BBC - Relationships - Couples - 70 romantic ways to have fun

70 romantic ways to have fun

In our busy lives, time can often seem in short supply so it's important that couples make the most of their time together. If you're stuck for ideas, Relationship psychotherapist Paula Hall has some suggestions.

On rainy days
1. Clear out the garage, attic, cupboards or wardrobes* - it really doesn't matter as long as you do it together.
2. Go charity shopping. While away the hours browsing for books, CDs, games, retro clothing, bric-a-brac. You could try a carboot sale or trawl round some antique shops.
3. Get some exercise. Go swimming or ice skating, or enjoy a walk in the rain.
4. Enjoy a movie marathon.* Visit the video shop, stack up on snacks and spend the day being film critics. And if you're stuck for inspiration, take a look at bbc.co.uk/films to find out which new releases should be top of your list!
5. Visit an art gallery. Find an exhibition in your area.
6. Step back in time and visit a museum. Many of the buildings themselves deserve a look and you never know you might learn something at the same time!
7. Improve your memory. Try our online memory test then spend the day testing each other's powers of recall.
8. Discover yourself. Bookshops and the internet offer a wealth of personal-profiling tools, which can help you find out your personality type, your IQ or your relationship style.
9. Make something,* such as a coffee table, some shelves, a bird table, pottery dishes, vases, face sculpture, candles or soap. Craft shops are full of ideas.
10. Go to the football or rugby.* Even if you're not into the sport, you'll find the atmosphere electric. Especially if your team is playing their arch rivals! Take a look at the fixture list before you go.
11. Have an evening of pick'n'mix. Take a look at the TV listings and create a night of entertainment.

On sunny days
12. Go for a stroll* - anywhere you like.
13. Take a hike. Find a nice big hill and see who can fall into an exhausted heap at the top first.
14. Go for a bike ride.* Like walking, cycling can be energetic or gentle - it's up to you. But either way it's sure to give your health a boost!
15. Hire a boat. Choose from an energetic canoe ride, a romantic row down the river or the wind in your hair in a sailing boat.
16. Visit the park.* Spend the day on the swings or play a game of tennis. If you're really adventurous, you could even try out your skateboarding skills on the half-pipe.
17. Take to horseback. Look in your local directory for places that offer riding lessons (you may need to book in advance). Or better still, along a beautiful beach!
18. Be risky. Try some exptreme sports - skydiving, rock climbing, potholing, ballooning, motor racing... the list is endless. (You'll definitely need to book ahead, though.)
19. Visit a stately home.* You might even get some inspiration for your own love nest!
20. Obey your animal instincts by visiting a zoo or farm.* Relax as you wander round the park. And if you don't like spiders you can always go and talk to the monkeys!
21. Remember the picnic.* To make all the above even more enjoyable, don't forget to pack some gorgeous food and wine. Let BBC Food help you choose the perfect tipple!
At the weekend
22. Walk this way - the Pennine Way, the Cotswold Way, the South Downs Way, the Milky Way...
23. Go youth hostelling.* There are more than 100 youth hostels around the UK catering for individuals, couples and families - and they're cheap. And believe it or not there is one five-star hostel in the UK. Can you guess where?
24. Take a city break. Look at UK options as well as those in Europe and the US.
25. Book a themed weekend break. There are plenty of options, from murder mystery tours to salsa dancing to yoga.
26. Go camping,* either in your own back garden or at one of the hundreds of specialised sites around the country. Staying put will give your children the chance to learn more about their surroundings...
27. Visit friends or relatives.* Take the chance to spend time with people in another part of the country. If they can't put you up for the night, book into a B&B.
28. Indulge and pamper yourself at a health farm.
29. Pick any room in your house and give it a complete makeover.
30. Spring clean the house or give your garden a serious sort out. Make sure you take regular breaks and treat yourself to a delicious takeaway or meal out in the evening.
When the children are in bed
31. Play games, whether they're board games, computer games, card games or naughty games...
32. Work your mind with brain-teasers, jigsaw puzzles, crosswords or quiz books. See how your IQ rates against the rest of the nation!
33. Pamper each other. Give your partner a massage, manicure and pedicure. We all need a little pampering sometimes!
34. Rent a film to suit your mood, be it a comedy, weepy, romance or horror movie.
35. Star gaze. Lie in the garden and see if you can name the constellations.
36. Have a blind food tasting.
37. Enjoy a romantic dinner for two: light those candles, put on some soft music and get out the posh crockery. As if you needed an excuse to indulge!
38. Have a picnic in the garden.
39. Put on a themed evening. Try a little Eastern promise or a sushi night.
40. Drag out the duvet, make two cups of hot chocolate and snuggle up on the sofa or in front of the fire.
41. Read the same book and compare notes. If you're stuck for inspiration, why not see what everyone else is reading?
42. Dig out the photos and enjoy a night of nostalgia. Or if you want to get more involved, why not take some of your own portraits? You could be the next icon!
43. Try a new recipe together. Have a go at Thai, Indian, Greek - whatever tickles your taste buds.
44. Learn a language. With a BBC language course you can be confident in no time!
45. Go internet shopping.Why not treat each other to a surprise? Buy online and then wait for it to arrive!
46. Compose something: a poem, a story or - if you're feeling musical - a song.
For an evening out
47. Go to the theatre. It could be the Palladium or, if the budget's tight, your local am-dram group. Find out what's near you or pack your overnight bag and make a weekend of it!
48. Get some exercise. Go swimming or to the gym, or play a game of badminton or squash.
49. Have an evening of ten-pin bowling.* Or join your local bowling club. Many are opening their doors to a wider range of participants!
50. Attend a concert. Try something different, such as jazz, classical or rock.
51. Go to a sporting event* - but agree before you go how much you're willing to lose in bets.
52. Enjoy a few drinks at your local pub, and keep a look out for quiz nights and local bands. They say music is the food of love!
53. Join an evening class. There's a huge range available, from poetry and dancing, to local history, cooking and wine tasting.
54. Have a leisurely dinner. Whether it's cheap and cheerful or top-class nosh, enjoy the chance for uninterrupted conversation.
55. Go to the cinema. Slip into the back row and enjoy the latest blockbuster. Find out what's on in your area.

When you've only got an hour to spare
56. Have a fight* - with balloons or pillows rather than words. Or if you're worried to be more loving, why not indulge in some sensual touching...
57. Have a bath with oodles of bubbles.
58. Eat in bed, whether it's breakfast time or not. Make it all the more special by preparing an aphrodisiac meal!
59. Use your limited time to plan what you'll do when you have a whole evening to yourselves.
60. Start researching your family tree, then add to it every time you have an hour to spare.
61. Bake a cake* or anything you'll enjoy eating together.
62. Do a fitness video together, whether it's aerobics, Pilates or yoga.
63. Do an online quiz.

Romantic gestures
64. Say "I love you"
65. Give each other a hug
66. Leave a love note, in a briefcase or on the TV screen. Or request a love song on the radio.
67. Blow a kiss - or just start flirting outrageously!
68. Give flowers.
69. Keep in touch. When you're apart, send a text or email, or pick up the phone.
70. Write "I love you" in lipstick on the mirror or in glow-in-the-dark chalk on the front wall.

* Child-compatible activities (depending on the age of the child)

Source: BBC - Relationships - Couples - 70 romantic ways to have fun:

Seniors remember romance on Valentine's Day

Seniors remember romance on Valentine's Day
By Lindsay Sauvageau

Sadie Perla was in the middle of a card game at the Leominster Senior Center this week, but her memories were going back decades.

"Rocco and I have been together 61 years," she tells the other players of her marriage. "We've had 61 years of great memories."

Sadie said that she and her husband Rocco have celebrated many romantic Valentine's Days together and many amazing anniversaries.

"We've gone on fabulous trips to Europe, Hawaii, you name it," she said. "We've been everywhere. We've had a great life together and we're still being romantic today."

Pulling up a chair, Gloria Bodanza says that she too spent many romantic moments with her husband Rosario before he passed away. She even remembers the day they met.

"We all used to go dancing at the Whalom Ballroom in those days and one night this guy walked up to me and said 'would you like to dance' and I said 'why yes I would,'" Bodanza said. "On the dance floor he said 'what's your name,' and I said, 'Sadie' and he said, 'hey, we could sing a Mass together.'"

Gloria said the next thing she knew that nice man was coming to Leominster to see her.

"He had no wheels," she said with a laugh. "He'd take the bus all the way here and then he'd walk from the bus to Walker Street where I lived."

Her marriage lasted 39 years.

"Thirty-nine wonderful years," she said. "Not long enough."

"I think we've all got pretty romantic husbands, don't you think," said Therese Lomme.

Lomme and her husband Victor will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary in June of this year.

"Vic is still romantic," she said. "But he laughs because he buys me a box of chocolates and he eats them"

In the Senior Center office, clerk Laurane Brooks remembers one particularly colorful Valentine's Day.

"I got 14 different bouquets of roses," she said. "They were in all different colors, every color you could think of."

"They were arriving all day long," said Senior Center Director Joan Fitzgerald. "They were everywhere."

And even Fitzgerald shared her most romantic story.

"Do I have a romantic story," she said, smiling. "I was living in Philadelphia. I had just graduated from college when I saw the most handsome, most beautiful person I had ever seen."

Fitzgerald said in the mid-1960's she had been sitting in her kitchen relaxing and talking on the telephone with her best friend when her mother called her into the living room. It was there she was introduced by her mother and an acquaintance to Herbert Douglas Fitzgerald from Boston.

"I was in love, love at first sight. My heart flipped. He had dimples and a Bostonian accent," she said. "He was in training to be a salesman for the Sonoco company and in those days you had to learn everything about the company, everything. He was in Philly for a six-month orientation. But there he was and there I was in hair rollers like orange juice cans and probably Noxzema all over my face."

But she was in love and the first of many dates was made. On the first date they went ice skating.

"Afterward, I walked back into the kitchen and picked up the phone, because I didn't think I was going to be long and I told my friend, 'I just met the man I'm going to marry,'" Fitzgerald said. "And I slid down the wall. I had fainted. I think I had held my breath in the living room."

The couple met in January of 1965, and were married in October of that same year.

"We have three boys and seven grandchildren. We've lived happily ever after, I think," she said.

Source: Seniors remember romance on Valentine's Day

14 Creative Ways to Use Rose Petals - PR.com

14 Creative Ways to Use Rose Petals

Have the ubiquitous (and pricey) dozen roses become a tired cliche in your relationship? Try out any of these creative and romantic ways of using rose petals from Michael Webb.

You can purchase bags of rose petals from most florists and most craft stores sell silk petals.

* On top of ceiling fans
* Used as packing material for a gift
* Put in pockets, purses, briefcases as a clue of something special coming up
* Bring some to restaurant and put on table
* Sprinkled in a packed lunch
* Sew or hot glue onto lingerie
* Write out a message with petals
* Inside an envelope with a card or letter
* Floating in a bowl of water - with or without floating candles
* Placed in a book your sweetheart is reading
* Put inside balloons - if you put inside clear balloons, slightly wet the inside of the balloon and the petals will stick to the sides for a dramatic effect -- or keep dry if you want someone to pop the balloon
* Surrounding your mate with petal while he or she is sleeping
* In a crock pot with a little water for a beautiful smell
* Tossed into a roaring fire - enjoy the scent

You can find an additional 25 uses for rose petals at www.TheRomantic.com - just search on *rose petals* on the home page.

Source: 14 Creative Ways to Use Rose Petals

Natural Living: Valentine's jewelry might not be so romantic after all

Before you buy your honey that gorgeous piece of jewelry for Valentine's Day, you might want to consider some of the environmental and social issues surrounding the jewelry industry, especially diamonds and gold.

Nodirtygold.org says that the production of one gold ring generates 20 tons of waste, and according to brilliantearth.com:

two-thirds of newly mined gold comes from open-pit mining rather than the more expensive alternative of underground shaft mines. To open these mines, companies must remove vast amounts of rock and materials and blast the entire site. This leads to the destruction of the environment at the mine site, damaging the surrounding ecosystem, and the opening up of vast craters.

Gold production can also taint the surrounding ecosystem with cyanide, which is used to extract the gold from the ore containing it. In regards to this practice, briliantearth.com notes that:

to dispose of the leftover ore contaminated with Cyanide and other toxins ("tailings"), a mine will create a dam which gets built up over the life of the mine. The gradual building of the dam generally causes the structure to be unsound. In the last 25 years, these dam failures have accounted for three-quarters of all major mining accidents. In 2000, a gold mine resulting from a tailings dam failure in Romania spilled more than 100,000 gallons of cyanide-laced mine waste into the Tisza river, killing 1,240 tons of fish and contaminating the drinking water supplies of 2.5 million people.

To get an almost too-vivid idea of what pit mining can do to the ecology of a country, I highly recommend reading Jack Hitt's "Island of the Damned" about the tiny island Nauru, which was printed in the July 2006 issue of The Sun magazine. Unfortunately, only an excerpt is available online, and that excerpt doesn't get to the tear-jerking, you-can't-believe-this-actually-happened descriptions of the island's almost total destruction, but perhaps the excerpt will be enough to convince you to purchase a back issue. In 2005, The New York Times did a very informative series on the gold trade that I would also recommend checking out.

In addition to the environmental destruction involved with gold mining, the diamond industry is responsible for causing a great deal of social strife. According to globalwitness.org, the diamond trade is responsible for the death and displacement of millions of people. The diamond trade has funded civil wars in many parts of Africa. These diamonds are exchanged in the international markets for weapons. I have not yet seen it, but the movie Blood Diamond highlights this issue by covering a civil war in Sierra Leone that took place throughout the nineties involving warlords trying to trade diamonds for money and other goods. Another social issue is the fact that many workers involved in the diamond trade, especially in the actual mining of the diamonds, are not even paid a dollar a day for the labor they do, despite the fact that mining is a notoriously dangerous profession.


Once you think about it, that beautiful piece of jewelry starts to become a symbol of death and destruction rather than undying love.

However, you don't have to resort to organic flowers or chocolate instead of something sparkly for your sweetie (although those are fine too!). Brilliantearth.com sells jewelry that does not compromise your ethics. They sell eco-friendly gold and conflict free diamonds. Right before Valentine's Day last year eight major retailers pledged to not support "dirty gold." The retailers are the Zale Corp., the Signet Group (the parent firm of Sterling and Kay Jewelers), Tiffany & Co., Helzberg Diamonds, Fortunoff, Cartier, Piaget, and Van Cleef & Arpels. Try to buy your gifts from one of these retailers.

Other more ethical jewelry retailers to check out:

1. Ten Thousand Villages offers fair trade jewelry from around the world.

2. Leber Jewelers carries conflict free diamonds.

3. Global Exchange has beautiful jewelry in many styles- not just gold and diamonds.

4. Fair Trade Federation member Mercado Global has gorgeous beaded jewelry from Guatemala.

Source: Natural Living at PennLive.com: Valentine's jewelry might not be so romantic after all

Romantic settings - From flowers to fabric, have your home say happy Valentine’s Day

Romantic settings (From Gay newspaper Washington Blade)
From flowers to fabric, have your home say happy Valentine’s Day

By ZACK ROSEN
Friday, February 09, 2007

Those lucky enough to have a significant other around Valentine’s Day have probably put thought into dining, wine, roses and music, but all these considerations add up to just another way of ensuring that the tone you create is perfect for the relationship you have. Just as there are many different feelings you can have for that special someone, there are many different ways to make your home the ideal expression of what Valentine’s Day means to you.

Though the tradition of exchanging love notes on Valentine’s Day dates back to the Middle Ages, it exists now as a greeting card holiday. As such, it’s easy to get caught up in the mass-marketed image of the holiday and forget to pay attention to your own tastes.

“The sentiment of all this can be overshadowed by all the glitz and glamour of Hallmark cards and chocolate,” says Patrick Baglino, Jr., the gay owner of Patrick Baglino, Jr., Interior Designs. “That’s really how I see it unraveling for people. It’s really about feeling and how people want to express that through style.”

If your own personal style leans toward the extravagant, the nature of the holiday affords more than enough opportunities to express it. While many restaurants offer romantic dinners out on Feb. 14, a more personal effect can be achieved by creating that lavish atmosphere within your own home.

“You can go all out,” Baglino says. “Have dinner catered in. You can have the entire table done up in yards of red sheer fabric with huge arrangements of red roses. You can have candles in varying heights, lightly scented with vanilla. You won’t have to worry about cooking, so [you] can spend some quiet time together. “

Jeffrey Fritz, the gay owner of Flowers on Fourteenth is clear on the preferred Valentine’s Day bloom.

“Always roses,” he says, adding that there are color options beyond the standard red. “White is for purity, yellow for friendship. There are hundreds of different colors of roses available now.”

FOR THOSE WHOSE tastes run less baroque and more down home, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the epic scale of V-Day celebrations. If you don’t have the budget to bring your sweetheart 200 roses on the back of a snow-white pony, keep in mind that, even on holidays, less can be more. Baglino suggests that romantic minimalists can get their point across with something as basic as a single white rose in a vase or a spray of daisies tied with ribbon.

“Sometimes I think simple is best. If someone is really not caught up in the glitz and glamour of the holiday, if it’s just about the sentiment, the feelings behind, then they really don’t need all this grandiosity. “

Fritz advises that the austere decorator may get good use out of orchids or something else that is “very natural but simple and elegant.”

Of course, any notions of holiday decorating may pale in priority if you haven’t even cleaned your living room in the current calendar year. For the hopelessly messy, or the deceptively prevalent gay that can’t decorate their way out of a plastic bag, it helps to remember that Valentine’s Day boils down to a series of gestures.

“I really don’t think the environment per se has much to do with the person or their individual style,” Baglino says. “I think it has a lot more to do with how they choose to express their feeling. There are some friends I know who just have pizza and watch a movie and that would be sufficient. Someone once gave me a cupcake for Valentine’s Day, and I thought that was really cool.”

However you decide to make your house romantic, a successful Valentine’s Day will require a little planning. Just as all dinner reservations should be made well before the 13th, deciding how you want to gussy up your living space should be done sufficiently in advance.

“Order early,” warns Fritz. “Last year we sold 10,000 roses by noon, another 10,000 by 6, and another 5,000 that we finally sold out by 9.”

With a little foresight, and a sufficient knowledge of your own romantic leanings, everyone can make their house romantic enough that Valentine’s night, the real point of the occasion, will not soon be forgotten.

Source: Romantic settings - From flowers to fabric, have your home say happy Valentine’s Day

Romantic Tips For Gardeners

Thursday, February 08, 2007
ROBB ROSSER for The Columbian

How do I love thee? A lot. Would it be enough to say I'd love you to the depth and breadth that a dandelion's roots could reach? How about, "I love you enough to dig to the depth of a small, ornamental pond." This may not sound romantic to everyone on Valentine's Day but I guarantee you this is an offer no gardener could refuse. Slip a packet of wild flower seeds into a Valentine's Day card and watch your garden sweetheart swoon.

Paper hearts, sweet treats and sugar kisses don't have the impact they had when we were ten or twelve. Not every cliche carries the panache it once did. Only one person I know would truly appreciate the gift of a pound of chocolates. She makes it clear that immediate gratification is more important to her than fitting into anything petite from Victoria's Secret. Most of my friends would thank me with a cringe, knowing they now had to fight a battle between staying on a healthy diet and eating the whole box in one sitting.

Times have changed. That includes how we celebrate a romantic holiday like Valentine's Day. I would venture a guess that most gardeners would prefer a new, disease resistant shrub rose over a pound of chocolates. Better yet, I think a gift of two or three (OK, maybe half a dozen) deluxe, cream filled chocolates from a fine chocolatier included with a gift certificate to Heirloom Roses in St. Paul, Oregon would elicit the best response on Valentine's Day.

There is any number of pure red roses you could choose to symbolize your heartfelt love. The David Austin English rose, 'L.D.Braithwaite' is a fully double, fragrant, old rose that many consider the finest red English rose. 'William Shakespeare' is a magnificent rose in deepest crimson that ages to a red so rich it becomes almost purple. Like other English roses, this one has a heady, old rose fragrance.

Caring for roses in the Northwest can be a tricky task with our long rainy spells in winter and spring followed by extended draught in late summer. Heirloom Roses has taken great care to give you virus free, own root roses for better bloom, winter hardiness and long plant life. 'Razzle Dazzle' and 'Braveheart' are two roses I've admired for their clear, deep red color. For a looser, more casual look in roses, 'Peter Beales' is a single, strikingly rich crimson red with a pronounced golden center and a nice perfume.

For the gardener who appreciates the perfect form of a red, hybrid tea rose there are 'Crimson Glory,' 'Alec's Red' and 'Intrigue.' 'Mr. Lincoln' is a well-known hybrid tea with long, pointed buds that open into perfectly formed roses on long stems. This is a rose so red that the texture resembles velvet. The strong damask fragrance will take your sense of smell to new heights. Many consider 'Oklahoma' the most beautiful and fragrant of the darkest red roses. (Heirloom Roses www.heirloomroses.com/ 503-538-1576)

The romantic notion of the red, red heart can be played out in many plants that aren't even in bloom at this time of year. Give the gift of any winter plant with hints of red in bark and berry for a twist on an old tradition. There are numerous shrubs that carry a pay load of bright red berries through the winter months and into spring. In addition to the ornamental interest of berries on holly, cotoneaster and viburnum is the draw the berries have on overwintering birds.

Among the hollies, Ilex x meserveae "Blue Princess" and I. x "Blue Prince" produce huge clusters of red berries that contrast well with the blue toned leaves and stems. Ilex verticillata 'Winter Red' is a deciduous holly so the abundant red fruits appear especially vibrant on bare branches. Choose a low growing cotoneaster such as C. dammeri or C. salicifolia 'Scarlet Leader' for a vigorous plant that will cover large areas, including steep slopes, in sun or light shade. Beginning in fall the berries glow above a dense mat of dark green leaves.

Even the neighborhood grocery store will be selling four inch pots of early spring primrose and tulips by the time Valentine's Day rolls around. The best garden stores will have cedar planters filled with an abundant mix of primrose, daffodils and rich, red early tulips. As old fashioned as it may be, Valentine's Day still holds a powerful sway in our romantic lives. Few things will delight your Sweetie more than knowing that you splurged with him or her in mind. Just like the best gardens, love is nothing if not generous.

Source: Columbian.com - Serving Clark County, Washington