Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Creativity Exercise: Cheap Romance

So, let's say you're a 15-year-old girl, and you want to plan a special Valentine's Day date. BUT, you have no money. Your boyfriend has no money. And your mother is the Wicked Witch of the West* and won't give you money.

What would you do?**

*Oooh. Very good. You know me.

**Mary thanks you in advance for the ideas.

5 comments:

Burcu said...

Heheh! This is what i've been thinking about for a few days.I 've been paid my salary 31th of January but i have limited money because i paid my damn credit cards. So let me think about what to do...Mmmm...
I think we'd prefer to stay at home with a bottle of wine accompanied with best slow musics...Of course we shouldn't forget a great dinner with candlelights which will be prepared by my talented hands :) Just kidding about cooking because Jann i'm so bad at cooking what will i do?

Leslie said...

Hmmm, no funds--no fun. Actually, not true! Mary could bake some heart-shaped sugar cookies and frost them with sayings, much like these candy hearts. Package them in a specially-decorated box (think Valentine boxes from grade school days). Have make-your-own pizza night with the cookies for dessert. Add a $1 DVD rental from Red Box and you're set. (O.K., as the mom of a 15-year-old myself, I know all this will sound lame. But it's the best I can do this early in the day.)

Mike Brown said...

Jan –

How about this idea, which is pretty much all free - and particularly appropriate for a young woman with a knack for writing.

Visit the Nelson-Atkins website and browse through the collections. Select a couple of pieces (or more if she’s ambitious) that remind her of her boyfriend. Write a poem, reflection, or short story for each about how it reminds her of him.

Then on Valentine’s Day, make the trek to the Nelson (which has free admission), visiting each piece of art, sharing what she’s written. If she does more than one, start with the least romantic and finish with the most romantic.

Ways to make it even more fun:

* Grab photos of each item off the web and turn it all into an actual Valentine’s Day card.
* He could do it as well if she doesn’t want to spoil the surprise.
* Mom could kick in some money for lunch at Rozzelle Court.

Now I’m asking myself, why don’t I do this too?

Take care,

Mike

Jan said...

Those are fantastic ideas! Keep 'em coming -- Mary is going to be really tickled when she gets home from school; she was hoping the CI team would come through, since she and I were both drawing a blank.

And, Burcu, I'm sure Mary would be glad to share these ideas with you!

P.S. Valentine boxes from grade school days. Now there's a memory ...

Mike Brown said...

Jan - Here are 50 ideas from the HARO blog. Not all of them are appropriate for a 15 year old.

http://shankman.com/50-ways-to-be-cheap-on-valentines-day-without-looking-cheap/

Mike