Blog Appétit

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It’s officially Valentine’s week! Which means time to pull out your best cheesy love puns and everything pink and red to celebrate.

Donut tell me you don’t have some cheesy love puns up your sleeve;)

Yup, I just went there.

This past year Steve and I have been busy, busy between traveling a lot and moving into a new apartment. While it’s been one fun ride, it’s also been quite an expensive one. So for Valentine’s day, we decided to keep things simple and low cost this year so we can enjoy the holiday together without breaking the bank.

I’m rounding up my top things to do for your Valentine this weekend with no card swipe required.

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1. Write a love letter. One of the easiest ways to show your love is with a handwritten letter. Take the time to write a meaningful letter and seal it with a lipstick kiss for him to open and read.

2. Cook a romantic meal together. No need to splurge on the fancy dinner date out this year. Find a recipe on pinterest or your favorite cooking site, grab a bottle of wine and fresh flowers for the table from Trader Joe’s and cook up your own fancy night in together.

Image via Studio DIY

3. Fill the room with message balloon. Nothing says surprise more than walking into a room full of balloons. Pick up a few packs of balloons and blow up enough of them to cover the floor of a room, his car or if do-able his office at work. Then using a thick sharpie (not fine point) write love messages on each balloon for him to read.

4. Send a date in a box. This is for the long distance couple too! Grab your colored paper and scissors and cut thick strips of paper, about 10-12. On each slip write out a different date idea that you could do together (ex. morning run through the park, breakfast in bed, movie night in, if long distance: skype date, visit to see each other, etc.) and throw them in a box. Decorate the box for some added fun and ship or hand it to him for him to pull date slips from for upcoming date nights.

Image via Studio DIY

5. Hide love notes in their lunch. There’s no such thing as saying “I love you” too many times on Valentine’s Day. This year on top of telling him over the phone or in person, send or hide love notes for him to find throughout the day. A few cheesy love puns or “i love you” in all different languages make the perfect surprise.

6. Plan a “date look back” scavenger hunt. I owe all the credit to Steve on this one as he surprised me with this one year and I thought it was so cute that I had to share his clever idea! He printed out pictures from previous dates and wrote down his favorite memory on a note card attached to the back of each picture. He hid them all over my apartment with a rose next to each one for me to find:)

7. Finish a project he’s been working on. Sometimes just lending a hand is the best surprise. Maybe he’s training for a race and you can help him plan out a running schedule or working on finishing his apartment and needs a hand decorating. Steve and I had been dying to finish the apartment but struggling with finding time to do it, so I surprised him by working with Havenly to finish everything up! More on that to come;)

Any big plans for Valentine’s Day? How do you surprise your loved one for the holiday?