It’s February ladies! You know what that means – Valentines Day is around the corner. A day to celebrate love, an evening to plan a romantic dinner, a day to express your affection – however that may be – to the object of your desire. This may entail a sexy outfit, poetry, indulgent sweets, bubbly cocktails and/or fun and games. 😉 Do I have your attention?

My guess is that many of you will have different reactions to February 14th. For example:

1 – I love everything about Valentine’s Day! We made dinner reservations weeks ago and I already planned my outfit.

2 – I cannot stand this commercial ‘holiday’. We completely ignore it and treat it like any other day.

3 – I like it, it’s fun, as long as we don’t go crazy with expectations. We always celebrate, even if just in a small way.

4 – It’s really for kids. I will help my kids with making valentines and cookies, but not interested in anything beyond that.

5 – I am single this year and wish that all you love birds would stuff it. Maybe next year I will be in a different situation…

Which one are YOU? You might have guessed that I am #1, but no, I am #3. More important than Valentine’s Day would be our wedding anniversary, but still, why pass an opportunity for a romantic evening? This year we have a long weekend booked at an inn in Stowe, Vermont and it is completely a coincidence that the night we arrive happens to be Valentine’s Day. Since making the reservation I have received two calls from the inn asking if I wanted to make a reservation in the dining room. No, thank you, I explained, we are the odd exception that prefers sitting at the bar to reserving a table for two. (Hopefully we will get seats at the bar!) Sitting at the bar is generally more social, and sitting side by side is more intimate than being across the table from each other. Yes, I will plan a special outfit, and yes, we will have champagne!

What do you look for when choosing a romantic evening? Great food and service of course, but there needs to be ambiance, an element of sexiness, an ‘adults only’ vibe. While there are so many fabulous restaurants in the Boston area, two stand out to me as cozy/romantic: 1. City Table in The Lenox Hotel; they have two great bars to choose from and reasonably priced American menus with creative cocktails; best of all is their luxurious lobby with a fireplace where you can snuggle on a sofa with your honey, drink in hand, watching the people come and go. 2. Bodega in Watertown; a small tapas style restaurant that is warm, inviting, and always playing sexy background music while you enjoy your house made sangria. A must!

OK, let’s talk about Valentine gifts…hopefully he/she gives you a card, but beyond that, does he/she know what you like? Have you ever let them know? Here’s a simple question you can have fun exploring with your sweetie, see how well they know you…

For Valentine’s Day, my favorite gift to receive is:

1 – Flowers

2 – Chocolate

3 – Champagne

4 – Jewelry

5 – Lingerie

6 – Other (spa day, baby-sitter day, etc)

(As for me, let’s see if Peter guesses right!)

Ok, let’s have some fun! How do you answer these two questions??? 🙂