Newly sober on Valentine’s Day? Whether you’re celebrating with your partner or friends, there are many fun ways to do so that don’t involve alcohol or drugs. Below are some ideas for a memory-filled holiday.
Home Cooking for Valentine’s Day
Make Something New
Since the pandemic began, a common trend in every household is spending more time in the kitchen. Whether it be an old family recipe you’ve been looking to try or a new creation you found when scouring the internet, make something unique this Valentine’s Day. Plan the menu out a couple ofdays in advance – perhaps include an appetizer or two, your main dishes, and most importantly – dessert! It will be even better when you cook it together!
Host a Potluck
Due to COVD-19 restrictions still in place, you may want to host a small potluck dinner. Pick a theme, determine what you’ll need from your guests, and then send an email to the group. To avoid duplicate and/or multiple dishes of the same, it is recommended that you either email a sign-up sheet or assign them yourself. With all the planning completed beforehand, you’ll be able to kick back, relax, and enjoy your company for the night. Togetherness is especially important for people in recovery – fellowship in the 12 Steps can help us to overcome difficult obstacles like holidays.
Take it Outside
Make a picnic basket filled with your favorite foods and head to the backyard to sit under the stars. Bring hot chocolate or coffee, cozy blankets, and your best playlists. Go for a walk around the neighborhood, make a list of your favorite things in life, hum along to your number one tunes, and dance the night away!
Valentine’s Game Night
Scavenger Hunt
There are plenty of ideas for at-home scavenger hunts. You can print out a list for each team to check off. Have one member of each team take pictures of each item upon finding them. The first team to correctly complete the scavenger hunt wins! Another version is to print the clues and scatter them around the house and yard for the teams to find. When you’re ready to start, hand each team their first clue and let them race around finding clues that lead them to the finish line.
Board Games
Playing board games is a favorite pastime. Invite a few friends over and ask them to bring their favorite new and old board games with them. This will be a fun and relaxing way to spend the evening together. Your friends will challenge you to bring out your competitive spirit and you may also learn a new game or two.
Virtual Games
Set up a Zoom call or Google meeting with family, friends, or both. Provided you have the board games at home that will work for virtual gameplay (i.e. Scattergories, Outburst, Taboo, Boggle, Bingo), you can use the cards from the board games themselves and let the invitees know to have a notebook and something to write with handy. Otherwise, printouts for these games are available online. The latter option may be easier, as you can include the links to the game printouts in the body of the Zoom meeting invite. Other virtual party game options include logging onto sites such as jackboxgames.com and codenames.com and sharing your screen on the videoconference for all players to see the game.
Visual or Virtual Marathon
Couch Party
Invite a few friends over and vote on what to watch – whether it be by movie genre, movie series, starring actor, or movie director. Each of you can pick your favorite from the decided upon category and see if you can get to them all! You could also start a new television series or re-watch an oldie but goodie this Valentine’s Day.
Watch Party
Several streaming services have introduced a simulation to their application. What that means is you can watch a tv show or movie together, even if you live across the country from each other. Amazon’s Prime Video, Disney+, and Hulu each have their own simulated player with the group chat feature, however, you must be a subscriber to utilize these services. There are third party options, such as Teleparty (formerly Netflix Party), whose group chat feature is added to your Chrome browser as an extension. Though it is limiting you to a specific browser, Teleparty syncs with Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and HBO – not to mention it’s free. This way, you can connect with people in your sober support network, all from the comfort of your own home.
Find Recovery Support in Hemet, California
Whether you choose one of the ideas above, be sure to be spending your time engaging in something positive that also benefits you emotionally. No matter how you occupy yourself this Valentine’s Day, be sure that you select an activity that isn’t triggering. Even if you do nothing at all, it’s alright – any day without a drink or drug is a victory.
It is difficult to be in recovery every day, and for some, it is even more challenging during the holidays. Valentine’s Day may not be easy for you, but you can still have a good time without risk of relapse. Should you find yourself struggling at any point, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Contact us at HRVC for more information on our addiction treatment and recovery support programs.