Last year, I wrote about my first Valentine's Day with my husband and shared some romantic gift ideas. This year, I want to update those suggestions, and share some new ideas for creating a romantic evening, eco-style!

Start In The Kitchen

If you're celebrating with your special someone, I'm a big proponent of cooking for him/her, or even cooking a special meal together. Make a dish containing his/her favorite food and maybe try throwing in one or more of these aphrodisiac ingredients! Who knows, maybe it will work?

If you plan to drink wine, go for organic. Here are some choices that I like:

• Bonterra Cabernet
• Bonterra Merlot
• Full Circle  Merlot
• Georges Deboeuf  Beaujolais
• Greenbridge  Syrah
• Mark West  2005 Pinot Noir
• Bonterra Syrah 1999
• Our Daily Red - $8  organic, sulfite-free
• Paraducci - Sustainable Red 2005, Mendocino County
• Greenbridge - Zinfindal
• Well Read (Trader Joes)
• Vida Organica - Malbec

Set the mood with some handmade, soy-based candles. Etsy has a huge selection!

Make A Card

One of the best gifts you can give is a handmade card with a sweet message, or get your deepest feelings out on there, written by you, not Hallmark, who doesn'¢t love that? Use photos, magazine clippings, or the fronts of old cards (I always save mine) to make a unique card or collage.

You can cut out cards backings from old chipboard (cereal boxes and other food packaging) and glue pictures on them, or draw on them, if you're artsy.

If you have the time, these ideas can also work for you mommies who want to help your little one make Valentine's Day cards for their classmates. This video has some good ideas for mommies.

Organic Flowers

Local, organic flowers are the healthiest choice for you and the environment. Find out where to get them here. You can also look at these sites:

Organicbouquet.com
Californiaorganicflowers.com
Diamondorganics.com

If you're in New York, check out Gardenia Organic Flower Shop. And, if you're already planning next year's V-Day celebration, try growing your own! Learn how here.

Sweet Treats

There are so many great vegan bakeries these days! Some of my favorite vegan chocolates are:

• Vosges
• Endangered Species Chocolate
• Nicobella truffles
• Missionary Chocolate
• ChocAlive
• Lagusta's Luscious
• NibMor
• Divine Treasures
• Allison's Gourmet chocolates/fudge
• Rescue Chocolates

If you're in LA, Flore Vegan makes a good looking chocolate cake. M Cafe and Real Food Daily also have delicious treats!

Of course, you can also make your own V-Day dessert! Try the Coffee Fudge Brownies from my book (p. 181) or make the Chocolate-Dipped Shortbread Cookies (p. 187) and cut them into heart shapes before baking.

Sexy Nighties!

Lots of designers are working toward making fashion cruelty-free, and they haven't forgotten to include lingerie! Embodies makes lingerie using organic cotton. If you're looking for a sassier ensemble, Purrfect Pineapples and Urban Fox are cruelty-free options.

Flying Solo

If you're single, invite some single friends over for a potluck! tell them each to bring someone new along with their dish, who knows where the night may lead! Or, you can decide to boycott V-Day and just have a good ol' party. Even better, just curl up on the couch. I'm pretty sure my husband just dumped me for a work night, which is fine because we have Valentine's Day all the time! If you appreciate and love each other all the time and spend as much quality time together as you can, Valentine's Day doesn't have to be a huge deal. But if you are a festive one, go for it!

How do you plan to spend your Valentine's Day?