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.

Goodies in your Own Backyard

Well not literally, but Bellingham has some tasty treats if you know where to find them. Before you go to the grocery store and purchase a box of Russell Stover's for your valentine, check out these local vendors first!

Chocolate Necessities: Located on the Guide (take a right on Horton Rd and look for the awning with their name on the left) and at the Public Market on Cornwall, Chocolate Necessities offers up a full array of tasty treats. From truffles to barks they have everything your chocoholic lover might want for Valentine's Day. If you're also considering making your own goodies (like chocolate dipped strawberries or lava cakes) they have those chocolates available as well and let me tell you, getting good chocolate for your treats can make all the difference!

The Spice Hut: I was making a "chocolate basket" for a client and stopped here on a whim hoping they had hot chocolate mixes (like GOOD hot chocolate mixes). They didn't but they did have chocolate teas! That's right, CHOCOLATE tea! I made a cringing face at first but the guy who helped me said that with a little cream and sugar in your cup, it will taste like dessert. And after I smelled a few of them, I was certain he was right! It was heaven! And aside from the chocolate tea, they had over 170+ others to satisfy anyone's tastebuds and love of tea! Check them out on West Kellogg (near WCC)

Paper Dreams: I love Paper Dreams in Fairhaven! They offer fun cards and gifts for an occasion. They also offer up homemade fudge in a variety of flavors! They can literally be a one-stop-shop for your next occasion! If you are getting fudge, I would recommend getting a little for yourself as well! It's too good not to get any for you!!

Mt. Bakery: Offering fresh treats and sweets daily, there is bound to be something here that anyone will love! The offer creme brulees, chocolate mousses and tarts galore and even have individual sized desserts so you and your sweetie and each get your favorite! Find them on W Champion St downtown.

La Vie En Rose French Bakery: I have a tender spot in my heart for this place since we got our wedding cake here. And like Mt Bakery, they offer a plethora of Europpean inspired goodies to tempt your tastebuds. Location on Holly St, downtown, you can smell the tastiness when you walk inside.

Grace Cafe: Grafe is a more casual bakery/coffee shop located off of Sunset. But don't be fooled by their pies. Their pies are amazing and there are plenty to choose from! Buy by the slice or the whole pie, it's a good investment either way! Perfect warmed up wtih a scoop of vanilla ice cream!