Getting creative with Valentine’s dates

Dr. Anisa Shomo

Owner of Health is Love Co.

Herald Beauty Contributor

I married my college sweetheart. We met in our Honors Chemistry course our freshman year as pre-medical students. The irony of meeting your life partner in a Chemistry course is not lost upon us. We have great Chemistry and complement each other as total opposites. He is the Oxygen to my Hydrogen. Our bond today is greater than we could have imagined when we met. Valentine’s Day for us has had different meanings over the years. In college, it meant dinners and cheesy gifts. In medical school, it meant trips up or down I-71 to spend time together. Residency was a beast and for a time we were in the same residency together. Those years we spent a lot of time working on how to prioritize each other despite the demands of doctoring. We also spent time learning how to stay our compassionate, loving selves even when we are tired or hangry. Valentine’s Day then took on a different meaning since we were often busy working in the hospital around that date. We learned that we could celebrate our love whenever we choose. We learned to be flexible. We let go of expectations of what a Valentine’s Day celebration should be. Flexibility allows us to be creative in our approach to any love celebration. Creativity in pandemic times has been a gift and I would like to share with you all some of our ideas for how to have a safe love celebration at home:

Step 1: Book an Air BnB in the woods or Decorate your home in a Valentine’s Day theme.

Step 2: Plan a day together based on your own interests and love languages.

His primary love language is quality time. I bought him a telescope so that we can spend the evening looking at the moon and stars in the woods.

My primary love languages are acts of service and physical touch. I am bringing supplies to give each other home massages.

Step 3: Purchase any supplies you need based on your plans. I purchased a few natural oils to try for home massages. I needed them quickly, so I went with NOW Foods via Amazon.

1. NOW Solutions Organic Jojoba Oil, Amazon, 8.39 for 4 oz. Pros: travel size friendly, non-greasy. Cons: more expensive than other options, smells like vegetable oil
2. NOW Solutions Grapeseed Oil, Amazon, 11.04 for 16 oz. Pros: non-greasy, pleasant smell that is subtle. Cons: large bottle.
3. NOW Solutions Apricot Kernel Oil, Amazon, 7.72 for 16 oz. Pros: cheapest, non-greasy, pleasant smell that is subtle. Cons: large bottle.

I hope that these ideas inspire your love celebration to be full of creative experiments based on a foundation of Chemistry and flexibility. Happy Valentine’s Day!