Valentine's Day: homemade

Happy Valentine's Day weekend everyone.  Yes, the infamous holiday is tomorrow, Monday, but most people, including myself, celebrated this weekend.


And, if you're like me, you did it on a budget.  So, here's what my boyfriend and I did to make the weekend super special, and resonably inexpensive.  Friday we went to the gym together – a great way to motivate and support one another, and to get the endorphines going for the weekend!  While I had a meeting on Saturday, Saturday night we exchanged gifts:  he took me to a chocolate shop down the street called Indulge.  (HIGHLY recommended.  A small selection, but wonderfully crafter, free WiFi if you'd like, and excellent soy mochas). Chocolate strawberries, dark chocolate peanut clusters, and chocolate covered Oreos filled my half-pound box and we left, drinks and chocolate in hand, hand in hand.

I gave him his card when we got home, and he made me one himself.  Cards are cards, and they get thrown away eventually, so if you find that perfect card, that says just the right then, then great.  Get it.  It will mean alot.  If you don't, however, don't fret about the $4.00 you're not spending. A handmade card with cute, homemade, sentimental touches means just as much.  The words are yours, the thoughts are intimately your own, and the price is perfect.


I also made him dinner.  He wanted some nice steaks so I bought Sirloin Tip Steaks from Whole Foods (on sale for $6.99/pound), and made a homemade "steak dinner" for two.  It included baked potatoes, and steaks topped with parmesean cheese, fresh garlic and oregano, and a thin layer of spicy cheese.  Baked for 20 minutes, the homemade dinner was intimate, quiet, perfectly priced and "the best steaks he'd had in years".  (pat pat, yay amateur chef!)


There was a lot of "us" time, laughs, and great conversation.  Valentine's Day doesn't have to be expensive, but it has to be thoughtful if it's going to mean something.  You don't need to buy the sexiest and most expensive lingerie...you don't even need to buy anything.  Wear his favorite, or something you feel hot in.  Make him a dish you know he loves and doens't have often, surprise her with her favorite movie, chocolates, flowers, or even breakfast in bed.  The little gestures mean the most, added up and thought out over the course of the weekend.  Plus, that means bonus points for the late night, early morning, or mid-day rendezvous.  Definitely don't skimp there, a study in a women's magazine showed women who have an active sex life for 3 or more days a week are less stressed, look younger, have better brain power, are overall more healthy, and, of course, just feel great.  Men, I know the same would go for you.


So, if you haven't Valentine's Day'd yet, be sure to not let it pass unchecked tomorrow!  And maybe both you and your wallet will even be happy too.