1. Jump in the car and just start driving. Drive for like 20 minutes until you run into a new town with new restaurants and just pick a place to try out! Make sure you get gas before heading out of town!!

2. Sit down and start writing a Bucket List of things that you all want to accomplish this year together - and then choose one and make it happen right there on the spot! It could be a super simple one or one that could take a second to plan! But I challenge to immediately cross one off!

3. Do the Opposite! Make a pizza together by adding your own toppings and getting creative, and then choose a place to go get dessert! Maybe it will be as simple as ice cream or if could even be Cheesecake Factory (a personal favorite) or The Melting Pot!

4. Looking for a cheap night in? Scroll through the channels on TV and find some throwback show you all enjoy (mine and Tyler’s is definitely Friends or That 70s Show). While you’re watching and hanging out, make funny photo props out of paper, markers, and popsicle sticks and then force each other to take pictures together but holding the other’s props (yes ladies- make him wear that crown)

5. What guy and girl doesn’t love puppies? Me and Tyler totally consider going to play with puppies that are up for adoption or being sold a date! It’s the next best thing behind actually buying a puppy!

6. If the typical date idea of dinner and movie is too traditional, mix it up and order Chinese Take-Out, set up a cute table to sit at, and then make your own movie theatre with lots of pillows and blankets on the couch and watch a RedBox movie (include popcorn and candy if that’s up your aisle)

7. More of the adventurous couple? Find a museum that is local to you that you would probably never go to, and go! Do something out of your comfort zone together and learn from it too! Who knows, you may just find something you all actually enjoy doing together!

8. I know most of my following comes from college aged kids (shout-out to you all working hard) and I also know that Valentines Day falls on a Wednesday this year, which is so inconvenient with school work! If you’re busy studying for exams or cramming all of those homework assignments in, find a new, local coffee shop (no, not Starbucks. Step out of your comfort zone) and go and study. You both can sit at the same table and get things done while also getting to glance up and see your best friend! This is a personal favorite of mine to do with Tyler!

9. Another free date idea (if you have a music subscription to Apple Music or Spotify) is making a playlist of all of your all’s favorite throwback hits! Me and Tyler did this one night for two hours and we still use that same playlist every single road trip we go on! It’s hilarious to learn what his jam was back in sixth grade when he got dumped and it’s even funnier when you play a song you forgot existed and you can still rap the entire Nelly part. I promise, this is such a fun thing to do together if you are music lovers!

10. Get on Pinterest and find a recipe that you are willing to try to make together! Maybe a main dish, a side, and a dessert that you all agree on attempting! Go on a grocery trip together (there is nothing more fun than roaming a grocery store with your better half) and try making dinner in for the two of you. It will probably be a little cheaper than if you had gone out to eat and you will get to laugh while doing it together! Experiences are always better than gifts! Who knows- you may be more of a chef than you thought! You can see my recipes I have picked out on my Pinterest here !