Valentine's Day is just around the corner and there's a good chance you may not have planned anything yet. In the midst of a pandemic, with restrictions on indoor dining still in place throughout much of the country, are you off the hook? Not quite. We all procrastinate, including all of us here at Fresh Clean Tees, but here are some creative and delicious ways to pamper your partner at home while all dressed up in your perfect black crew neck tee shirt.
Chocolate + Cheese Pairing Class
Chocolate is an obvious choice for Valentine's Day, but a chocolate and cheese pairing class? Now that's a cool twist, especially if one of you prefers salty and the other sweet. A collaboration between Vermont's Jasper Hill Farm and San Francisco's Dandelion Chocolate represents the best of both coasts, with four award-winning kinds of cheese paired with four different single-origin dark chocolate bars. Depending on whether the cacao is from Peru, Tanzania, or Vietnam, tasting notes can range from bright and fruity to rich and fudgy. Chocolate tends to amplify the sweeter notes in cheese, like vanilla, sweet cream, and raspberry. The 75-minute virtual tasting class on February 12th — start the romance a little early — guides you through the tasting and pairing process, and you can ask any questions you want about the making of cheese or chocolate.
Freshly Shucked Oysters + Champagne
Oysters have been considered an aphrodisiac since Giacomo Casanova claimed to eat 50 of these briny bivalves for breakfast every morning to boost his libido during his conquests in 18th-century Italy. Whether or not they actually work is up for debate, although they do contain a lot of zinc, which increases testosterone levels. Regardless, plump, wild-caught Prince Edward Island oysters, with their subtly sweet flavor, are a sure winner, especially when paired with a bottle of lighter-style champagne, like Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blancs. You can get a few dozen fresh ones delivered overnight to your doorstep and impress your lover with your shucking skills, or just opt for the already shucked variety.
DIY Spa Day
Let your partner relax while you whip up dinner and create a spa day at home with a self-care gift box from Foxtrot. Facials might still be verboten, but this silky Korean bamboo sheet mask, laden with nourishing face serum, is a great substitute. Use a jade facial roller for a face-sculpting boost afterward and pop on eye gels formulated with tea leaves and cannabis Sativa seed oil for the ultimate streaming-platform-and-chill. Chicago's favorite specialty grocer just began shipping nationally, so their thoughtfully curated gift boxes are available anywhere in the country.
Mochi Ice Cream Bites
These bite-sized treats are a sweet surprise for dessert. If you like the mochi ice cream at Whole Foods, the pillowy mochi bites by New York-based Mochidoki are even better. Their signature collection comprises a dozen different flavors, including favorites like black sesame, mango, matcha, passion fruit, red bean, and Thai tea. A new vegan collection with six coconut-based flavors just debuted, along with a limited-edition cherry chocolate flavor for Valentine's Day, featuring cherry and vanilla ice cream swirled with dark chocolate chips. It's creamy and crunchy all at once. Not quite a trip to Japan, but we can all dream of a grander getaway next year.
Creating A Bucket List Together
Speaking of dreaming, cozy up together under a blanket and create a bucket list by candlelight of places you'd like to go and things you'd like to do once we're able to travel freely and safely again. Kayaking in the bioluminescent bays of Puerto Rico? Sandboarding in the Sahara? Swimming with manta rays in the Maldives? Don't be afraid to dream big. Merely planning for future travel, however distant, can spark joy and bring you closer with your partner. And hey, if you want to get your suitcase ready with a few of our curated packs of tee shirts so you're ready to go on a whim, we're all for that.
Treat Yourself!
Here’s everything you need for that perfect night in:
- Sign up for Jasper Hill Farm’s chocolate and cheese pairing class.
- Treat your lady (and yourself) to Dandelion Chocolate.
- Go total class with Prince Edward Island oysters.
- Dive into the bubbly with a bottle of Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blancs.
- Unwind in a whole new way with Foxtrot’s self-care gift box.
- Round out the evening with Mochidoki's gift box of mochi ice cream bites.
- Try the vegan version of Mochidok’s gift box of mochi ice cream bites.
- Dig into that limited-edition cherry-chocolate mochi flavor from Mochidok.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
— Amber Gibson
