raiha

I would like to know what you girls did for your bfs on v-day I am currently in university and i don't have much time on v-day this year. Currently in an amazing relationship and i wud like to get some suggestions. Other than the romantic dinner for two Any suggestions? Thanks girls.

cellophanedeity

First, I can't see V-day without thinking of The Vagina Monologues. That is in no way a suggestion to give your love your vagina or anything, even though I'm sure that your partner would appreciate it.

Simon and I don't really celebrate Valentine's day too much. We generally just get together as usual and have some sort of food at home. His birthday is on the 30th of January, and so by February I have no money.

Instead we buy eachother little gifts and tell eachother how much we care throughout the year.

maleficent

That's the way to go cello... Very nice...


Marie Claire magazine for the past few years has had a big campaign for V-Day to be a reminder about violence against women day... which is a rather nice change than just a fluffy hallmark holiday... Valentines day, some stat I read somewhere, is one of those days (like superbowl sunday) where the amount of women being abused increases dramatically...

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maleficent

If you are looking for ideas - just do something that would be meaningful - create a CD of songs that mean something to the two of you -- or a scrap book of places you've been...

like a menu of a favorite restaurant you've been too - or even a really atrocious one- -and write a story about it- -your memory of that place.
Or movie tickets (or even a JPG of the movie poster) and your memory of the movie
a picture of the place where he first kissed you...

use your imagination... be creative and just make it meaningful..

valentines day shouldn't be about spending all kinds of money - it should be about reminding the person how much they mean to you... (and that quite frankly should be done on a daily basis)

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Sultana

Mal, I'm suspecting you actually are quite romantic...
Those are fantastic ideas, and I agree with your philosophy

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"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath.
At night, the ice weasels come." -

Matt Groening

My goal? To fulfill my potential.

maleficent

BigBen claims he's feeling sappy, but personally I think it's an incredibly thoughtful gift. and an outstanding idea for v-day... - and he's volunteered his suggestion to you...

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maleficent

A Gentleman Caller volunteers this suggestion for V-day

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abaya

Drawing on my first serious relationship so many years ago, here are two "sappy" things you can do (though neither beats BigBen's, I think!).

The first thing, which I actually did for Christmas, was to take a plastic storage jar (the kind with the flippy lid) and glue a collage on the outside with any words/pictures that related to memories we'd had together. I neatly covered the outside of the collage with clear packing tape so that the whole thing looked glossy. On the inside of the lid I put a picture of us and filled the jar with chocolate. (The guy kept this jar in his closet after that, though, so who knows if he actually appreciated the damn thing.)

The other thing I did (same relationship) was on V-day, when I got a coated paper bag, the kind you can buy in the sticker section of Hallmark or whatever. I filled it with sticker representations of various activities we did together (waterskiing, BBQ, etc). Since the guy had not taken a vacation in a long time, I cut open the bag when I gave it to him and laid it flat, and asked him to decorate the coated side with his ideal vacation scene. Using the stickers, yes! Maybe this sounds weird, but it actually turned out pretty cool, and cute (at least he put THAT one on his wall).

---

Now, with ktspktsp (and a much better relationship overall, may I say ), we didn't do much last V-day. I think we split the bill for a fun sex toy, and got each other little things and cards. This V-day, I have made a request that neither of us buys each other anything, except for a card. I like the old idea of giving "valentines," e.g. a love letter or poem, rather than spending a lot of money.

Oh, on our anniversary last year, we went to a paint-your-own-ceramics shop, which would also work for V-day. It was very cheesy, and our stuff turned out looking like little kids had made them, but I think that's why I liked it. I love the bowl he made me, and he drinks coffee from the mug I made him.

So, there are several mushy ideas for you. Hope this helps!

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And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran

snowy

Actually, mal, you gave me a great idea.

I love decoupage, so I'm going to decoupage the words of a favorite song of his that reminds him of "us" to a picture frame, and then put a picture of us in it.

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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

maleficent

There's some website - i wish i could remember the name - that does something similar - they will take the sheet music from any song... (and their catalog of songs is impressive) as the background of a page - and in the foreground would be your favorite photo... I had one done for my parent's 40th anniversary a few years ago with their wedding song (true love) and their wedding picture- -it turned out beautifully but if i had any kind of martha stewartness to me - i could have done it myself at a fraction of the cost...

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abaya

Referring to the thread in Sexuality... I wrote a sonnet for a crush once (he was my best friend at the time) and damn, it WAS like digging a trench. He liked it a lot, though. Too bad he still didn't fall for me! I think sonnets and romantic things in general go over better with girls than they do with guys, unfortunately.

I forgot to add something else I did (for the crush/best friend mentioned above) that would topple any girl (and maybe a few guys): a memory jar. Type out one-line memories of your relationship together, then double-space them. Print the page(s) and cut out each line, then put them all together in a jar (you can fold them or whatever, if you want). If you do it right, the jar becomes filled with these little fortune-cookie sized memories, and the girl/guy will love pulling them out one at a time, for years to come.

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And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran

Lead543

My Disclaimer....

DEAR STREAK_56 STOP READING THIS NOW!!!! Unless you want to ruin Valentines Day..


Stop.....


Stop.....

Anyways, last year streak and I each made something and had lunch by a frozen river in the cold, then we watched movies and made dinner together. I made him cookies, two teddy bears that hold hand and "the notebook"

This year I'm doing 14 days (get it...heeheee) of gifts. It's just handmade gifts, so far I've printed off guitar tabs of his favourite songs, I got a pair of boxers and stencilled sexy on the butt, I found a little book about love for like $3, I wrote him a poem, I made a little Valentine and another Valentine and I'm making this thing called a squashbook.

The only things I'm buying are cinnamon hearts, hershey kisses, a cheesy valentines day gift (think fuzzy and pink), massage oil and some other things to add up to 14. His "main" gift is going to be a portrait of the two of us painted by myself and possibley a bigger memory card for his psp, depending on how I'm doing money wise.

ShaniFaye

well since we are married, this is a more permanent idea than for "dating" people...i think.

Normally we dont do vday....i dont really believe it in and we are the kind of people that do things thru out the entire year and dont see the point in a "designated" day.

but....this year dave wanted to since its our first one being married.

so...I've been wanting a mothers ring for years so my mother is going to show him the one I want and make the arrangements for him to get it without me knowing (yeah I know that ruins the surprise but Im having so much fun with HIS gift I dont mind...AND I know that if I'd played up wanting one he'd have done it anyway) my ring will have mine and daves and my daughters birthstones in it. (29.99 in cost for sterling silver which is all I wear)

now for him....he doesnt wear rings.....his wedding ring is all he wears, so I had the brilliant idea to have a "stepfathers" cross made. He LOVES celtic crosses, we have matching ones that we've worn since our one month dating anniversary, and wore as our jewelry when we got married. I have a friend whos mother makes jewerly so she is going to take the celtic cross I've picked out (the Shannon cross) and inset our three birthstones in it for me. (50.00 in sterling silver)

Im so excited I cant wait til he sees it

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I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!

SuicideBlonde

In the past I've given my man cute little coupons, I've made myself and printed out. Some of them are very sweet and innocent and others involve naughty thrills. He keeps them in his wallet and under the conditions of the gift he is able to use them whenever/wherever he chooses.
This year we're going for a 2-night stay at a casino resort where I've booked massages at the spa, made dinner reservations and bought tix to for us to see INXS during our stay.

genuinegirly

Write him a poem, draw him a picture, make him a box, or otherwise express your creativity with your gift for him. The more limited your budget, the more creative you'll become. Give it to him on the beach, on a rooftop, or another romantic location of your choice.

Cheap materials include:

scrap cardboard
twine
old wrope
newspaper
plastic grocery sacks
packing styrofoam
discarded magazines
fabric from old clothes or sheets
crayons
children's poster paint/tempera paint
house paint
elementary school-issue watercolors
sticks

What to do with these materials:

Sew a backpack/handbag using twine as your thread and cardboard as the "fabric". Ends up being very sturdy, treat it with a coat of oil-based house paint if you want it waterproof.

Crochet a custom-made guitar strap out of twine, wrope, or strips of plastic bags.

Cobble together a shirt or pillowcase out of pre-used fabrics (quilt).

Make an outrageous card with a poem of your own creation on it.

Build a replica of his dream house out of packing styrofoam (or if you're meeting on the beach: sand).

Make a 3-d collage of memories associated with the two of you. Use old magazines, tourist pamphlets, ticket stubs, and lots of color.

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"Sometimes I have to remember that things are brought to me for a reason, either for my own lessons or for the benefit of others." Cynthetiq

"violence is no more or less real than non-violence." roachboy

little_tippler

Things I have done for Valentine's Day:

write the story of how we met including photos and put it in a huge card all decorated and made by me

made a jarful of 365 red card hearts and wrote on each one something I love to do with him, and some said things I would do for him, put a red ribbon on it, so he could take one card out each day of the year, also made a cd with music for lovers each for a particular situation

got some candles and wrote on our dining room table I love you in candles, lit them, made the room dark then brought him into the room

Hope you all have a great Valentine's Day!

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Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918

serlindsipity

Im always a fan of cooking together on V-day. it was sorta done last year and that is what me and the boy plan on diong this year. However, much to my dismay, it will not be sushi. When we cook sushi together, we tend to try to kill each other becuase of how we think sushi is properly made. haha =)

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My third eye is my camera's lens.