Life doesn't stop just because Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Work continues to add weight to your shoulders. Your family and friends want to spend time with you. If you're in school, you have classes to worry about on top of all that. Juggling these responsibilities is enough without also planning a special night for you and your boo, so here's 14 last-minute Valentine's Day date ideas!
1. Try A New Restaurant
Above is one of the several McMicken restaurants my boyfriend and i have been hoping to try. This past weekend, we also sampled Mio's Pizzeria and fell in love with their stuffed pizza.
Not only can trying something new be fun, but it is also a wonderful way to make memories!
2. Have A Picnic
A picnic is intimate and romantic. One-on-one time with your S.O. in the fresh, open air with some snacks to munch on sounds like a prime-time date.
If it's too cold where you are, a living room picnic can be just as enjoyable. Last year, my boyfriend surprised me with an indoor picnic, and the memories still make me smile.
3. Order Take-Out And Catch Up On Your Favorite Shows
Take-out is a guilty pleasure for most. As a college student saving every dime I can, take-out isn't something I indulge in often. Sometimes, it's nice to curl up on the couch eating food you didn't have to make, enjoying your favorite shows with your favorite person.
4. Tour Your Town
I moved to Cincinnati - specifically, Clifton - last August for college. It's amazing what gems you find when you venture a few minutes out from where you're used to going.
Two months ago, my boyfriend and I walked up to Ludlow Street. We discovered a vintage Skyline, a few antique shops (where we bought vintage soap and heart-shaped baking tins!), eclectic coffee shops (including one that was eco-friendly), and a few unique restaurants and venues.
We would have never known about those treasures unless we made an adventure out of it. Here soon, we hope to make another afternoon out of it.
5. The Classic: Dinner And Movie
You can never go wrong with a quick dinner at one of your favorite restaurants before catching a movie you've both wanted to see for ages.
A few movies coming out this month include: The Space Between Us, A United Kingdom, Fifty Shades Darker, John Wick: Chapter 2, Havenhurst, and more!
6. Dinner And Movie At Home
Radical, right? But this is one of my favorite things my boyfriend and I do. We'll be hitting four and a half years this month, but more and more, we realize that being home, making our own silly memories as we cook dinner together, means more to us than going out, passively eating dinner, and spending tons of money to see a movie we might not even like.
Two weekends ago, we made tortellini, meatballs, garlic bread, followed by a home-made spaghetti sauce. Another weekend, we decided to have breakfast for dinner, whipping up some cinnamon and nutmeg pancakes with sausage.
7. Watch The Sunset Together
There's something so serene about watching the sun dip below the horizon, painting the sky in cotton candy pinks, purples, and blues, until one-by-one, the stars appear. It's like washing away the day and entering a new one with your favorite person next to you.
8. Play Board Games
Nostalgia makes these board games so great. They bring up memories long-forgotten, and before you know it, you're swapping stories and snorting in laughter.
9. Go Bowling
A bit more expensive than most of these last-minute ideas, but bowling is just as much fun, if not more. You can make it a double-date affair or go by yourselves. The fizzy pop, greasy pizza, and air-hockey from the small arcade (because there is always an arcade), makes for a night to remember.
10. Stargaze
Nothing says romance like a night under the stars, am I right ladies?
This picture alone brings back memories of my own. During the last eclipse, my boyfriend and I were outside, and he asked me to dance. It was just a regular night, not an anniversary or holiday, but the moment has lasted in my mind.
I doubt I will ever forget about it, and isn't that the point of these holidays, of life?
11. Go Out For Dessert Or Drinks (Or Both!)
Literally and metaphorically, few things in life are as sweet as dessert. Chocolate cake. Vanilla ice cream. Strawberry glaze. Caramel syrup. The list, the forms, go on and on and on.
It's a small indulgence, but at the right place and with the right person, it can be meaningful, too.
12. R&R Time
Rest and recuperation. Usually, this is a solo-activity, but it can be quite intimate with your S.O. whether that means a bubble bath, giving each other massages, or any other relaxing activities you both can think up.
13. Do Something Silly
Silly can mean different things to different people.
Silly can mean being tickled until you can't breathe, finger-painting, finger-painting each other, trying something new together like store-bought, sticky face-masks or closing your eyes and letting your boyfriend do your make-up, anything.
The sillier, the better.
14. Go For A Drive
Lose yourself to the music, the streets, and see where they take you like the good ole days. Maybe you'll end up at a diner you never knew existed for a late night snack, or perhaps you'll discover a spot with an amazing view.
Like I said at the beginning of this article, life doesn't stop just because Valentine's Day is right around the corner. But that doesn't mean we all can't take the time - even last minute - to make memories with the people that matter most to us. Memories that make us smile and laugh for years to come.
Memories of a lifetime.
