The most romantic day of the year is upon us! Valentine’s Day is the day where lovers traditionally express their love for each other with handwritten cards, lavish dinners, trips, proposals, and presents. However, owing to the global catastrophe we all are facing right now, some lovers are forced to stay in isolation and far away from each other. If you’re among the lovebirds who are celebrating this special day remotely, we would love to share some great ideas that will make your Remote Valentine’s Day a special one!
Not everyone has been hit by cupid’s arrow and is single on this lovey-dovey day but worry not as we’ve got the single community covered this Valentine’s Day too. Just as there is a day to celebrate loving couples, there is also a day that one celebrates singledom known as Single Awareness Day or funnily enough, SAD for short. If you’re celebrating SAD which falls on February the 15th, we have also prepared a bunch of cool ideas you can treat yourself in the safety of your own home!
Isolated Lovebirds
1) Have a virtual dinner together
Usually, fancy romantic candlelit restaurants are always fully booked. However, because of the pandemic, dine ins are no longer an option. A dinner via Skype or Zoom is the next best thing if the both of you live separately. Plan a dinner date together and set the menu of your choice. Both you and your partner can cook fancy dinners in your own kitchens or deliver food to each other if the geographical location isn’t that much of an issue. Pop a bottle of champagne and light a candle to make the experience more bougie in the comfort of your home.
Famous food and entertainment magazine, Bon Appètit has curated delicious romantic Valentine’s Day dinner recipes. If you’d like simpler recipes, Buzzfeed’s very own Tasty has compiled recipes that will surely get you and your partner’s taste buds satisfied. Below are the links to their recipes! One of the ways to someone’s heart is through their stomach, right?
1) Bon Appétit
2) Tasty
Alternatively, ordering in for dinner is also fine! At the end of the day, it’s the company of your lover that makes the dinner memorable and worthwhile.
2) Write love poetry, List reasons why you love your partner or both!
It might sound cheesy for some people but writing love poetry for the love of your life is a very romantic gesture! Writing is a way of escapism and expressing emotions for some. Why not channel your affection for your partner through poetry? There are so many love poems out there if you’re looking for inspiration but remember to make sure the words are from the bottom of your heart.
If writing poetry seems daunting, then a simple but sincere list of why you love your partner is also ideal to celebrate Valentine’s Day! What do they do that makes you love and appreciate them? Remind your partner how the world is more colorful now that you have them in your life.
3) Read stories aloud to your partner together or while they sleep
There’s always something intimate and beautiful about reading to others. When you watch romance movies, the two lovers would have many romantic scenes which include reading together or to each other. It’s a great activity for the both of you to learn and explore together through reading. Not only that, it’s a great activity to boost your relationship with your partner because it makes you feel closer together. Reading serenely together in the comfort of your own home boosts that too. Sometimes we just need someone to feel alone together. 😊
Be it reading during the day or at night, take turns to read to each other before one of you goes to sleep. Reading also jolts an intellectual conversation if sleep does not come. Sharing views about the read narrative brings you closer to your partner intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally. This comes in handy when you run out of topics to talk about to each other! That is why we highly recommend reading aloud to your partner.
4) Play online games together
Other than reading, we recommend playing games together if you prefer something more playful. There are tons of online games that you can play together with your partner whether you live together or separately such as Heads Up, Overcooked, or TypeRacer. On top of that, we also recommend Skribble.io to test your drawing and guessing skills. These light-hearted games will create a fun atmosphere with you and your partner and you’ll be laughing throughout the night.
If you want to play a quieter, more calming game, chess is a great choice! Unlike The Queen’s Gambit, chess is a fairly calm game when you play it for fun with your partner.
5) Send flowers or gifts
Surprise your partner with unexpected flowers or gifts on their doorstep! It’ll be romantic if you can buy them something that reminds you of them. Be it a dozen roses, a book, food, a bottle of perfume, or a piece of jewelry, it’s the little things that can make someone feel all warm and adored on the inside. They’ll appreciate that you are reminded of them in your daily life. Additionally, if you want to break tradition and get a different type of flower rather than roses, try baby’s breath! Not only are they aesthetically pleasing but they also symbolize sincerity, trust, and everlasting love.
For gift ideas, we found two dessert online shops that sell beautiful and delicious delectables.
a) @cocoraw.me
If your partner is a fan of chocolate, we suggest heading over to this IG dessert shop. They sell a variety of delicacies such as brownies, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate truffles with many different flavors. They are even selling a special V-day gift box at an affordable price!
If they love creamy and decadent cakes, this is the perfect place for you to buy cakes or cupcakes for your sweetheart! They offer a lot of customizable cakes in countless flavors. Just like @cocoraw.me, Eat Cake Today is also selling Valentine’s Day special collections to make the day even sweeter. Sending your partner desserts can never go wrong so order one or two for them!
*We are not sponsored by these brands but we’re sharing them because they deserve it! Gotta share the finer things in life.
To spice up your surprise gifts, you could also create a Spotify playlist with songs your partner loves or might love! Spotify is the 21st-century version of mixtapes and knowing their music taste is a sign that you know them well. Also, playlists help you to express your affection to your sweetheart through beautiful songs if you’re a person of few words. When it comes from the heart, it’s more than a gift.
Celebrating Valentine’s Day remotely will not mar the beauty of it. Anything is possible if you just put your creative mind to it!
SAD – Single Awareness Day Individuals
Who says Valentine’s Day is just about celebrating your soulmate? Conventionally, people celebrate Valentine’s by expressing their utmost love and admiration for the love of their life but self-love is even more worth celebrating this year. Love does not limit to only romantic love but also self-love. This day of love doesn’t need to be unbearable just because you are alone. If you’re single (and not ready to mingle), treat this special occasion as a day to treat yourself and your loved ones!
1) Indulge yourself with comfort food & gifts
One of the great things you could do is to indulge yourself with delicious food and snazzy gifts! Get that chocolate cake and the things that have been on your wishlist since forever. You could also buy yourself your favorite flowers. Be the best girlfriend or boyfriend to yourself! There are many online floral shops to buy from. A bouquet of roses is not only a symbol for romantic couples but can also be a beautiful decoration for your home.
As for food, we found amazing local online restaurants that offer mouth-watering dishes through delivery! They might be a little pricey though, but hey- it’s Valentine’s Day!
*We are not sponsored by these brands either. We’re just sharing the love. 🥰
Yakuza By Dark sells fancy Japanese food with premium ingredients such as foie gras, wagyu beef, and caviar. The prices are slightly higher than your basic sushi eateries, but their unforgettable dishes will make you crave for more.
A must-try restaurant for lobster lovers! Their dishes might look like your average hot dog rolls at first glance but instead of hot dogs, they use rich lobsters slathered with sweet or spicy toppings of your choice. Totally yummy in the tummy.
If you live in Klang Valley, you should definitely try them and indulge yourself with bougie food on SAD.
2) Pass your love to your loved ones
During these trying times, it’s always important to check up on your loved ones and see how they are doing. This year’s Valentine’s Day is a great chance to remind them that you love and appreciate them. You can send them gifts or flowers and even plan a Skype dinner with them; the things one might do when in a romantic relationship. If you have a pet, don’t hesitate to give them their favorite treats and extra cuddles! As they always say, giving is better than receiving. Showing kindness and love to others attributes to your own well-being and does make you feel less lonely.
3) Make a list of reasons to love yourself
Ask yourself what are the interesting qualities that you own? There are many perks to being single; fewer responsibilities and more time for yourself to recharge and reflect. Too many, people think that being single equates to loneliness and this is because love stories consistently depict that you are not complete without your “better half” or that everyone needs a romantic figure in their lives to make themselves happier.
Contrary to popular belief, your source of happiness should always come from within you and not from someone else. The more you know yourself, the better partner you’ll be in a serious relationship. Having the time for yourself gives you a medium to think about how to better yourself as a person.
So, take out that pen, write down what you enjoy most by being single and declutter those negative thoughts about not having a romantic partner! Think of what you love about yourself and why you’re amazing just as you are. Being single is not the end of the world and when you learn how to enjoy your own company, it is one of the most rewarding pleasures in the world.
Book Recommendations
On any leisure occasion, reading is a great way to fill up your time, alone or with your partner. Be it reading aloud to your partner or getting in touch with your sentimental side, here are some book recommendations from our library! We have a variety of the perfect poetry and short stories books to get you into the V-day and SAD spirits.
Zack Shah’s More Than Words and Timothy Joshua’s Questions to Our Answers are among our best-selling poetry books nationwide and they are bestsellers for a reason. Poignant, heart-tugging, and romantic, their poems will sure to get you and your partner in the love mood.
For both poetry and short stories lovers, Charissa Ong’s Poethree O’clock box set is the perfect choice for you! The set includes best-selling Midnight Monologues, Daylight Dialogues, and What Does Your Name Mean? books. These books are sold separately but only the box set has the books in aesthetically pleasing hardcovers! Head over to our shop to purchase them. 😊
These days, it feels like we’re living in a dystopian world and everyone needs a bit of fun to feel less alone. We hope these ideas will help you have fun celebrating Valentine’s Day or Single Awareness Day with your lover or alone.
