You can still enjoy Valentine’s Day this year – here’s how
Written by Louise Weightman
Need ideas to spice up your evening this Valentine’s day? Just because we’re in lockdown, doesn’t mean that you can’t make this a Valentine’s day to remember. Even if you don’t have a partner to spend the day with, you can try some of these ideas with a friend for a special Galentine’s catch up.
Movie and meal
A bit of a twist on a classic Netflix party. Pick out a movie and a meal to cook together (or get a takeaway!) that link together. For example, how’s about an Italian film and cooking some pasta together? Afternoon tea and Pride and Prejudice? Midnight in Paris with cheese and wine? Get as creative as you can- challenge yourself to come with a meal for whatever film you’ve been meaning to watch together.
Spa night
It’s been a long week and time to unwind. For a relaxing end to the week, it’s time to pick up some face masks (or make your own) and a nice cup of tea. Spa night could also include painting your nails together whilst watching a cheesy rom-com – who doesn’t love a bit of Hugh Grant?
Night at the theatre
During this year, many theatres have been streaming old performances which you can watch online. From Hamilton on Disney+ or The National Theatre’s streaming service, you’re bound to find something you can both enjoy. Leicester’s Curve theatre is showing a range of archived performances from ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’ to ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’. You can access these here: https://www.curveonline.co.uk/the-show-must-go-online/. For a special twist, why not make a ticket to send to your partner before the big night? Bonus points if you both have some ice cream to have during your interval.
Questions for each other
Whilst pillow talk might be a while off in the future, there’s no reason why you should shy away from deeper conversations with your partner. Some excellent choices include the New York Times’ ‘36 questions that lead to love’ or finding out what love language you both use. The New York Times’ 36 questions have been broken up into different sets which you can tackle all at once or divide up to include in a few catch-ups over a couple of weeks. No peeking ahead! – the best way to tackle these is to be completely spontaneous with your answers. You can find these here: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/style/no-37-big-wedding-or-small.html.
For a more light-hearted game, try ‘Pancakes or Waffles’. This is the game where you have two options and whichever you don’t pick will be gone forever. Starting with pancakes vs waffles means that you can take this game in any direction that you fancy.
Painting
Grab yourself a cheap art kit and prepare to get your painting groove on. Whether you’re following a Bob Ross tutorial, painting a picture you both love – or each other, there’s plenty you can do this date night. If you wanted to take this a step further you could even divide up one of your favourite paintings into sections which you’ll do separately. When you’re together again you can put them together to create your masterpiece. If painting isn’t your thing, there are plenty ofother creative ideas you can try- from clay kits to a bit of embroidery.
Fancy cocktails
Find some gorgeous looking recipes and get dressed up for cocktail night. Just because we can’t go out to any bars at the moment doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy happy hour. For a Leicester classic why not try looking up some of Firebug’s wonderful iced tea cocktails. You can learn how to make it following this video: https://www.facebook.com/FirebugBar/videos/919027865203768. If making your own is too much hassle, many cocktail bars in Leicester are doing delivery such as 33cankstreet and 100&Six.
Louise Weightman is a third year physics and space science student at the University of Leicester.
University of Leicester's Student Magazine
