Question of the week from: V-DayWoes
I just recently started dating this guy, and I’m not sure what to get him for Valentine’s Day. It’s getting down to the last few days so it’s too late to buy anything for him online, and I don’t have a car with me at Miami so I can’t travel to a mall to find him something nice. Any ideas??
Her Advice:
Trying to think of a good Valentine’s Day gift for your man certainly isn’t easy, especially in the early days of the relationship. When walking past the Valentine’s Day section in Walmart, all the stuffed animals, roses, and pink-colored items don’t exactly scream “guy,” you know?
Don’t panic, though. Here is an idea that will for sure make him stick around for a second Valentine’s Day with you!
From my own experience with my man, food is always a great way to put a smile on his face. Restaurants are going to be busy and cramped that evening, so why not surprise him by making dinner just for the two of you?
Now, hopping on a bus to Kroger, buying the ingredients, and actually making the dinner definitely requires more effort than doing some quick Google searching and buying him something online. However, creating a private dinner for two will show him just how much you actually care about the blossoming relationship.
If you aren’t a great cook, don’t sweat it (I’m not a great cook, either!). Here is a great pasta and chicken recipe that isn’t complicated and won’t take you forever to make. If this doesn’t spark your interest, there are literally millions of recipes on the Internet that are just waiting for you to try them! I also enjoy using the cookbook, 365 30 Minute Recipes. It has a lot of great dinner recipes that aren’t too complicated or time consuming for busy college students.
Now that you have a romantic dinner planned, why not set the mood a little bit more? If you’re still in a dorm, you can’t really cover your room with candles, but maybe you could dim the lights by using a desk lamp instead of the overhead light.
Once the mood is set, movies are always a great way to end the night. Once you’re done getting your food supplies at Kroger, you can walk across the street to Family Video and pick up a movie you know your man enjoys.
Simple with just a hint of romance, dinner and his favorite movie will show your man just how special he is this Valentine’s Day. All the time and effort you will put into his gift will definitely earn you brownie points! Speaking of brownies…
His Advice:
Ok, so you’ve been a little busy, and haven’t had much time to think about Valentine’s Day? Don’t panic, it happens to everyone (which reminds me I REALLY need to get something for my girlfriend).
My first thought stems towards food, which as we all know, is the key to a man’s heart. It really can’t be overstated how much most guys like food. If there’s one thing most guys miss about home, it was probably having food made for him, so take a page out of mom’s (cook)book and bake him some brownies!
Valentine’s Day is one of the big “sweets” holidays, second to Halloween and maybe Easter, so sugar fits right in! Plus, making the brownies or cookies personally has the added bonus of being home-made and therefore that much more special. Such confections are usually easy to make, with instructions usually coming on the box, but if you want to go the “from scratch” route, here’s a super simple and delicious recipe from one of my favorite celebrity chefs.
Secondly, I recommend snuggling up and watching a romantic comedy with him. If you have enough blankets and cushions, I recommend arranging them on the floor so you’ll both have enough room to lie down and watch the movie; it’ll also be a great excuse to cuddle up with him.
The movie you select is also important. While movies like The Notebook and Dear John might be classics and super romantic, I would stay away from them for now, especially if you want to ensure that your boyfriend will actually ENJOY the movie.
The sort of movies we are looking for are more like 40-year-old-virgin, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, with older movies such as There’s Something about Mary also being a good choice if he hasn’t seen it. If he is more of a Pixar/Disney man, Wall-E is a great choice, since nothing spells romance quite like robot-love. If he’s seen all of these, or you just want more ideas, a quick Google search of “Romantic Comedies for Men” will generate much more results than I can list here.
Overall, just be genuine and thoughtful with whatever you decide to do for him; you will find that guys are not very hard to please when it comes to Valentine’s Day, so don’t stress it if you don’t have the time or money for something more extravagant.
You can now kiss your Valentine’s Day worries goodbye! Let’s face it, when a girl and a guy provide similar advice about the same topic, how can you possibly go wrong?
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