1. Relive the Past
Celebrate with a stay-at-home nostalgia fest. Plan a decadent meal and dine in on the sofa. Watch your wedding video together or flip through your wedding album and honeymoon photos. Talk about what's been most surprising about married life.
2. Take a Second Honeymoon
Was there another hot spot you were considering for your honeymoon? Why not go now? If you can't get away, pack a picnic and head to the highest point in town (or the prettiest lake) for a romantic twilight dinner -- just the two of you, your bottle of wine, and the setting sun. The point is to focus on each other for a few days (or at least a few hours). A second honeymoon, however short, lets you remove yourselves from life's daily hassles and get to know each other all over again.
3. Have a Sex Fest
Let's face it -- after a year, sex can get a little routine. On your anniversary, spice things up by redecorating your bedroom to look like a love den. Buy scented candles, a lava lamp, satin pillowcases and sheets, and a few sex toys (it's easy and less embarrassing to order them online). Let him know what he can do to please you and vice versa. Some vanilla massage cream, Kama Sutra oil, or body paints should also get things going.
4. Rely on Surprise
Leave little love notes where you know your honey will find them (on the bathroom mirror, in his briefcase, or on her cell phone). Get up early and make waffles with whipped cream. Hire a professional masseuse to make a house call. Make a photo album of the most romantic times you've spent together. (You can buy a small book, paste your favorite photos in it, write in your thoughts, and decorate the cover.) Make overnight reservations at a B&B, pack the bags, and go there as a surprise. Try anything that flies in the face of your routine. You might make it a competition -- see who can spring the greatest surprise on the other.
5. Do Something You've Always Wanted to Do
Is it bungee jumping? Jetting to Paris? Building a deck? Take the time to pamper yourselves with a project that will improve your lives (or at least add excitement) and bring you closer together. It doesn't have to be expensive. If you've always fantasized about driving a Corvette, go to the dealership, pretend you're looking to buy, and spend the day test-driving. Even if it isn't obviously romantic, there's something undeniably sexy about seizing your dreams -- and seizing the day.
6. Stop the Presses!
You can use the media to make the most of your celebration, regardless of where you live. Request a song on the radio station your honey tunes into on the way to work. Put up a sign beside the road -- in some cities, you can rent a billboard for a day. Or take out an ad in the newspaper. (Call the ad sales department and ask for particulars.) You could also consider hiring a skywriting plane to float your feelings over the city.
7. Say It with Poetry
101 Classic Love Poems is a great place to start. Light some candles, pour a couple of glasses of Merlot, and whip out those poetry primers. Reading beautiful verses together may open up the doors of communication and lead to an intense heart-to-heart. Don't pull back. Tell your sweetie how much you love her and how happy you are that you're on your way to becoming old married folks.
8. Cook up an Erotic Meal
Cook a dinner together using erotic foods -- oysters, mushrooms, chocolate. Check out Intercourses: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook; Food as Foreplay; A Taste for Love: A Romantic Cookbook for Two; and Cooking in the Nude: Playful Gourmets. Light candles. Wear something slightly see-though. Make sure to drink champagne. If you set the mood right, you'll be sweeping those dishes onto the floor before you even get to dessert.
9. Neck the Night Away
Relive those turbulent, testosterone-driven high school years by driving to Lover's Lane, listening to love songs on the tape deck, and gettin' hot 'n heavy in the backseat.
10. Play Hooky
Does your anniversary fall on a school (or work) day? Call in sick, rent a few romantic videos, and stay in bed all day long. The point here isn't to get it on. Rather, it's to spend a whole day together without distractions. Once night falls, rouse yourselves to go out on the town.
by Wendy Paris
6/26/08
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anniversary & date night,
Love/Sex