last indefinately with proper care.