In case you didn’t know, Valentine’s Day is two short days away. If you have a special someone to spend the day with and you don’t already have a date planned, look no further! While I will probably be spending the day doing homework, I am an amazing date-planner (if I do say so myself), and have decided to share a couple of my favorite cheap date ideas with you!

1. Blanket-Fort-Movie-Night

It is a well-known fact that restaurants and movie theaters are always full-to-bursting on Valentine’s day. So why not avoid the throngs of people and stay at home? Making an adorable blanket fort is completely cost-free, involves minimal effort, and it is also an easy way to create a lovely memory with your significant other. Gather up all the blankets you own, grab some clothespins, set up some chairs in your chosen tent formation in front of your tv/laptop, and assemble your fort! If you need some  blanket fort inspiration, check these out:

(twinkling lights are encouraged, but not necessary)

Complete this date with some take-out and a night of rom-coms and voila! You have yourself a cute little stay-at-home Valentine’s day.

2. Go Geocaching

Many people have never heard of geocaching. I’ll admit, it’s not the most well-known or popular activity, but it is so fun! Remember PokemonGo? Geocaching is a little like that. It is formally defined as a real-world, treasure hunting game using a gps. All you have to do is create an account on geocaching.com, pick a local geocache (treasure container), and go find it! If you want to be really cute about it, locate the geocache before your date and hide a Valentine’s day gift in it for your sweetheart to find. Finish off your geocaching adventure with a picnic near the geocache site and maybe even a couple of hours of star-gazing.

For more information on geocaching, check out this site.

3. Go Ice Skating

For those of us here in Colorado, we are lucky to live near a huge outdoor ice skating venue, Evergreen Lake.

Ice skating provides an easy excuse to hold hands and there’s nothing more thrilling than trying to avoid the frozen bubbles of the water under the ice as you skate by. If you’re feeling risky, choreograph your own ice dancing routine and perform it. Whoever falls the least gets to wear the other person’s gloves for ten minutes.

Here is the link to the  ice skating hotline so you can make sure the ice will be open this Tuesday!

So there you have it, 3 cheap date ideas that will make for a cute, memorable Valentine’s day! Feel free to use these ideas and add to them as you will, whether it is V-day or not. And to any boys reading this, hint hint! Happy Valentine’s day!

 

 

Last weekend, my family and I embarked on a four-hour long drive to chilly Gunnison, Colorado for Western State Colorado University’s preview day. After college searching for months, we figured that a visit to the college couldn’t hurt, and we were all in need of a getaway. I’ll admit, when we first arrived, I was a little bit skeptical. I had never seen so many deer or cows in my life, and Gunnison did not seem like the most happening place. However, I couldn’t help but notice the cozy atmosphere of the tiny town and the welcoming smiles of students at the campus, which was only a short walk from our hotel.

After arriving in Gunnison, we took a short drive up the road to Crested Butte for a delicious meal at The Secret Stash. We ordered a custom pizza and it was DELICIOUS. If you’re ever in the area, I would highly recommend checking it out! We were also lucky enough to catch the end of the Crested Butte Alley Loop Nordic Marathon, which is a qualifier for Birkebeiner. Competitors, both amateur and professional, were skiing down main street, stopping at every bar and restaurant along the way. You don’t get to see stuff like that in Thornton.

The next day, we drove over to campus around 10 for the preview day. The event began with a complementary picture with their mascot, Mad Jack, and a chance to speak with different students and teachers from various departments. I was also able to meet the head of the Communications department, who was kind enough to introduce me to an alumni with the same interests as me.

From there, we took a tour of the snowy campus.

The day at Western ended with a clubs/activities fair and of course, a trip to the campus bookstore followed by a meal at the local Italian restaurant, Garlic Mike’s.

I have never met so many kind, caring people and have never felt so welcome at a college (believe me, I’ve visited my fair share). The Preview Day was a very enlightening, informative event and I’m so glad I was able to visit Western. Because of this trip, I’m proud to say that come fall of this year, I will be attending Western State Colorado University! Go Mountaineers!