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February 2009
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! I wish you all a wonderful day! And if you aren’t celebrating today (or if it’s Single Awareness Day for you) I wish you a happy Saturday.
Still need celebrating help? Check out our Valentine’s Day guide for everything from restaurant suggestions to games and free e-Cards (in case you forgot it was Valentine’s Day until 5 minutes ago).
Unsure of how your day will go? Try our Cupid game to see what he thinks will happen.
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Single Awareness Day again already?
For some, Valentine’s Day is a day to spend extra time with your significant other and express just how much you love one another (either by your activities or the gifts and fancy(er) meals or all of the above). For a few others it’s just another day, and for those who are single and especially those that are unhappily single, it can be a day to realize, “Gee whiz… I’m ALL ALONE!”
In other words, it’s what I’ve heard more than one person this year refer to as “Single Awareness Day”… because when you are single and you would rather not be, very few days of the year make it so painfully obvious to your heart as Valentine’s Day. And if you really want to get down to it, the next logical step is just to simplify the name to SAD. And sometimes that’s just what it is or at least how you feel.
So… for my SAD friends out there, I offer these suggestions for how to spend this Single Awareness Day (feel free to add your ideas below as well!): No guarantees on avoiding the lovey-dovey PDA attacks. More than a few places in the area will be filled to the brim with kissing couples and heart-shaped everything. Sorry, can’t help you there.
See a movie. There’s a perfectly good slasher flick starting this weekend. And what better way to say “Take that LOVE!” than to watch people mercilessly attacked by a masked master of horror? Find showtimes and reviews for ‘Friday the 13th’ and other movies now showing.
Spend the day at a spa — think about it: You didn’t have to burn the big bucks on flowers or a video game for your S.O. so you’ve got it to spend on yourself! And really, you should be pampered. The day is rough enough for you without having to paint your own nails or wash your own face. Find an area spa» For the guys: If the spa isn’t your style, pick a hobby and seek out related entertainment (ie: You like cars? Check out the Packard Museum, Baseball fan? Check out the Reds Hall of Fame Museum — you get the idea)
Clean and redecorate a room or your whole house. No time like the present to get a fresh start and what better way to do that then to be hanging out in a “new” room or home? The change can be as simple as new throw pillows or artwork or can get a little deeper with new fabrics (sheets, comforters, curtains, slipcovers, etc.) or even furniture items. Many stores feature departments designed for home decorating. Hit them up and pick out a few new items. If you’re looking to redecorate on a budget, Christmas Tree Shops near the Dayton Mall had a variety of items in a few spring-like designs for great prices in their most recent ad. I scored a great wall mirror there for only $4.99 the other day. For the guys: Garages or rec rooms can be cleaned and redecorated too!
Boost the economy a little and rent some movies or TV shows on DVD. Either by use of Netflix or your local video store, make a day of watching TV. Are you a sucker for action movies? Chick flicks? Both? Pick out a variety and spend the day with your couch and maybe a blanket. Don’t forget the popcorn!
Head to dinner (or lunch, or both — Why not? You’ve got the whole day!) with a best friend or with a group of friends. Word to the wise: Avoid the restaurants marked as romantic unless you want to be greeted by crowds and tons of couples. On the plus side, many of those restaurants that have tables available for larger groups will have these seats open while the cozy little tables for 2 are all taken up. For the guys: There are bar & grill type establishments calling your name.
Or, if you’d rather avoid the public, head for the grocery store and make it a night to eat in with your friends instead. Great options for group cooking and eating gatherings that are fun include: Tacos (prepare the meat or meats and then provide a variety of fixings and shell options and voila! Dinner is served); Burgers (Who cares if it’s winter? Break out the George Foreman and grill up some burgers [veggie, turkey, beef — whatever your friends desire], set out the condiments and other fixings and dig in! If you want to get fancy, try making up a batch of sliders); Ice Cream Social (pick up a variety of ice creams and all the toppings you can find and see who can make the most outrageous sundaes!); Fondue (Endless options for both dinner and dessert and easy to do with a group); Pizza (buy and bake, have it delivered or get the stuff to make your own - this one’s easy enough for even the most kitchen challenged person). For the guys: Beer, wings, pizza - this isn’t rocket science.
If you’d rather be alone and contemplate your singleness, at least spend the time wandering aimlessly around the Internet. Sites such as CollegeHumor.com, YouTube, Bored.com and others make it easy to kill an hour or 12. If none of that appeals to you, there are countless Facebook and MySpace notes, quizzes, questionnaires, games and more that have been waiting for your time. If you’re looking for some entertaining but free games, check out this game arcade.
If you’re up for it, hit up a dance club. You can have a good time, burn a few calories (or drink a few if that’s your thing) and hey, maybe this time next year you’ll be celebrating Valentine’s Day — or better yet the anniversary of the day you met Mr. or Mrs. Right!
*All options can be made more enjoyable by adding other single (or exremely cool coupled up) friends unless otherwise stated.
I know eight is kind of a random number but it’s what I could come up with. I have my own SAD to plan after all.
So if you’re single, don’t let it get you down. There are tons of options that don’t involve hearts, roses or the color pink. Promise!
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Only a few more days until Valentine’s Day
Just a few days remain until Valentine’s Day (For those living under a rock, it’s Saturday this year!).
Have you purchased or made your gifts and Valentine’s for that special someone or someones in your life? Have you made your plans or reservations?
Make sure you get moving soon. You don’t want to give the love of your life the lamest card in the store because it was the only one left.
If you’re wallet is not so much in love with spending a fortune, over at the Bargains blog, you can find deals all week long on everything Valentine including candy, flowers and jewelry.
Single? Just plain HATE Valentine’s Day and everything it stands for (trust me, if you fall into this camp, you also likely fall into the first one and your camp can change with the right person in your life, so choose carefully)? There are options for you this weekend as well. The Lounge Lizards have gathered details on the most fun anti-V-Day happenings around.
If you are heading out to find food, be it with your S.O. or with your friends, take it from the area restaurants themselves, there are romantic deals and find dining options to be had this weekend.
And if you still need something to do, check out our Valentine’s Guide for games, romantic movie suggestions, top romantic restaurant picks, gift ideas and more.
So… what are you doing for Valentine’s Day? Share your plans below.
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Charlie Brown Valentine specials on tonight!
Starting at 8 p.m. EST tonight, Tues., Feb. 10, on ABC, catch two Charlie Brown Valentine’s Day specials.
First up is “Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown” followed by “A Charlie Brown Valentine” at 8:30 p.m.
Ahh, nothing like the young love of cartoon characters. Tune in with the kids or your own Valentine for a trip down memory lane.
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Music to soothe your broken or elated hearts
Did you just fall in love? Have you recently dumped or been dumped? Is your love story a tale as old as time or is everything still coming up roses for you and your love?
No matter the situation, your love story wouldn’t be complete without a soundtrack and iTunes is prepared to offer just that. The iTunes Valentine’s Day Essentials lists offers collections for everything from Romantic Jazz and 80s, Indie, Country, Rock and Hip-Hop love songs to Break-up and Make-up songs. After all, what’s Valentine’s Day without a little “Have I Told You Lately,” “Unforgettable,” or “Valentine”?
If books are more your speed, they also offer an audio book that fans of ‘Sex and the City’ will recognize. ‘Love Letters of Great Men’, the book Carrie reads to Mr. Big in the movie based on the show, doesn’t actually exist. But the love letters in it do. So… now you can enjoy the love letters by yourself or with someone you wish would write things like that to you in audio form.
All kinds of music, movies and books are available on iTunes’ Valentine’s Day page so peruse for yourself and fall in love or get over someone — whichever you choose.
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How to make your own V-Day cards, gifts
Looking for projects to make with your kids for Valentine’s Day? Or perhaps you want some creative baking ideas? And who couldn’t stand to make rather than buy a few gifts or cards in these hard economic times?
Michaels has hundreds of Valentine ideas for all of the above and then some. Sorted by type and available in every skill level (easy to difficult) many of these creations require not much more than some cardstock, ribbon, glue and creativity.
While many of these ideas recommend using specific (and sometimes expensive) products to create the same item shown, you can often easily make your own versions using materials you already have. Sometimes just seeing the idea is inspiration enough.
And after looking at some of them, who knew a heart shape could be turned into so many different things?
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2009 Spooky Town collection details released
It may be 9 months away but the new and retiring items for Lemax’s 2009 Spooky Town collection have been released.
Among the new items are an Opera House, a Graveside Diner, a Chainsaw’s Lumber Yard and more.
If you’re a collector like me, it means it’s time to start saving up for this year’s display.
The only trouble is finding somewhere to store it all and set it up.
I found a few holiday village pieces before, during and after Christmas this past year that are neutral and will work just nicely with my Halloween display. Items I found include: A shoe store, a barber shop, a lighted “iron” fence and mini spotlights. I also picked up several “people” figurines including: A janitor with a broom, a teenage couple on a bench, a young boy learning to ride a bike and a boy and his father raking leaves. The last two actually have green grass and fall leaves as part of the figurine as opposed to snow so they will go perfectly with my fall/Halloween village.
The trick I have found to making the “holiday” items work for Spooky Town scenes is to check the buildings and stands for people for snow and Christmas decorations. If it’s not snowy or the people aren’t in Victorian outfits, it likely will work in a Spooky Town scene.
I will likely start searching e-Bay very soon to hunt down good deals on a few other village pieces. It’s a good place to find retired pieces and also many sellers offer combination packages with one or more buildings plus several small figurines or accessories.
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