Valentine’s Day doesn’t always need to mean a fancy date night on the town, especially during a pandemic. But there are all sorts of ways you can still celebrate with loved ones at home or closer to home. Here are just a handful of ideas that we came up with.
General
1. Make handwritten Valentine’s and mail them to loved ones, especially those you haven’t seen in a while. In a digital age, it can be nice to receive a physical letter or card sometimes.
2. Drop off wine and chocolate at a friend’s front doorstep. Make it a local basket with 14 Hands and Seattle Chocolate!
3. Skip the family zoom call for Valentine’s Day, and have some fun doing a virtual escape room instead. Escape a Mayan Jungle? A 1920s robbery? A post-apocalyptic zombie attack? There are lots of options out there.
4. Game Night! Play video games or go for a classic board game paired with wine and chocolate on the side. Bartell’s carries lots of different board games, puzzles and card games – come take a browse!
5. Make a bubble bath with all the works – bubbles, candles, wine, chocolate – the whole shebang!
Kids & Family
1. Drop off a stuffed animal at your niece/nephew/grandkids’ house. That way they can get hugs from loved ones even if they can’t do that in person. Bartell’s has a cute selection of bears, dogs, unicorns, you name it.
2. Bake cookies. Eat them yourself, drop them off at friends and neighbors, or mail them to loved ones. You can even make cute cookie jars so that others can bake them fresh themselves. Check out some of these cute cookie ideas! https://foodal.com/recipes/desserts/cookie-decorating-tips-valentines-day/
https://www.wilton.com/color-block-hearts/
3. If your kids are back in daycare or preschool, you could safely give the other children small gifts like Valentine’s cards, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, or crayons. Or, if they’re still remote, help the kids make virtual Valentine’s for their classmates and send them over email.
4. Give your significant other some free time – take the kids out of the house for a couple hours and let them hang at home.
5. Make a fun Valentine’s themed craft! Fill those tiny jam jars you have been saving with your favorite Valentine’s Day bagged candy, tape or glue together paper hearts to form a cup, place on top of the candy-filled jar, and finish this cute craft with a bite-size chocolate bar.
6. Have a full-blown Valentine’s Day scavenger hunt. Pick up some supplies from Bartell’s – candy, chocolate, toys, games, and stuffed animals and hide them around the house. Create a treasure map with clues for the kids and send them off to find their treasures!
Couples
1. Screen free quality time. Go for a stroll through the Washington Park Arboretum, walk along Alki Beach, or head to Golden Gardens and watch the sunset. If the weather isn’t playing ball, check to see what’s open nearby. With some counties in Phase 2, things like ice skating, bowling, and museums are slowly opening to 25% capacity.
2. Clean the house for your significant other!
3. Breakfast in bed. Coffee, orange juice, waffles with strawberries and whipped cream? Sign us up.
4. Cook dinner and bake a dessert together.
5. Order in! Order from your favorite restaurant or a restaurant you’ve never tried before but always wanted to and make a date night of it. Pair it with a bottle of wine, and voila!