Playing Cupid

Young Chang

Valentine’s Day happens every year. It’s a fact. And busy days, busy

nights and finite budgets can make it hard to come up with the

sweetest-idea-ever for your sweetheart more than once.

That’s where we can do something. Just think of us as your fairy

godmother-newspaper. Or Cupid’s little helper.

Whether you’re broke or have money to burn, we have some ideas for

where to take that special someone and what to do when you get there. Our

event ideas cover the weekends before and after the fabled 14th.

So, be thoughtful, be cute, be a little bit silly and do something in

2001 that you’ll remember in years to come.

CUPID ON A SHOESTRING

Money may be tight this hearts-and-flowers season, but that does not

mean you can’t go out and be romantic.

Go to the beach with some wine, chocolate and cheese at about 5 p.m.

during sunset. Draw hearts in the sand.

Drive to your “first” places -- the theater where you watched your

first movie together. The restaurant where you had the first date. The

place at which you shared your first kiss. The park where you took your

first walk. Exchange “remember-the-times.” Note: quantity over quality,

in this case. The more you can recall, the happier your partner willbe.

For romantic readers, stop by the library and check out Shakespeare’s

sonnets or Elizabeth Barret Browning’s poems. Find a corner. Read to each

other.

Or pen your own love letter. Make it prose, make it poetry. Whether

you rhyme too much or can’t at all, be sure to use words like “love” and

“will you be my Valentine?”

If writing something mushy is asking the impossible, go and hear

others read love poetry at Alta Coffee House’s Love Poetry Contest at 8

p.m. Feb. 16.

CUPID ON A $50 BUDGET

Instead of revisiting your “first places,” relive your first date --

this is assuming you did something simple and inexpensive that first

time.

Watch another movie at that first theater. (Or rent the movie you

watched the first time). Dine again at the first restaurant. Order the

same dish you had that long-ago night -- it’ll be sweet if both of you

realize you remember.

If memory lane is a bit too dusty, you can always make pottery! “Color

Me Mine,” a pottery-painting business in Costa Mesa, offers blank,

unpainted versions of everything from frames to vases and jewelry boxes

to inch-worm trinkets for you to liven with color. Paint things pink and

red. Splash hearts everywhere. Scribble “Be Mine” across a plate and then

“Forever” on the underside.

Attempt to paint a portrait of yourself on a single tile. Maybe your

sweetheart will cement it into the kitchen counter or the bathroom wall.

Think that’s a bit pricier than the budget allotted? The average cost

for unpainted pieces of pottery at Color Me Mine is about $10. Enormous

platters can reach up to $30, small tiles and trinkets are about $2 or

$3.50. The flat rate to paint is $10, which includes an unlimited supply

of colors and the use of their sponges, soaps, etc.

Special rates are available throughout the week. Most items will

require glazing, which costs $1-$3. Come back in two days to pick up your

masterpiece, which store employees will have fired up for you.

If you’d like to eat before getting creative, dine for a reasonable

price at the Pasta Connection, a small but quaint restaurant/delicatessen

located across the street from Triangle Square in Costa Mesa. All entrees

are less than $10, sandwiches less than $5.

If paints and pottery aren’t your thing, how about a walk in the Fun

Zone? It’s cheap and classic. Ride the ferris wheel. Sit on a bench near

the water. Eat off of the same cloud of cotton candy.

CUPID ON A $150 BUDGET

Maybe gondola rides aren’t so rare in Newport Beach, but what better

reason than Valentine’s to pretend you’re in Venice and do as the

Venetians? For $75 (for two), the Gondola Co. of Newport offers a

one-hour ride, a basket of bread, cheese, salami, ice, glasses, a

blanket, music and a Polaroid picture. Wines can be purchased separately.

Gondola Romance, which also offers rides, has a one-hour cruise for

$95. The deal includes fresh fruit, cheese, crackers, chocolates and a

drink. Their “afternoon delight lunch cruises” run for $80, from noon to

3 p.m., with lunch specials daily.

If you’d rather stay on land, catch Sandy Duncan’s performance at 8

p.m. today at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. The

cheap seats start at $23. Famous for her title role in the Broadway

production of “Peter Pan,” Duncan will team with Don Correia, Guy Stroman

and the Pacific Symphony Pops for a musical Valentine’s celebration.

If you’re celebrating on the weekend of the 16th, watch a performance

by the Rhapsody in Taps -- a company that explores rhythm tap dance with

live jazz music -- at 8 p.m. Feb. 17 at Orange Coast College’s Robert B.

Moore Theatre. Tickets are $18 to $27.

For a more leisurely outing, catch a Valentine Sunday brunch for $32 a

piece at the Sutton Place Hotel. An international seafood and salad

buffet will be offered from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the hotel’s

Accents Restaurant and Bistro Terrasse.

With left-over money, $5 each will get you into the Howard Ben Tre

show at the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach. His sculptures,

though not necessarily romantic, may intrigue even the most museum-phobic

partner. Known for incorporating an industrial-like look to his pieces,

Ben Tre’s work mixes materials like copper with granite and green-tinted

glass.

CUPID ON A $300 BUDGET

Go all out with the gondola gimmick. For $130, Gondola Romance will

throw in shrimp, fried mozzarella, artichoke hearts and calamari for a

“One-Hour Appetizer Cruise.”

Or just have dinner aboard. The company offers a two-hour dinner

cruise, with salad, garlic bread, an entree and dessert, for $195.

Precede or follow floating on the bay with a performance by jazz

violinist Regina Carter, who plays at the Orange County Performing Arts

Center Feb. 16 and 17. Tickets are $44 or $38.

If you prefer drama, watch John Guare’s “Bosoms and Neglect” from the

best seats -- $47 each -- at South Coast Repertory’s Second Stage in

Costa Mesa. The story’s not exactly gentle nor sweet, but you’ll laugh

and be surprised. It’s one you definitely won’t forget.

And no matter what you do with your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day,

remember that the best gifts come from the heart.

FYI

WHAT: Read to each other at the library

WHERE: Newport Beach Public Library, 1000 Avocado Ave., Newport Beach.

CALL: (949) 717-3801.

WHERE: Costa Mesa Verde Library, 2969 Mesa Verde Drive East

CALL: (714) 546-5274

WHAT: Paint pottery

WHERE: Color Me Mine, 1870 Harbor Blvd.

COST: $10 to paint, purchasable pottery items are $1-$30.

CALL: (949) 515-8612

WHAT: The Pasta Connection

WHERE: 1902 Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa

CALL: (949) 646-3484

WHAT: Hang out at the Fun Zone

WHERE: 600 E. Bay Ave.

CALL: (949) 673-0408

WHAT: Gondola Co.

WHEN: Cruises are offered throughout the day. Call to set a time.

WHERE: 3400 Via Oporto, Suite 102-B, Newport Beach

COST: Varies

CALL: (949) 675-1212

WHAT: Gondola Romance

WHEN: Cruises are offered throughout the day. Call to set a time.

WHERE: 3400 Via Oporto, Suite 202, Newport Beach

COST: Varies

CALL: (949) 675-4730

WHAT: Sandy Duncan

WHEN: 8 p.m. today

WHERE: Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive,

Costa Mesa

COST: $23-$72

CALL: (714) 755-5799

WHAT: Rhapsody in Taps

WHEN: 8 p.m. Feb. 17

WHERE: Orange Coast College’s Robert B. Moore Theatre, 2701 Fairview

Road, Costa Mesa

COST: $18-$27

CALL: (714) 432-5880

WHAT: Valentine champagne brunch

WHEN: 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Accents Restaurant and Bistro Terrasse at the Sutton Place

Hotel, 4500 MacArthur Blvd., Newport Beach

COST: $32 per adult, $39 with house champagne and $47 with

Perrier-Jouet Brut.

CALL: (949) 476-2001

WHAT: Howard Ben Tre: Interior/Exterior

WHEN: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday through May 6 WHERE:

Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach

COST: $5 for adults, free for museum members.

CALL: (949) 759-1122.

WHAT: Regina Carter

WHEN: 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Feb. 16-17

WHERE: Founders Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town

Center Drive, Costa Mesa

COST: $44 or $38

CALL: (714) 556-2746

WHAT: ‘Bosoms and Neglect’

WHEN: 7:45 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, 2 p.m. on weekends, through

Feb. 25

WHERE: South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

COST: $26-$47

CALL: (714) 708-5555