HomeStyle: Ways to Be Romantic at Home

Friday, February 11, 2011

Cynthia Bogart, GoLocalProv Home and Entertaining Expert

You can think of a thousand reasons not to go out on Valentine’s Day. You are on a budget, it’s a work/school night, the restaurants will be packed... okay, you win. Staying home could be a much better idea anyway. You can do this with your family or sweetheart any ol’ time, not just for Valentine’s Day. As a matter of fact, if your Monday is looking mighty busy, why not have your big ‘celebration’ on Sunday instead? Your call.  

Your ‘At Home’ Party

Set The Stage - Send out invitations. Whoever. Ask the love in your life, kids, parents or friends to come. Valentine’s Day is a day to tell all of those you love that you, well, that you love them! How? E-mail, call or cut out paper hearts. Write the time and place on them and slip them under their doors or in their mailboxes.

Set the Mood - Get that blazing fire going in the fireplace or light some pretty candles all around. Get out the munchies or hors d'oeuvres and mix your cocktails. For the adults make a batch of Martinis and the kids can have a good old Shirley Temple (2 parts Ginger Ale, 1 part orange juice, a hit of juice from the maraschino cherry jar and a few of those cherries). Put some music on and keep that television off.

Set the Fun - This is when you give out your Valentine’s Day gifts.
- How about a book of poetry for your sweetie? Or if he/she’s not the mushy type, pick up The Little Black Book of Cocktails at Barnes & Noble and put it to good use right then. (PS - stock some of your favorite drink ingredients in the house!)
- While you are there, buy the kids Valentine’s books such as Valentine’s Day in Vicarstown - Thomas the Tank Engine, Amelia Bedelia’s First Valentine, or Valentine Princess (The Princess Diary Series by Meg Cabot). Cuddle up

that night at bedtime and read together. After all, being with the ones you love is what Valentine’s Day is really about.
- For a change of pace, run over to Pow! Science! in either Wakefield or Providence and give some games as gifts and you can play after dinner.

Set the Table - If you have a plain white table cloth use that and sprinkle red M&M candies or candy hearts on your table to make it festive. As a centerpiece, buy some flowers at your supermarket (they are great!), cut them to a height where they’ll spread out loosely in a wide mouthed vase. Add red and/or white candles (Pier One has a great selection and a few great ones on sale plus some really sweet Valentine’s decorations), plain white plates and you are done. Too easy, right?

For dinner, make your sweetheart(s) a favorite meal. That will prove to them that your love them! For dessert, you can whip this quick batch of homemade Valentine’s Day cupcakes or a cake for dessert. If you don’t have any pretty cake or mini cake pans make a run over to Williams Sonoma at Providence Place Mall and get the mini cakes pans or just use a cupcake pan with pink liners. These little cakes always pleases.

Cynthia Bogart is a Regional Editorial Editor for Better Homes & Gardens Magazines and the Editor-in-Chief of the www.TheDailyBasics.com, a website dedicated to one quick magazine like article a day on homestyle, lifestyle and youstyle. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter. Cynthia will also co-hosting a radio show, At The Table, which will be hitting the airwaves in the next few weeks.