Love Surprise Ideas

You know the story: you finally get up the nerve to ask that special guy/girl out. Elegant words are lost on you, but you manage to stammer out some kind of invitation... but now what? Sometimes, asking isn't the hardest part of date planning. Here are some good Davis-specific date ideas. If something isn't on here that worked for yourself, or you haven't used yet but you just know it is a great idea, then be sure to add it. Love could always use any help it can get.

Summer / Warm weather Winter / Cold weather Last Minute Valentine's Day Ideas Anytime Makeout Spots

Summer / Warm weather

• Get ice cream at Ben & Jerry's and stroll through the Arboretum. Go to the back of the parking lot and you will see the bike path descend into the arboretum.
  

• Stroll through The Green Belt
  

• Try to catch a squirrel by the bike tunnel behind Davis Commons.
  

• Suntan on the shores of the Rec Pool.
  

• Go to the driving range (there are two)
  

• Picnic!
  

• Drive 15min to old town Sacramento and walk on the pier by the river!
  

• While you're there, catch a River Cats game at Raley Field (but don't park in the $11 lot)
  

• Ride bikes / drive to Stevenson Bridge (Russell W. 2mi to Rd.95A, turn left, 1mi)
  

• Bike to the Putah Creek Reserve (March/April) picnic/smooching. 1mi S. on Old Davis. Rd.
  

• Go jogging; there are nice trails west of campus.
  

• Play Disc Golf.
  

• Try to fly a kite.
  

• Go to the Arboretum and yell at people you see feeding the ducks.
  

• Bike through the Covell Greenbelt maze and/or the North Davis Fitness Trail, end up near Anderson Road where you have a lovely picnic prepared at the cute gazebo, tablecloth, food and all, and surprise your significant other with an improptu picnic date. Bonus points if you do this while the sun is setting. The view west is beautiful.

Winter / Cold weather

• Navigate the annual corn maize (aka maize maze) in Woodland.
  

• Get coffee at one of the many Davis coffee houses downtown and walk through the Arboretum. This may lead to snuggling.
  

• Splash in mud puddles
  

• Sneak out to Winters (15mi W.) for breakfast at the Putah Creek Cafe - served until noon on weekends.

Last Minute Valentine's Day Ideas

Roses at Mengali's Florist. Picture taken by MattJojola. Some guys are slow. So slow in fact, that they need saving at the last minute. If you find yourself in this predicament, it might be a good idea to select a couple of ideas from this list. Doing just one of these things might get you by, but two of 'em should give you plenty of breathing room! And remember... it's not necessarily money, but attention to detail that will really impress the one you love.

• Coffee, croissant, & a rose for breakfast in bed. Real simple.
  

• Pick up a bouquet of arranged flowers from Safeway. Don't just grab a bouquet... have baby's breath, etc. added! Make sure you don't cheap out, because women know how much carnations cost.
  

• Buy her or him a gift certificate for an deeply nourishing divinely relaxing massage ($49 for students) or amazing hot stone massage at Davis Massage Center - 756-6626.
  

• Forgot to make dinner reservations? Surprise your loved one with a homemade dinner. Keep it simple but tasteful to ensure success, e.g. steak, bag salad topped with nuts & pomegranate seeds, fresh asparagus lightly zapped in the microwave & topped with butter, champagne, and just two truffles and a rose for dessert. Make sure you clean the apartment and set the table with napkins, etc. End the evening with a romance-comedy DVD or movies.
  

• Call/IM her a couple times during the day just to let her know you're thinking of her.
  

• A Victoria's Secret gift certificate makes a great gift for both of you and ensures that you don't accidentally pick up the wrong size or something raunchy that just makes her shudder.
  

• Shave and dress up for her.
  

• Write something — anything from a heartfelt letter of love to a personalized poem, the pen is mightier than... well whatever
  

• Make several little love notes and hide them just before your sweetie comes home. Hide the notes in places they're sure to be discovered.
  

• Hey, it shouldn't only be guys showing the girls how much they care. Ladies for ideas how to show who much you appreciate your guy check out Aggie columnist Michael Giardina's Valentine's Day column.
  

Anytime

Let's be close.

• Catch a movie at the commercial theatres in Davis: Signature Stadium 5 and Holiday Cinema 6
  

• See what's on at the Varsity Theatre.
  

• Go to Campus Cinema or Robotmedia or Alternative Film Club — all are free or extremely cheap
  

• Drive over to Sacramento and into one of the last remaining Drive-In Theaters.
  

• Bowling or playing pool in the MU Games Area is a good idea especially if you are on Campus. This is quite popular among freshmen.
  

• Attend the Second Friday ArtAbout (occurs the 2nd Friday of every month)
  

• Go to Rocknasium and get all sweaty with your date :)
  

• Take your date to Ciocolat for High Tea. Make sure to make a reservation.
  

• Walk through the Farmers Market and pick out fresh food to cook (or microwave it, if you're cookingly-challenged). Then go back to your place and cook it. Adding aphrodisiacs is optional. Or check out the Farmers Market on a Wednesday night and catch some live music.
  

• Pick a wine together at Cost Plus World Market — they have descriptions of what's in each wine.
  

• Go to rummage sales and see who finds the most random object. You can find a list of rummage sales in The Davis Enterprise. If you're really cheap, go Dumpster Diving.
  

• Set up a formal dining situation (think white tablecloth, linen napkins, bubbly cider and wine glasses) somewhere where it's out of place... Like In-N-Out.
  

• Spend your hard earned cash at Upscale Restaurants.
  

• Play dinner bingo. Have a drink somewhere, have an appetizer somewhere else on the same street and so on.
  

• Skate in the rain, in the cold, in the heat... anywhere, anytime. Try the Death Star at night.
  

• Great cheap date: On a Tuesday night, eat a $2 bowl of Tortilla Soup at El Mariachi, have a $1 scoop of ice cream and then go to a $4 movie. Later entertainment will surely be free ;)
  

• If you both like to read/look at funky magazines, go to Newsbeat downtown. See who can find the most random picture.
  

• Go Geocaching
  

• Go Camping
  

• Share a Super Giant Burrito at Taqueria Guadalajara.
  

• Sneak onto an Amtrak train. Make love in the rest room while they collect tickets and then sit in the dining car and see how far you can go until they kick you off for not paying.
  

• Go play racketball/basketball/anykind of game at the ARC.
  

• Run around town with a camera taking pictures for the wiki!
  

• if the two of you are spiritually inclined, go to church or meditate.
  

• Rationalize sex as being the only necessary part of the date.
  

• Give her/him a marriage proposal :-).

Good places to swap spit...romantic, classy, and somewhat private.

• The dirt road on the intersection County Road 27 and CA-99
  

• The purple house on Sycamore Lane
  

• Lounge corner in Sophia's Thai Kitchen
  

• Behind In-N-Out Burger drive-thru where behind?
  

• The EC Gardens plenty of spots - but be careful, there may be lots of bugs!
  

• In the back of the Davis Cemetery "Oh f*$& no. Not into the gothic love scene tho...."
  

• In the Mee Room before ASUCD Senate meetings.
  

• The west end of the Arboretum.
  

• The Arboretum Gazebo is a good spot especially since the surrounding garden is meant to be viewed by moonlight.
  

• In the bathroom of Carl's Jr.
  

• In the basement of the Carl Gorman Museum
  

• The east end of the Oak Tree Plaza parking lot
  

• The construction site for the The Museum of Art at UC Davis
  

• The aisles of the Physical Sciences and Engineering Library
  

• The north east bench in Pioneer Park
  

• The dugouts at Playfields Park
  

• Behind the big oak at Cedar Park
  

• The cubby holes in the Death Star
  

• Under the fig tree in the Solano Park Gardens
  

• The Fitness Trail Gazebo
  

• Rainbow City
  

• In your own bedrooms
  

• On the Dave Pelz bike overpass at sunset.
  

• In the back of either of the two movie theaters located downtown.
  

• In the back areas of the Arc, when there aren't events in the ballrooms.
  

• In the catwalks at the Mondavi Center- see sex as well, seeing as you can't be seen.
  

• In one of the little-used classrooms in the basement of Wellman Hall (it is almost always open, just don't get caught by a custodian)
  

• On the play structures in the Big Kids Park between Castilian Hall and Thoreau Hall.
  

• On the half-way line of the rugby field

Poem by - Emilia

This story that I'm saying,
it happened & its true..
she couldn't live without him
bet he knew it too.

He was her friend
and used to calm her fears
She knew him since childhood
for almost sixteen years.

All was fine with them
everything was going cool
one day he just stopped talking
and she ended up the fool.

All she wanted of him
was just to be her friend
but he doesn't care
how can her heart mend ?

She begged him everyday
everyday for a whole year,
"please talk to me my friend
i cant do without you here"

He turned a deaf ear to her
he ignored all her cries,
she was all so caught up
In a world full of lies.

She had no option
She really had no hope,
He was gone & wont be back
this fact she couldn't cope.

One day she sat & reminisced
of her childhood days of joy,
when they used to play together
a little girl & a little boy.

A single tear escaped her eye
followed by a million more
Her heart was so broken
her soul was hurting sore

She went then to the kitchen
and found a sharp knife,
She closed her eyes and thought of him
She wanted to end her life..

She fell then to the floor
now nothing will be the same,
her last word was a whisper
I think she spelt his name.

Next day her mother came
and found her doors locked,
when she broke into her room
she was totally shocked.

There lay her daughter
her body pale white,
floating in an ocean of blood
for she had died that night.

In life the girl had nothing to win
so she chose to lose,
her death was then announced
in every city news !

One day he heard of it,
her death reached his ear,
he'd just lost someone forever
who had held him so dear.

In years, for the first time
tears filled his eye,
"why couldn't she have lived?
why did she choose to die"?

He went to see her grave,
He stood where she was laid
He knew if only he was her friend
this situation would be saved.

He was the cause for her death
If he phoned her she wouldn't have died
now what would you call this ?
Murder or Suicide ?

This story is very much true
Its something i can foresee,
He still doesn't wanna talk

and the girl of course is me !

Is It Over - Someone on Orkut

"it is too late"? "Can a happiness be so speical that only one person can provide it"? "martyr"?
God! are you guys really that sad? we are all young, had a few expeience of life, and it would already be over? How could one live without the hope of being happy? Is there such a level of despair and desperation in which no matter who one could meet, what one could experience, there is nothing more to gain in life? I don't believe so I'd kill mmyself right away. As long as there is life there is hope, and hope makes one live. Two sayings in the same sentence for a cyclic meaning but I guess it defines life pretty well.

And about love? This special person that will make you the happiest? Why do we need to see things in such an egocentric way? Love is about two beings two souls, not about a piece of meat that will make you come every once in a while (some ppl seriously think that :S).
Love is about burning, about giving, all you can, all you've got, all you are, to that special someone, to this person you admire so much, without giving a damn whether or not she is going to give it back. The primary concern is "is she going to accept it?". Especially for guys, we will burn and burn and 99% of the time for women who don't care, or who do but then you realize they are not so special after all. But for this last 1% is not that worth burning? and living? Is not the magic and the beauty of just letting go, of giving all your love, of knowing you are speial for someone too, is not that last 1% more than enough to give all the hope one could need?
Of course sometimes s*** happens, a romance ends, or does not even start, and all that's left in your chest in a cold black hole full of ashes and regrets. Is that a reason for forgetting hope? It might take some time to clear the ashes but one day you meet randomly someone wonderful, and the next thing you feel is this flame once again. She might not even be interested but at least you are bruning once again, and thanks to this flame, to this person, you are feeling alive.