Ladies: What do you wish your boyfriend would get you for Valentine's Day?

January 26, 2010 6:53 AM

My girlfriend and I have been dating for almost six months now, but I know we have a special connection. I know she is very emotionally involved in our relationship as am I. We are planning on moving in together during the summer (mostly to save money). We are both 23 and live in Boston. She is Chinese, concerned with the environment, and about to go to grad school. I have been working on my start-up company. Neither of us have much money. That does not mean I can't do something special for her. The day before Valentine's is our 6-month anniversary which my girlfriend is planning and has already got some tickets to the opera for us to see. We agreed that she would plan our anniversary and I would plan Valentine's. What are some special things I could do or give her to show her I love her?
posted by 1awesomeguy to Society & Culture (8 answers total)

I am having trouble figuring out what "She is Chinese" has to do with anything here, but anyway... most of the best ways to show someone how important they are involve making something, not simply spending money on it. The amount of time you devote to it is a big factor.

Of course, if you are shopping, investing a lot of time to find just the right thing she has always wanted can work, too. But that rather depends on the person.
posted by rokusan at 7:12 AM on January 26, 2010 [3 favorites]

Are you asking for free romantic things to do in Boston, or just nice things to do for a Chinese environmentalist who's going to go to grad school? A bit more detail would be helpful. And Chinese environmentalists who are going to go to grad school, do they like flowers, chocolate, dinners out, long walks, or what?

On the cheap, I think the skating rink in the Common is pretty good, followed by either hot chocolate at the rink, or a walk down Charles Street for a nice dinner (if that's in your budget) or some wine (e.g., at the Bin whatever Enoteca).
posted by Admiral Haddock at 7:14 AM on January 26, 2010

Agree that making is a good thing. To be truly romantic, you can't take advice from strangers - a lot of 'Valentine gifts' are very generic, and the most romantic are things you've come up with yourself just from observing what someone likes and who they are.

What can you do? Can you cook? Can you build? Can you sew? Have a look at the Craftster forum and see whether anything leaps out at you. Also, 'upcycling' something is good for people into the environment - it means you're recycling old stuff, not purchasing new landfill-tastic items.
posted by mippy at 7:20 AM on January 26, 2010

(I'd tell you what I have for Mr Mippy, but he posts here as well. And it's not impressive, either.)
posted by mippy at 7:24 AM on January 26, 2010

I like the idea of making a nice dinner. You can find lots of Valentine's Day menu plans online. Such as: Rachael Ray, or on All Recipes. Even if you don't cook much you can make a nice meal. I think that would be really sweet.
posted by apricot at 7:43 AM on January 26, 2010

Best answer: If you're looking for something low cost but meaningful, I would suggest a home cooked "luxury" 3 (or more) course meal. By "luxury", I mean buy things you really like but might not otherwise get due to the cost, but still keeping the budget well under a restaurant bill. Get some fresh seafood, or a good steak, whatever she really likes but wouldn't normally buy day-to-day.

Also, printing out a few nice photos (or 1 really good one) of your 6 months together and putting them in a frame/small album is cool.

Both these ideas don't involve a huge cost (compared to, say, dinner at a restaurant and some decent flowers/chocolates), but do involve a fair amount of thoughtfulness and effort that I think are a much nicer indicator of your love than how much money you are willing to spend.

FWIW for my girlfriend's first birthday after we started going out (which was roughly our 6 month anniversary as well), I made her a heart out of Lego which she thought was awesome. YMMV depending on her love of construction toys.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:46 AM on January 26, 2010

Best answer: Luckily for you, Chinese New Year's falls on Valentine's Day this year, although the real celebration for CNY takes place the night before. However, you could potentially do things that are both Chinese New Year AND Valentine's Day-esque...give her some new red lingerie, perhaps. ;)
posted by so much modern time at 3:10 PM on January 26, 2010

Depending on where your gf is from, do bear in mind though that she may have some family commitments on the evening of 13th (New Year Eve, basically.) Chinese families usually have this big meal thing where everyone is invited and the (usually) non-married folk get ang paos, gifts of money in red envelopes.

If she's away from family, just remember that she might very well be missing hers on and during 14th Feb. In which case, it might be a good idea to have a romantic meal on the 13th itself, perhaps supplanted by gifts given in a red ang pao.
posted by the cydonian at 12:39 AM on January 28, 2010