First off, if you’re getting started now, you, my friend, are screwed. Forget about booking a table; every restaurant that isn’t the Pantry or ABC Country Restaurants was booked weeks ago, champagne is expensive and as hard to find now as it is New Year’s Eve, a dozen roses are hellaciously expensive….you get the drift.
Be original, and look like you spent a million bucks, I mean, like you really care.
First stop, Pyrrha. Or more accurately, Blue Ruby for Pyrrha.
Be forewarned: giving a woman a pendant could signify more than you intended, so the cowardly will want to opt for bracelets or earrings.
Pyrrha is a Vancouver company who make unique, lovely, inexpensive sterling, bronze and even
14k gold seal necklaces – they’re castings of authentic 19th-century wax seals. There are tons to choose from, from simple initials, to heraldry and crests, and lots with love and fidelity themes. Mine is a bronze casting about 1.5” x 1” of a rosebush, and the millimeter-high inscription reads “thy sweetness is my life”. [Because even I could be a little fucking sweeter.] Except for the 14k pieces, prices hover around $100 - $130, and that is getting off cheap for the lover’s holiday. Even more romantic? Go down to the shop together and pick them out together.http://www.pyrrha.com/
http://www.blueruby.com/
OK, on to the quaffables. Why, oh why, are you not drinking ice wine right this very minute? Yeah, a teensy bottle will set you back around $50 but so will the good bubbly stuff, and if you haven’t noticed, the theme is local V-day goodies here. Plus, you can get away with serving it in chilled shot glasses instead of regular wineglasses, therefore stretching things a bit. Your local off-license will have ice wine, and so will even your local liquor store [to my American friends: yes, we have government-run liquor stores up here. Believe it!].
You don’t really expect me to list the stores that sell this shit, do you?
Dinner’s ready! Why even try to impress him/her with a restaurant meal when you can whomp up a romantic meal right in your own home, mere steps away from the bedroom. If you honestly can’t cook, some Indian take-away bubbling on the stove looks pretty damn convincing; greet your sweetie at the door with a spoonful of vindaloo or butter chicken, and plant one on them to forestall the inevitable questions about when you learned to make pakkoras.
OK, gifts. :::sigh::: Guys, a bear holding a plush heart says only, "I left this to the last minute." Hit Lush, the bath bomb store, for a Tisty Tosty aka the rose-scented heart-shaped bomb with 7 rosebuds embedded in it. They have locations around the city, most notably in Metrotown and on Robson, full of imaginative, indulgent bath and skin products made by hand with organic ingredients. At the very least, pick up a melty massage bar made with chocolate and honey for a mere eight bucks. If you cost out all the sexy time you’ll have by the time the bar’s melted away, it looks like an even better deal – and anybody who’s ever spilled massage oil on good sheets or the floor will appreciate the solid-but-melty format.
http://www.lush.ca/
Upgrade from Pot of Gold to Purdy’s; Purdy’s makes the country’s best chocolate, and even the No Sugar Added chocs don’t have the problematic texture issue other NSA chocs do; trust me, there is creaminess aplenty in the assorted box, and this year they have the most adorable sugar-free cupid! Sorry, I just get all squee-y when good diabetic sweets come my way.
Well, that’s it. Guys, I can’t help you with the fact that a dozen roses has shot to $50.00 a dozen from $24.99 for this one day; red roses are kind of traditional, so if you really want to get lucky, you may have to pony up for the damn things. Just, for the love of God and eight-pound, six-ounce baby Jesus, DO NOT forget to take your socks off first. Ask any woman - a naked man with socks on is the ultimate mood killer.
Happy stuffing!
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