Unconventional ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and we all know what it means — Valentine’s cards with hearts, bouquets of roses, movie theatres playing romantic comedies, restaurants booked for romantic dinners and much more. But what if you want something different this Valentine’s Day? Then you are on the right page. Here are 10 untraditional ways to celebrate the Valentine’s Day:

Galentine’s Day

Celebrate this special day just with the girls. No men allowed! It is great way to show your girlfriends how much you love and care about them. You can go out for a brunch, make reservations at a fancy restaurant or even spend the day doing face masks and manicures. It’s your Galentine’s Day, so you can choose what you want to do.

Something Spooky

Valentine’s Day is considered to be a holiday about romance, joy and fun. However, you could take the holiday in an entirely new direction by going to one of the many haunted locations in Chicago. Explore some spooky abandoned buildings or take a tour of your town’s most notorious spooky locations.

“Quirkyalone Day”

There are a lot of anti-Valentine’s parties thrown on Feb. 14 with heart-shaped piñatas that singles smash to represent their hatred and protest the holiday. But instead of going all against this celebration, you can participate in International Quirkyalone Day, when singles around the world throw feel-good parties celebrating empowerment, romance and gratitude.

Learn about love in a new culture

There are so many different countries in the world that have their own cultures and traditions. Though Valentine’s Day is considered to be an international celebration, people do celebrate it differently in each country. For example, in Japan, women give men chocolates on Feb. 14. Some parts of Britain serve buns baked with caraway seeds and raisins. Not only you can learn more about the celebration around the world, but also try to incorporate some traditions into your own date night.

Just skip it

Valentine’s Day is a big celebration, but it’s not as huge as Christmas. People don’t get a day off on this day, so don’t feel obliged to celebrate it. Instead, you can just skip it and go out the next day. Restaurants will be less crowded, florists will bring down their prices and all the Valentine’s Day candy will be on sale.

Find out your future

If you are unsure about your partner, or just want to know when you will have one, you can visit a psychic or get a tarot reading to know whether your intuition is correct. At the end of the day, it is your choice whether to believe it or not.

Volunteer

The world needs more love from people, so why not spend this Valentine’s Day helping those in need? Pick a charity with a special someone and spend the day together helping out in any way you can. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, help out in community garden, read a book to nursing home residents, or play with some furry friends at an animal shelter.

Horror Movie Marathon

If you want to just stay at home and relax, but don’t want to follow stereotypical rom-com movie night, have a horror marathon. There are lots of great horror movies that have come out in in the past few years like “It Follows” and “The Babadook.” Get some snacks and drinks, and make a night of it.

Take a cooking class

Instead of going for a dinner or buying a take-out, sign up for a masterclass. Learn how to make your favorite meal or try out a new recipe. You can learn something new, spend amazing time with friends or your partner and eat delicious food all in one day.

Give an alternative gift

If you’ve seen the film “No Strings Attached,” you would know what this means. Roses might be romantic, but they’re also rather generic. Instead, you can be creative and give a different kind of “bouquet.” You can give a potted plant that will stay much longer than a bouquet, or give a candy bouquet if you want to give something sweet. If you feel crafty, you can make flower bouquet using origami. Or if you want to be quirky as Ashton Kutcher in a movie, you can give a bouquet of carrots.