Eight alternative ways on Valentine’s day
Ah Valentine’s Day, what a time of year it is with the smell of high expectations and low self esteem in the air.
A day that if you’re single makes you feel terrible about yourself and if Cupid has blessed you with a significant other, puts so much pressure on you it may result in a break up.
It’s hard to come up with something original to woo your boo every single year. So whether you’re happily single, absolutely smitten, or have been together longer than you’ve been apart we’ve come up with some alternative ways to switch things up and celebrate ol’ Saint Valentine.
1. Re-create your first date Remember why you fell in love with them before they snored the house down and stopped doing the dishes. Take Bae (before anyone else) to the restaurant you first ate at, the park where you wandered and chatted for hours, or where you first swiped right for them on Tinder.
Try to remember as many details as possible. What were you wearing? What time of day was it? What was the weather like? Make it extra special and find the front page of the newspaper from the day of your first date and frame it for them.
2. Galentine’s Day
Don’t be sad and lonely this Valentine’s. Get all your best gal pals together and celebrate that you’re independent women who don’t need no man. A term first coined by Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation, Galentine’s Day is now a recognised day in its own right that occurs February 13th.
Use Galentine’s Day to binge all the TV shows the men in your lives won’t watch with you.
Go shopping without having to worry about leaving your fella outside rolling his eyes.
Stuff your faces with all your favourite fatty foods without hearing ‘‘Oh my god it’s so nice to meet a girl that doesn’t care about what she eats.’’
Turn up the volume on your powerful woman playlist and let Beyonce´ blast queens. And in the words of Leslie Knope remember, ‘‘Hoes before bros. Uteruses before duderuses. Ovaries before brovaries.’’
3. Take A Dance Class
Lay all your cards on the table and show each other how truly uncoordinated you are all while getting fit. Choose from zumba, hip hop, classical, jazz, or tango – the dance of love.
If there’s not one in your town or your date is not too keen on crowds, teach your self. Open up your old pal Spotify, hit play, and get moving. Break down the awkward barriers by laughing at yourselves.
4. Be an adventurer
Get out of your comfort zone and get in to a harness to try New Zealand’s best adventure activities.
What better way to bond than skydiving out of a tiny plane together? If skydiving isn’t your thing, perhaps a tandem bungee jump, white water rafting, or zip lining would be more suitable. Get the adrenaline pumping and tick something off your bucket list together. 5. Tandem Bike Ride
Or ‘bro-biking’, as Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake called it, can be enjoyed with your beau or bestie this Valentine’s Day.
A tandem bike ride is the perfect compatibility test. Do you both contribute equal efforts to the ride or is the front peddler left to haul dead weight up hill? It also allows you to take V-day on the road to all sorts of romantic locations like biking through the park or along the water. Pack a picnic and make a day of it.
6. Pizza. Beer. Netflix.
The modern-day low-key dinner and a movie.
Pick up a six pack, order in from your favourite pizza joint, and get ready to press play on psychotic but strangely romantic series The End of the F***ing World. Going to the movies lacks the ability to press pause. Netflix-ing in the early stages of courting allows you stop any programme at any point to ask all those getting-to-know-you questions as soon as they pop in to your head.
7. Be A Tourist
In your own city or somewhere else.
Organise a spontaneous trip for the two of you to somewhere you’ve both talked about visiting. And if that’s not feasible, explore your own town like tourists. Show each other your favourite spots, go to the museum, or take a tour to learn about the city’s history.
8. Do nothing
It is just another day of the year, after all.