Planning The Perfect Valentine’s Day Experience For Her

Each year, love birds try to find new ways to swoon their special lady. Most guys go for the easy ideas — grab her a stuffed animal that’s just like every other gift on the isle both of yall have walked past all month. Wrong! This year, take my advice and give her a Valentine’s Day she’ll never forget.

Plan ahead

The day before you surprise your lover with this amazing day, you need to do some prep work. Think about each part of the day and what you’ll need to do to be successful in each part. For the spa treatment, you’ll want to have the bathtub caddy assembled and ready, along with with the candles, bath accessories and towels. Decide what you’re going to be cooking for dinner and prep your ingredients the night before or early that morning. If you want something that looks and tastes great without a lot of effort, I would suggest smoked salmon topped with a few grilled shrimp on a bed of rice with a side of roasted garlic Brussels sprouts. Go simple on dessert and grab a carton of her favorite ice cream.

Wake her up with a smile

If you’re living together, this one should be easy: wake her up with breakfast in bed. This is a luxury that most of us don’t get to experience very often, so start her day with a healthy surprise along with her morning coffee just the way she likes it. Don’t forget to clean the kitchen before you leave — you’ll be back in here to make some magic. If you don’t live together, that’s OK too. Surprise her with breakfast from her favorite spot along with coffee and a flower arrangement. If you have your own place, make sure it’s spotless for later.

Make it memorable

All too often, people get in the habit of doing things together but not doing things with each other. Instead of taking her to a movie, take V-Day to make some memories. If you think the relationship is serious, then take today to make your emergency love kit. Take her to a crafting studio in your area — in Austin, Cafe Monet comes to mind — and pick a piggy bank or some sort of container. The two of you can decorate it together while having a great time. You may not get to take it home just yet, as they usually fire it in their kiln so you can get it back in about five days. There’s more to this later — there’s layers to this!

Spa time at home

After an exciting day, come back home and allow her to truly unwind as you give her a mini spa treatment before dinner. Ideally, the place should be clean. The bathroom is where she’ll spend most of this time, so you need to set the scene. Prepare a steamy bath for her with Dr. Teal’s Pink Himalayan Mineral Soak & Foaming Bath to help soothe any achy muscles she might have. Spruce it up with some scented candles and upgrade the experience with a bamboo bathtub caddy and Liz Claiborne’s Superb Microcotton Towel Set. The caddy adjusts to most bathtubs and can hold a glass of wine for her along with a candle and her book, tablet or smartphone and a washcloth. The towel set provides a level of comfort that will leave her feeling properly pampered like a princess. Go the extra mile here, and get her an exfoliating face mask to enhance her beauty — plus, you’ll need the extra time for the next step.

Candlelight Dinner

While she’s living it up in the bathroom, it’s time for you to get it going in the kitchen. Pull out your prepped in ingredients and start cooking. Start with the salmon since it takes longer to cook. Make sure you have all of your ingredients portioned out before you start cooking so you’re not stressing out in the process. Moore’s has some great recipes to create different meals in case she’s not a seafood person. Make sure you’ve got the bottle of wine is chilling while you cook. You should have the perfect dinner ready as she’s finishing up in the bathtub. Pro tip: If you’re hoping to have some physical affection at the end of the night, avoid breads and pasta. These are often accompanied by a sauce of some sort, and that combination can leave you both feeling extra heavy or bloated after dinner.

The Nightcap

After you two have enjoyed a delicious meal, it’s time to get to some serious business. Clear the food from the table, leaving only the candles and wine. If you bought her any surprise gifts, now’s the time to get those too, but the main things you need to get are the ice cream, two envelopes, pens and plenty of paper. While you two are at the table enjoying dessert, each of you should write a letter reminding yourself and your partner of why you fell in love in the first place. The feelings they create inside you and the hopes and dreams you want to build with them. Take as many pages as you need — pour you love into these letters.

When you’re done, DON’T READ THEM! Instead, you’ll each seal your letter in an envelope to be put away in the container you both made earlier in the day, along with a bottle of wine. Now, the two of you have made your emergency love kit. When times get rough on the road to forever, hopefully your love will endure. But if the day comes when it looks like all hope is lost, grab your kit. Sit together and share the wine, perhaps over another meal, and read your letters to each other. Hopefully, this will be enough to help you both find those feelings once again — but let’s stay focused on the present.

Once you’ve finished all of the festivities for the evening, relax with your special someone and put on a movie to enjoy with the rest of the ice cream — you two can figure the rest out.