20 Low-Stress Ways to Celebrate Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is a lot of pressure. The pressure to reserve a spot at the perfect restaurant, pressure to express exactly how you feel about someone, pressure to have crazy-amazing sex, pressure to be clever and thoughtful, pressure to surprise (but not too much) and delight (to the maximum degree).

Honestly, these pressures are mostly manufactured and consumer-driven. They also don't actually help us in making memories or reconnecting with the ones we love. You couldn't accomplish those things in just one day, anyways. So, why not go back to basics and make the goal of the day to simply enjoy each other's company, doing things you both genuinely want to do?

We've pulled together some ideas for keeping things low key this Valentine's Day, in case you want to do something but not too much of a something:

Stay home

Cook an elaborate meal

DIY mani-pedis

Bake something (and decorate!)

Have a movie night with fancy popcorn

Think beyond dinner

Order a bunch of fancy desserts and share

Get breakfast at a greasy spoon diner

Curate your own neighborhood pub crawl

Play pool at a local dive bar

Find a spot for $1 oysters (they're an aphrodisiac!)

Woo-woo for two

Book a couple's crystal healing session

Attend a yoga or meditation class

Good old fashioned fun

Hit up a roller skating rink

Try geocaching

Go bowling

Have some healthy competition at an arcade

Be productive

Run errands together

Make a bucket list of things you'd like to do together

Plan out your finances (getting organized can be sexy!)

Make a whole day of it

Write out your dream days in the morning - and then do it

Hole up in a hotel & eat takeout in bed