Here are some suggestions that have won points with me in the past: (these are all, of course, budget depending)

• Take her to a fancy hotel and, rather than room service, have the room set up with a carpet picnic containing all of her favorite foods in small quantities.  Have candles lit all over the place, and make sure she relaxes in a nice hot bath.  Have soft music playing in the background, and enjoy some champagne or sparkling grape juice.


• Think about some things that she's wanted to do or places she's wanted to go in the past couple of months, but couldn't for one reason or another.  Is there a show she's wanted to see, a concert she's wanted to go to, or a movie coming out she's dropped hints about being interested in?  Follow her interests and then take her to that place she's been wanting to go to...


• Book her an hour with a massage therapist, and then take her shopping (if she likes that) for something in her favorite store.


• Starting February 1st, write her a love letter everyday until Valentine's Day using pretty papers that are found in gift shops or bookstores (this shows a lot of effort and is a great way of showing emotion).  Present these letters to her wrapped in ribbon with a piece of jewelry (like a neclace or a bracelet).


• Go around taking pictures of all the places you and your girlfriend enjoyed visiting, had a date, or created a memorable moment of some kind.  Be sure to take more than one picture at each location.  Create a gift book containing all of these pictures, along with captions about how you remember each place and why they're meaningful to your relationship.  Include song lyrics, poems, short love notes in mini-envelopes, and quotations on the pages of this book as well.

I hope these ideas help

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How about rose petal bath followed by massage, chocolates and dinner?
In addition, here is free Valentine re-mailing service:
Loveland, Colorado has been providing a Valentine re-mailing service for 62 years. Senior Volunteers will stamp a pictorial and a love verse on every envelope/postcard. Last year they mailed out more than 200,000 letters/postcards. To have valentines re-mailed with the Loveland postmark, enclose your pre-stamped, pre-addressed envelopes (envelopes should each have 41-cent postage; postcards should have 26 cents postage), add extra stamps/postage for heavier/odd shaped valentines, mail in a large stamped envelope to:

Postmaster Valentine Re-mailing
446 E. 29th St.
Loveland, CO 80538

Deadlines for re-mailing and delivery by Valentines Day, Feb. 14:
Valentine cards/envelopes destined for re-mailing outside of the U.S. to other countries and international destinations should be in Loveland by Monday, Feb. 4.

Valentine cards/envelopes destined for re-mailing within U.S. and outside of Colorado should be in Loveland by Saturday, Feb. 9.

Valentine cards/envelopes destined for re-mailing within the state of Colorado should be in Loveland by Tuesday, Feb. 12.

For fancy letter, go here:
http://www.lovelettersfromloveland.com/
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The top thing is to follow her interests.

If she's an outdoorsy person, take her horseback riding, skiing (water or downhill, depending on where you are, or even cross-country), ice skating, parasailing...depending on what she likes, where you are. Try to do something she's told she has always wanted to do: Hot air ballooning?

Or if she's artsy: take her to a ballet (the major company in my area is doing Shakespeare in Love) or the symphony or an opera or a gallery opening. Or a dinner theatre.

After the event, then is the time for dinner.  She'll appreciate homemade, if your skills are up to it--if she really loves you it won't matter if it's not terribly gourmet.  If you have a Trader Joe's near you, they can help you make something "terribly gourmet" without much effort.

Or go out.  In many areas, there are "best of" lists that will tell you which are considered the most romantic restaurants.  Or again, listen to what she's probably been talking about for months, and take her there.

For the little extras like flowers and chocolates, make it special.  Women may sometimes say they don't like flowers, but trust me, we feel left out on V-Day if we don't get any!  For the chocolates, you can really impress her by getting some Valrhona and hand dipping some fruit for her, or get some really terrific artisan chocolates, like they make at Claude's in St. Augustine (I think they ship).

My own favorite Valentine's Days:

When my husband and I had just gotten engaged, he met me after my last class, didn't tell me where we were going, and drove about 45 minutes through a gorgeous, snowy landscape to a historic house that was home to an award-winning restaurant.  He dropped quite a bundle there, I later realized.  Of course, there were a dozen roses.  And he gave me a blouse that I'd said I loved at a shop a couple of months before.  I couldn't believe he'd remembered it!  He'd called his sister and had her pick it up and mail it to him.

Another favorite:  We went to a museum mid-afternoon; walked down the canal to another very nice restaurant.  Then we went home, where he had had a friend come in and light candles everywhere.  Then he gave me a full body massage--a real massage, no inuendo.  And he'd made some fondue, too.  We parked ourselves in front of the fireplace and dipped fondue for awhile.
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Two simple words: Day Spa. Oh, and send her best friend along if you can afford it or if you can partner with her boyfriend. Total slam dunk.
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