Crush-ing Valentine’s Day

Alexa Saler

With January coming to a close, we are nearing a holiday that people usually have a love-hate relationship with. If you are celebrating this holiday with a signifcant other or friends, do you know what you’re doing to celebrate it? This list is a small guide to some fun activities and date ideas that might work for you and your valentine.

1. Have a picnic: This may be a cliche idea, but picnics are a fun way to either go on a date or hang out with friends. Bringing holiday-themed foods like chocolate strawberries and heart shaped treats are a great touch. There are so many places in Lower Merion Township and Philadelphia that are perfect for the ultimate picnics. My personal recommendations for places to have picnics outside of Philadelphia are Merion Botanical, Longwood Gardens, and Chanticleer Garden. Within Philadelphia, the best spots are Rittenhouse Square, Spruce Street Harbor Park, and Fitler Square. All of these places have a romantic ambience for a fun evening with your friends or valentine.

2. Baking Date: Circling back to making treats, a great Valentine’s/Galentine’s date idea is baking with someone. Whether it be making cakes or cookies, baking is an enjoyable way to

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show someone love. For Valentine’s/Galentine’s specifc baking dates, some treats that are delicious are chocolate covered strawberries, jam-flled heart cookies, any red velvet baked goods, and heart shaped cookies cakes. All of these baked goods are super easy and cheap to make and you can fnd these ingredients anywhere; Target, Rite-Aid, Giant, Whole Foods, etc. In all, a baking date with any person of your choice is a great option for Valentine’s Day.

3. Rom-Com Movie Night: I personally love rom-coms and one fun way that I spend a galentine’s day with my friends is having a rom-com movie marathon. Even if you’re in a relationship, movie nights are always a relaxing date idea. Especially since this holiday is centered around love, watching a good rom-com with friends or your date is a nice way to spend a special night and have a great time. Some rom-coms I recommend are The Proposal, She’s the Man, Love Rosie, Set it Up, and 10 Things I Hate About You

I hope that this list at least gives you a few ideas of how you want to spend this holiday. No matter what you chose to do, I hope that anyone who is planning to celebrate has the best Valentines Day with the people closest to them!

Valentine’s gift guide

James Korin ’24 Features Editor

Valentine’s Day is the symbol of friendship, passion, and of course, love, so it requires the utmost thoughtfulness. However, fnding the perfect gift always seems to cause stress. For those who lose sleep over the trivial idea of a gift, wor rying about the price or whether it accurately represents the relationship, look no further. First of all, it should be said that any gift can be considered perfect as long as it is meaningful, and oftentimes this is specifc to a relationship. Nonethe less, there is a plethora of general gift ideas that will surely earn you some points with the person on the receiving end.

1. You can never go wrong with a photo album; it is a clas sic for a reason. Photo albums take some time to assemble, whether digitally or manually, so they show care and meaning. Of course, the contents are what really matter. The included pictures should depict fond memories, and a few goofy photos are always wel come. Furthermore, brief notes beside the pictures add a nice sen timental touch. Photo albums, however, are not only for signifcant others. They can help show how much you value a friendship as well.

2. A Valentine’s Day candy gram sold at LM is simple, cheap, and efec tive. These surprise gifts ofer an opportunity to let someone know that you were thinking of them. Also, although it is somewhat beside the point, it feels good to let everyone in the class know as well. However, please consider giving an additional gift because, while candy grams are cute, they do not involve much efort.

3. Chocolate is a staple of Valentine’s Day because it is sweet, comforting, and loved by everyone. For this reason, it is almost guaranteed that a decorative chocolate item, such as chocolate covered pretzels, will make a great start to the gift giving process. If inclined, give something homemade to really demonstrate commitment.

4. Sometimes the best gift is a fun experience that both people can enjoy. Those who appreciate art could visit Painting with a Twist in Ardmore, a leisurely painting class. Anyone who likes to cook could partake in a couples cooking class, such as Let’s Cultivate Food in Philadelphia. Are they into puzzles? Spend an evening in an escape room like Project Escape in Conshohocken. There are endless possibilities.

5. A customized blanket, flled with cute pictures and impactful words, is an easy, unique present that everyone can use. What represents Valentine’s Day more than this cozy gift that will always be a symbol of comfort? The blankets are cheap too; options are available on Amazon for as low as $10! Regardless of the price, this gift will certainly convey how important a special someone is.

Valentine’s Day should be a day of compassion, not a day of consternation. Do not let gifts be the cause of stress. Hopefully these ideas provide a foundation for selecting the perfect gift, but if that is not the case, all it takes is a little determination and creativity to fnd one.

Singing valentines

Ava Cohen ’23 Features Editor

Love is in the air and, LM Players and Choir are getting ready for their annual fundraising event, Singing Valentines! This is a way for students to show their love or gratitude for another student, teacher, or faculty member by purchasing a Singing Valentine. This means that a group of singers will come to the selected person’s class and sing a love song to them. Students who purchase a Singing Valentine get to choose the song, if they want it to be anonymous, and what class they want it to occur in. This fun activity tends to get the whole class laughing and sometimes even singing along! Rose Solga ’23 is the treasurer of Players and says that it requires a lot of organization beforehand because they have to “recruit people to be a part of it, make the schedules for groups, plan out the day, and make sure everyone gets their valentine.” This year Solga plans on recruiting Players production manager Ethan Plon ’25 to help out. The event usually raises around $800 to $1,000, and Solga calls it one of Players’ “mid-tier” fundraisers, but in the past they have raised up to 1,300 dollars! In the years where they raise more money, Solga says that it is typically a result of more advertisement and overall a large number of singers and people interested. Anyone, no matter how good they are at singing, can participate, and the singers dress up in fun Valentines Day attire that are up to them to choose. As for the songs, a fan favorite is “Hooked on a Feeling” by Blue Swede. The Players production of Little Women may cause this year’s Singing Valentines event to be pushed back so that there is enough time for Solga to plan things out, but look out for the fnalized date to come!