Don’t you fret. In this modern age of animated e-mail greeting cards,
24-hour flower delivery, and special interest groups creating their own
holidays, Hallmark be damned, there’s bound to be an occasion worth
celebrating right around the corner. (And if there’s not, then celebrate
anyway!) Here are some tips to make romance possible any day of the year.

+ Create Your Own Holiday

+ Don’t Forget the Little Guys

+ Happy Tuesday

+ Surprise!

Create Your Own Holiday

Why does Hallmark get to decide when you can send flowers, give sappy
cards, and feed your lover candy? Go them one better when you take out a
sheet or two of scratch paper and create your very own holiday. But where to start? Look to your lover for inspiration, of course.

Perhaps your four-month anniversary is in the offing. Maybe tomorrow is
exactly one hundred days until his birthday. Or it could be that she just
came back from the dentist with a clean bill of dental health? Who cares
about the occasion, it’s the celebration that matters!

Use your computer or pick up some poster board (you still remember where
it is from your junior high school days, don’t you?) and create a sign or
banner for your brand new holiday: “Happy Fifteenth Day Without a
Cigarette!”. Fold some construction paper in half and design a fancy greeting
on the front, followed by some sentimental or romantic words inside: “Your
breath has never smelled better!” Wrap an inexpensive but thoughtful gift,
such as a chocolate cigar or those bubble gum cigarettes, and whip up or
order a fancy dinner to celebrate the occasion.

Don’t Forget the Little Guys

St. Patrick’s Day and the 4th of July aren’t the only holidays on the
calendar these days. What about the “little” holidays? To find out what they
are, subscribe to one of those free e-mail holiday reminders out there (you
can’t miss em) or do an Internet search for “holidays” to discover one of
the many sites that track down a holiday for (almost) every day of the year.
Check out something fun or funky to celebrate in the coming week, such as
The Day Tissue Was Invented and go to town.

Buy a blank card and write a lovingly clever message inside, such as “If
you ever left me they’d have to invent the world’s biggest tissue”, and present it
with a themed gift, such as something sexy wrapped in tissue or a corkscrew
sticking out of her favorite bottle of wine.

Happy Tuesday!

It’s a well-known fact that Mondays suck, Wednesdays are hump day,
Thursday is Must See TV, TGIF starts the weekend, a quiet rock band named
KISS taught us all that S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT spells Saturday night, and
Sunday is for cuddling up with fancy coffee and a big, fat newspaper under
the covers. But what about poor old Tuesday?

After all, Monday’s long behind you and, if you think about it, come
Tuesday night the rest of the week is all downhill. Why not celebrate? As an
extra bonus, unlike Easter or Groundhog Day, Tuesday comes once a week.
Every week! Why not create a new tradition by making every Tuesday just a
little more memorable.

It doesn’t have to involve numerous shots of peach schnapps at some
all-night bar, naked skydiving, or even dinner at a fancy restaurant.
Instead, why not offer to pick up your lover and drive him to work on
Tuesday morning. Even if it’s out of your way, it’s worth getting up a
little early one day a week for the payoff after quitting time. When the
five o’clock whistle blows, pick your lover up and have “date night” a
little early in the week.

See an early movie and luxuriate by spreading (or making) out in a
mostly-empty theater. Enjoy an early bird dinner and use the savings to
splurge on a fancy coffee drink or a decadent dessert afterward. Become
regulars at a cozy little bistro halfway between your apartments or right
around the corner from home, if you?re lucky enough to be cohabiting.

Or just pick up a different nationality of take-out food on the way home
from work each Tuesday night and enjoy it over candlelight and appropriate
mood music. Don?t wait for Friday to show your lover that they light up any
night of the week.

Surpise!

If committing yourself to doing something special every Tuesday is a
little too oppressive (shame, shame), then why not sneak up on your lover
and surprise her when she least expects it. Morning, noon, or night, every
day is a wonderful opportunity to find the romance in unexpected places.

For instance, why wait until after work to bring romance into your life?
Be the early bird and sneak out of the house one morning for a surprise
breakfast in bed. Sure, it may just be powdered donuts and a plastic
container of orange juice form the 7-11 up the street, but what better way
to face the day than with something sweet. (And we?re not just talking about
the donuts).

If your average Sunday involves rearranging the battery drawer in your
boxer shorts, set the alarm and head out for a day at the park or her
favorite spa. Call in sick for each other one Monday morning and spend the
day recuperating (that?s what they call it, right?) in bed. Or simply stay
up late one Thursday night watching creepy stuff on the Sci-Fi channel and
feeding each other popcorn.

No matter what you do, your lover will appreciate your thoughtfulness,
as well as the surprise. Who knows, she might just up and surprise you
tomorrow? Or the next day? Or, better yet, when you least expect it?