Celebrate Valentine’s Day!

Make it Valentine’s Day, and not just Valentine’s Evening. For many couples, their celebration of Valentine’s Day is limited to just a routine and predictable night of drinks-dinner-movie. If you want a day to remember, then remember to make use of the whole day. Plan something you and that certain someone can indulge in for 6 or 8 or 10 or 12 hours, and make it truly memorable.

Better yet, instead of just limiting yourself to just Valentine’s Day, why not anticipate a little, and surprise your lover with something a day or two before? Or why not make the good times last by planning something for the day or two after? You’ll show that you consider your relationship a bit more important than just one small square on the wall calendar.

Be unpredictable. Sure, it’s easy to fall back on those Valentine’s Day standards: cards, chocolates, roses, jewelry, seafood restaurant or steakhouse. But it will be much more interesting to both giver and recipient if you take a little more time and thought to arrive at a gift or an experience that’s truly unique.

Give a kitten or a macaw. Reserve a half-dozen bowling lanes for all your friends. Do a pub-crawl. Cook something together. Visit a palm-reader or a comedy club. Buy a day-spa visit for two. Host a mystery party. Try some cuisine neither of you have ever tried before. Give each other foot massages. Take a lake or river cruise. Get sitters for an extended time period. Tell each other your secret romantic desires. Find a jazz club with great martinis. Rent a bicycle built for two and hit the nearest park. Sample appetizers from four or five different restaurants in a row. Read to one another. Have your lover’s car washed and detailed. Go gourmet popcorn shopping. Plan a board-game night with close friends. Tour the zoo or the botanical gardens. Try to recall past Valentine’s Days, good, bad and mediocre. Go dancing. Find a dusky pub with dart boards. Flip through the photo albums of your early relationship. Paint that room you’ve never really been happy with. Meet your pals at the roller rink. Rent a ride in a hot air balloon. Play strip poker. See an exclusive art show. Go to a wine-tasting. Plan a movie marathon — all comedies, all Westerns, all sci-fi, all brooding French. Browse a bookstore. Go antiquing. Hit a flea market.

Above all, be sincere, be flexible, be creative, and be happy.