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Updated 19 minutes ago
Sure, you can plan a fancy dinner for Valentine's Day or a romantic trip, but what about something a little more unusual. Here's some ideas for how to celebrate your love over the next week.
Mood music
• Vocalist Anqwenique Wingfield and visual artist Julie Mallis will explore themes of love, death and womanhood in “A Love Supreme” at 8 p.m. Feb. 16 at the New Hazlett Theater on Pittsburgh's North Side. Wingfield will perform works inspired by John Coltrane's melding of bee bop and free jazz, and influenced by a legacy of black women composers, including Dorothy Rudd Moore and Yona Harvey. The show will be accompanied by a visual installations by Mallis. Tickets are $25. Details: 412-320-4610 or newhazletttheater.org
• Little Anthony and the Imperials will sing romantic hits like “Tears on My Pillow,” “Goin' Out of My Head” and “Hurt So Bad,” with Latshaw Pops Motown Memories opening the show, at 8 p.m. Feb. 14 in the Palace Theatre, Greensburg. Tickets are $43 to $93. Details: 724-836-8000 or thepalacetheatre.org
• Duquesne University Jazz Chamber Groups, led by conductor Mike Tomaro, will present Music on the Mount: My Funny Valentine at 3 p.m. Feb. 12 at St. Mary of the Mount Parish, 403 Grandview Ave., Mt. Washington. Admission is free. Details: 412-396.6083 or duq.edu/musicevents
Take to the water
The Gateway Clipper Fleet is offering a Valentine's Brunch Cruise on Feb. 12, which is open to the whole family, and a Valentine's Dinner trip for adults only on Feb. 11 and 14. All the cruises will include sweet treats for everyone from Esther's Homemade Candy, music from a DJ and a chance to win some sparkly jewelry. The brunch is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and costs $57, $26 for children. The dinner trips are from 6:30 to 9 p.m. both days and cost $76. Details: 412-355-7980 or gatewayclipper.com
Maker date
The Main Exhibit Gallery and Art Center, 301 W. Main St., Ligonier, has planned several options to a traditional “dinner out” celebration, leading up to and including Valentine's Day.
A heart-themed stained glass suncatcher workshop for sweethearts or friends will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 10 and from 12 to 2 p.m. Feb. 12. Class size is limited to six. Cost is $30 per person.
A watercolor batik workshop with a sidewalk café scene is planned from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 11. Artist Jeanne Wagle takes participants through the process. Class size is limited to eight. Cost is $60 per person.
Those looking to celebrate on Feb. 14 can bring their sweethearts to a “clay date” from 6 to 8 p.m. Participants will each make and embellish one or two mugs, which will be fired and glazed for them. Mug makers may bring their own ingredients — chocolates, flowers, wine — to make the class “sweet,” says gallery owner Mandy Sirofchuck. Class is limited to four couples. Cost is $60 per couple.
No experience is required for any of the classes, and all materials will be provided. All require pre-registration. Details: 724-238-2310 or MainExhibitGallery.com
Food for the soul
• The Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium will host a Animal Instincts Valentine's Dinner from 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 10 and 11. The 21 and over event will feature dinner, cocktails, and an adults-only presentation by Henry Kacprzyk on the intimate secrets of exotic animal mating. There also will be visits from some small animals. Tickets are $75. Details: pittsburghzoo.org
• The Mattress Factory museum on Pittsburgh's North Side will host a 21 and over event, “Breakfast In Bed: All You Need Is Love,” from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 12. Local food and drink vendors will include Ustianochka vodka Bloody Marys, Salúd Juicery mimosas, brews from War Streets Brewery and a continental breakfast from the MF Café. Visitors can create a medallion for their valentine, explore the museum galleries, or meet adoptable pets from Animal Friends. Admission is $30. Details: mattress.org
• Cafe Phipps at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden in Oakland is offering Pop-Up Prix Fixe dinners on several Fridays, including Feb. 10. Dinners include a four-course meal and access to the moonlit conservatory. And if you go this week, you can still see the Winter Lights show which ends Feb. 10. Reservations are required and are available for guests to arrive between 6 and 7 p.m. Cost is $65 a person. Details: 412-622-6914 or phipps.conservatory.org
• Most restaurants offer a special Valentine's menu, but the Fairmont Pittsburgh hotel has a few unique offerings. Love Lounge Dessert Buffet from 7 to 10 p.m. Feb. 10 will include all-you-can-eat plated desserts, cookies, cupcakes, truffles and more in the hotel's lobby for $19. Executive chef Jason Dalling and pastry chef James Wroblewski have teamed up to host Habitat's second annual Chocolate Brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 12. The all-chocolate buffet menu includes marbled chocolate waffles, scrambled eggs with local chocolate stout cheddar cheese, chocolate and coffee-braised short ribs, Oreo-crusted salmon with vanilla beurre blanc, and, of course, a variety of chocolate desserts. The brunch is $49 and reservations are recommended. Details: 412-773-8848 or fairmont.com/pittsburgh
My Snarky Valentine
For a little more bitter take on the holiday, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh will host MAKEnight 21+ My Snarky Valentine from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Feb. 9
Snarky Valentine activities, specifically for those 21 and over, include making a shrinky-dink heart with your favorite pillow talk phrase, making a bouquet from recycled materials, silkscreening a love note, taking out your frustrations on your own pincushion person, enjoying food from the Break-Up Food Bar, and cuddling up to some furry friends from the Animal Rescue League
Food and drinks for My Snarky Valentine will be provided by Slice on Broadway and the museum's Big Red Room Café. Tickets are $25, or $20 and $15 for students in advance and include light fare, drinks and all activities.
Details: 412-322-5058 or pittsburghkids.org
Under it all
Festivities for Cupid's Undie Run Pittsburgh begin at noon Feb. 11 at McFadden's Restaurant and Saloon, 211 North Shore Drive, Pittsburgh's North Side with a party. The actual fun run kicks off at 2 p.m. where participants wear only their underwear while racing a mile. It's all for charity — benefitting the Children's Tumor Foundation and neurofibromatosis research. It's a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body, causing blindness, deafness, learning disabilities and severe chronic pain. Tickets are $35. Details: cupidsundierun.org
Odds and ends
• Laurel Harmony Chorus Sweet Adelines are available to serenade your sweetie on Valentine's Day. Members are offering one song delivered over the telephone for $10, or two songs and a fresh carnation performed in person for $20. Details: 724-863-3635 or 814-279-0465.
• Skate the night away at Pittsburgh Citipark's 11th annual Valentines on Ice from 7 to 10 p.m. Feb. 14 at the Schenley Park Skating Rink in Oakland. You can skate to romantic music, enter the “Go for the Heart” puck shooting contest and pose for a souvenir caricature. Then warm up inside with dance lessons led by instructors from Salsa Pittsburgh. The first 200 couples to arrive will receive a rose compliments of Alex's East End Floral Shoppe in Shadyside and sweets from Betsy Ann Chocolates. Admission is for those 18 and older and is a special two-for-one price of $5. Details: 412-422-6523 or citiparks.net
• See a tale of love gone bad and love found when Greensburg Civic Theatre presents “The Wedding Singer” at 8 p.m. Feb. 10 and 11 and 2 p.m. Feb. 12 at Greensburg Garden & Civic Center, 951 Old Salem Road. The romantic trials and tribulations of Robbie Hart, New Jersey's favorite wedding singer, will leave you smiling. Admission is $19, $17 for seniors and $14 for students. Details: 724-836-8000 or ggccevents.org
• Comedian Lisa Landry will offer a special Valentine's show at 8 p.m. Feb. 12 at Pittsburgh Improv at the Waterfront in Homestead. She's at the Improv Feb. 9 to 12, and we can only imagine what special treats she has saved up about Valentine's Day. For $40 you get the Feb. 12 show, a rose and a glass of champagne; $75 gets you all that plus dinner and dessert. Details: 412-462-5233 or pittsburgh.improv.com
• The Pittsburgh Glass Center, 5472 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh's East End, is having a make-it-now class at 4 p.m. Feb. 10, where participants can create heart-shaped pendants for Valentine's Day. Cost is $25 per pendant. Details: 412-365-2145 or pittsburghglasscenter.org
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