Planning a Low-Key Valentines Day

My boyfriend and I aren't particularly ones for big romantic gestures, but since he moved in a couple of weeks ago we've been conscious of not falling into that trap of never having date nights, not spending time chatting over dinner, and becoming more like housemates than anything else. So this year we're trying to find a good mid-point, and are going to stay in but do something special.

DINNER

Usually when we have people round I do the cooking, but it seems a shame to have only one of us do it (even if it does mean I may have to help with the washing up afterwards). However, I am a bit of a control freak when it comes to food, so we have decided that I will cook the main and he can cook a starter and dessert.

I was reading with interest last week on both Buzzfeed and the NY Times about the 36 questions supposedly designed to make you fall in love with someone. VD seems like the sort of occasion when you should talk about important things rather than moaning about your work colleagues, so I've google-drived them here and figure I can cut them out and then we can take turns to pull them out and question the other.

PRESENT

We've already said that we don't need to get presents for each other, however I have loved the idea of a Date Night Jar for a while and seeing as we're trying to not fall into that easy trap of not really planning anything together anymore, this VD seems like the perfect occasion to introduce this. I've already ordered my giant lollipop sticks and jam jar, and am excited to start writing ideas on the sticks when they arrive. The idea is that you put a date night idea on each stick, and then when you're at a loose end for ideas you pull one from the jar and do whatever it tells you. You could do this for any occasion really, I think the Recipe Jar idea would be quite a good one. Anyway, for our one I've decided to split the sticks into two categories - daytime dates and evening dates - and will colour the tops so it's easy to pull out the correct one. Some of these ideas are a bit lame and I might change them, but at the moment I think I'm going to go with...

Daytime Dates

* Lunch set-menu deal at a Michelin Restaurant

* Boxset Day

* Bowling

* Geocaching and Pub Day

* Geocaching and Tea Room Day

* Make pizza from scratch

* Double Cinema Day

* Steam Train Ride

* Crazy Golf [this one will probably require a trip to the seaside]

* Hush Heath Winery Tour

Evening Dates

* Film and Takeaway

* Dinner and a Movie

* Bowling

* Drinks at Topolski [we had our first date here]

* Wine and Cheese Night

* Prince Charles Cinema Date

* One Aldwych Film + Fizz Night

* Mamma Mia Dinner [fave local restaurant]

* Mishkins Dinner [fave London restaurant]

* Everyman Cinema Date

I'll let you know how this is all received...!