Plan A Mystery Date

Instead of falling back on the old stand-by or the “So what do you want to do?” Ploy, take the time and prepare a special date. Don’t make your date responsible for anything other than showing up. You pick the place, choose the activity, buy the tickets, arrange for the dinner – you get the picture.

It’s important to settle on the time ahead of time so that you’re not trying to whisk your love off to paris for the weekend just before a major presentation is due on monday or to a romantic picnic on the day the corporate boss is scheduled to come in for a review. Your feelings will be hurt at their likely response, and this is romance 101, not Guilt for Fun and Profit. But once you have agreed on the day or the hour or the weekend or the month, let yourself get really creative. Pretend your are planning the world’s most spectacular experience to delight the head and heart of the one you love.

You can pick something lavish or low-key, romantic or rustic, close or far away (another advantage of off-season Vslentine’s celebrations). Just make sure that you are planning something your love will enjoy, not your fantasy date and place. Focus on making a date, with all the trimmings, to delight your love. The date doesn’t need to be expensive, just imaginative: A picnic can work as well as a cruise, a home-cooked meal as well as a catered affair. We’re talking heart, not wallet, here.