Now, as the ultimate date night of the year is nearing, our deprivation of contact is probably reaching its peak. To help you enjoy the 14th of February despite the lockdown and whatever your relationship status is, we have compiled a list of things you can do on St. Valentine’s Day.
And, it goes without saying, you can also try them out on a different day, if celebrating the 14th of February just isn’t your thing.
Cook a great meal
Whether you are spending this year’s Valentine’s Day alone, with your best friend, your significant other, your friend with benefits, your parents, a roommate or your first-time date, cooking is always a great idea.
Select a recipe, choose a playlist, settle on responsibilities – and be a great team! Take cues from our favourite chefs and foodies: turn to Tieghan Gerard aka @halfbakedharvest for delightfully feasible and supremely delicious recipes. For masterfully seasoned, titillatingly colourful concoctions, study Georgina Hayden’s Instagram – the writer who used to work alongside Jamie Oliver celebrates her Cypriot heritage via cooking. Noor Murad’s Instagram (Murad is a recipe developer for Otto Lenghi), offering decadent, luscious servings, would be a great source of inspiration for a romantic meal. Try this mezze recipe, best accompanied by wine and candles, or the aromatic herb and feta dumplings with saffron-and-lemon butter.
Throw a pyjama date party
Clearly, by now loungewear has been anchored in our wardrobes. Time to take your stay-at-home style up a notch. Shed those saggy pants you’ve been wearing for months, remove the dust off your dancing shoes and team them with a pyjama set. For your cosy-cum-glamorous party, we recommend a limited guest list, easy-to-make cocktails (this listing from BBC Good Food should help) and impact-making pyjamas. If you are looking for a dose of COVID-era escapism, this extravagant set from Sleeper is perfect to invest in.
Plan A Museum Visit
Or see an exhibition, watch a play – “get some culture”
Yes, museums, galleries and theatres are closed – it does not mean, though, that cultural life has stalled. Numerous museums the world over are open for virtual tours, galleries are proposing new formats for online visitors, theatres have been experimenting with Zoom premiers, and DJ live streams have become part of our lives. Use the opportunities the “new normal” offers. Take your best friend to a theatre – the Berlin-based HAU has recently presented machina eX, which is a performance, but also a game, Schaubühne is opening up the archives of stellar plays from its repertoire, while the London-based Original Theatre explores the intersection of cinema and theatre. If you have an art buff in your social circle, introduce them to Cocktails with a Curator – a series of YouTube videos from New York’s Frick Collection presenting the best works from the museum.
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If you are having a date this Sunday, invite them to the movies: Wong Kar Wai’s retrospective organised by ICA includes the director’s seminal works and is a fail-proof option for a cosy evening with a partner and an early-stage date alike.
Take yourself on a date
We have said it once and we won’t be tired of repeating it: now is the time to indulge. On the 14th of February, you do not have to be not alone. Make it a self-care day – run a bath or go for a run, try a new face mask or a sex toy, pour yourself some wine or make some smoothie, watch a film or meditate – whatever you feel like doing. And if you feel like staying in bed and binge-watching series, so be it. It’s your day after all.
Get down - in a creative way
Obviously. With or without a partner.
It’s not too late yet to buy a sex toy you have been eyeing for months or the set of underwear you have been thinking about. For tips on toys, head to Hey Epiphora – run by a blogger with a 10-year experience, it offers the most comprehensive guidance through the sex-toy department and provides great recommendations for sex, both solo and with a partner.
Embrace experimentation and do whatever you have been fantasising about: from sexting to having sex in an unusual place to playing an erotic game. Start out with some preparation work. To create the thrill of anticipation, you and your partner can spend the few days ahead of St Valentine’s perusing and studying sex positions.
Make lists of the ones you would like to try and exchange them on the 14th – hopefully, to try all of them.
Bear in mind that a romantic dinner is best concluded by a dessert – why not eat yours off your partner? One thing to remember though is that sweets are best kept away from vaginas. If whipped cream between the sheets seems like a bad idea, stimulate your senses in a different way. An erotic massage is a universally popular idea – light a few candles, select the music, procure your favourite oil.
Pleasure Mapping by © Sex School
Or, as we have suggested before, do some pleasure mapping, or spice up your foreplay by incorporating ice and blindfolding into it. The more athletic lovers would appreciate a naked yoga session – enhance it with accessories, smells and music.
Turn the heat up by swapping a banal round of Monopoly, for one of the funner, kinkier board games (like “Choose Your Pleasure” or “Bondage Seductions”).
And to get further inspiration for intense, soft, kinky, oral, anal, glorious moments, check out our roster of newly uploaded films: from steamy self-love sessions to sensually inclusive threesomes it will surely meet your Valentine’s day expectations.
Want some visual inspiration?
How about watching the Valentine’s Date from Silky and Velvet and get some kinky ideas? This is maybe not the typical date night you would expect for Valentine-day, but we are totally in love with them!
