With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching the supermarkets and stores have turned their white walls red and pink awash in celebration of Valentine’s Day. Sponsored by Hallmark and the FTD the holiday can make some of the more cynical of us a bit overwhelmed. Especially if you are in a long-term relationship all this fuss can seem pointless, but it’s not.  Rekindling, rebuilding or retaining your spark in a relationship doesn’t take an over the top rom-com gesture. There are many ways to keep your relationship fresh and add some spice this Valentine’s Day and year-round.

Get Nostalgic: Reminisce about the fun things you did when you first started dating. Leave a few “Remember When…” notes around where your mate can find them and be reminded of your greatest hits.

Prioritize Your Connection:  When’s the last time you sorted through your lingerie drawer? Are you keeping it spicy or keeping these for a “special occasion”?  I know life gets in the way, so you must prioritize your connections. Slip into something slinky on a random weeknight to surprise your mate and see where the night takes you.

Gift Yourself: If you have already had the experience of a Mirrored Images Boudoir shoot and have the images (and rights), why not make them into a calendar so your mate can have a bit of naughty all year long?  Or, if you have an adventurous lover, why not schedule a couple’s session for a future date? You can build the anticipation with lingerie “date night” and choose what you’ll wear before the photo shoot.

Role Play: If you are at the point in your relationship when you think you know all there is to know about one another, switch it up and become someone else, even if only for one night. Schedule a night away at local hotel of your choice.  Try out a new look and sit at the bar.  Tell your partner nothing more than what you are wearing and let the night unfold.  Heighten the experience by using an app such as Kik or Google voice to coordinate the meet up (and maybe send some steamy texts beforehand). Whether it’s an experience to relive or redo a first date, it will be a night to remember.

Try a New Skill:  Dancing together is one of the most intimate things you can do as a couple. Learning to tango, salsa, or fox trot together can be just the trick to give you two some alone time while you work on your form and footwork.  Dancing not your mate’s thing? No worries ladies why not take a class FOR your mate. Pole dancing classes are no longer taboo. Not only does it help with fitness, but it’ll awaken your inner bad girl as you learn a few new moves to warm up the cold nights this winter.

Explore your senses for Valentine’s day or any other day for that matter, tease your mate’s senses with a gift for each.

• Taste: Schedule a cooking class or clear out the house and try a new recipe out at home.
• Smell: Take a scent building class and define the scent of “you’ with your partners help. Spray a teddy bear or keep sake with the new scent for those nights you are apart.
• Touch: Plan a night for sensual massage or book a couple’s massage for you both.
• Sight: If you have a yard or similar space, plan a drive-in movie night. Choose a film that is important to your story. Lay out a warm blanket or heater, a bottle of wine and some apps to take in the show.
• Sound: Make a playlist of sounds that have meant something to your partner or you as a couple.

Keeping a fire burning takes time and tending, otherwise it will go out. Our job is not to allow the day-to-day responsibilities we carry to take away from the spice of life.