Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, have you thought about how you’re going to celebrate? There are so many great things to do, see, eat and buy for your loved one locally.
For the sweet tooth, you can buy DeGroot truffles from Nevada City Truffle Shop, chocolate covered strawberries from Nevada City Chocolate Shoppe, an ice cream sundae for two from Treats, a bar of Cello Chocolate, a cupcake from Emily’s Catering Pop Up Bakery (they’ll have 20 varieties of cupcakes), vegan chocolate from Lulu’s Chocolate or something sweet from Lazy Dog Chocolateria. BriarPatch bakery is doing house-made Chocolate Eclairs, Raspberry Cheesecake, and Vanilla Raspberry Cupcakes for Valentine’s Day this year.
Little Boy Flowers locally grown anemones and poppies will be at on sale at Three Forks Bakery from 10-2 on Valentine’s Day. HEX in downtown Grass Valley is having a floral pop up by Ash + Oak a new local florist from the Bay Area on the 13th and 14th of February. Foothill Flowers, in downtown Grass Valley, hand-picks flowers at the San Francisco Flower Mart for bouquets with gorgeous roses, tulips, orchids, lilies and much more. And don’t forget Foothill Flowers always sells wine by Dave the Wine Merchant.
There are some great local shopping options in Nevada City from My Favorite Things, Kitkitdizzi, Mama Madrone’s, Gray Goose, Abstrakt or Judi’s. Downtown Grass Valley offers gift options in Mint, Cult of Gemini, Element and Loft, His. A Gentleman’s Sundry and Yuba Blue. Gather & Mill has jewelry, caramels, floral smudges, goddess boxes, bath products, stained glass hearts, crystal gift boxes & cards. HEX encourages giving the gift of living plants, they are fully stocked with Valentine’s Day inspired indoor plants, plus a large selection of plant based wellness and body care gifts as well.
Or perhaps you want to get creative and make your sweetheart something special. The Artist Workshop has Valentine’s Day pottery pieces and a few holiday workshops and Lola and Jack has some fun crafty events.
If you’re thinking about food, there are options from savory treats, to eating out to foodie gifts. Grab a bag of the Valentine’s Day blend from Caroline’s Coffee or try the Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar from The Olive Groove. Or maybe buy a BriarPatch cooking class or gift certificate to Polly’s Paladar Supper Club.
There are lots of great options in downtown Nevada City or Grass Valley to grab a bite to eat. If you’re not interested in eating out, why not order a pre-made dinner to go, Backporch Market is offering a 4 course Valentine’s Dinner for Two, pre-order the meal by the 8th.
Or maybe you want to hear some live music, The Miners Foundry welcomes the Dead Beats to the stage on the 16th. Other places around town with live music on Valentine’s Day include: 1849 Brewing Co, The Stone House, Crazy Horse Saloon & Grill, Friar Tuck’s, to name a few.
The downtown Grass Valley wineries are hosting their Valentine’s Day Wine Walk on Saturday, February 9th from 4-7pm. Stroll to the tasting rooms and get two complementary tastings at Avanguardia Wines, Lucchesi Vineyards, Sierra Starr Vineyards and Cork 49.
Although I do love the gift that keeps on giving; whether it’s a local wine club membership, a CSA to a farm or gift certificate to local Polly’s Paladar Supper Club. Or maybe you want to give someone an experiential gift; a spot in either the upcoming a guided fishing lesson, an art class, yoga classes, a ticket to a local concert, Chef’s Dinner at Tess’ Kitchen. Or maybe you want to join me on the Folk Trails Hiking Club (join us on Valentine’s Day at 3pm at the Outside Inn to learn about local history). Maybe this Valentine’s Day you want to book a trip for a future adventure (like a room at the Outside Inn or a campsite at the Inn Town Campground). If this post doesn’t have enough ideas, check out the Pinterest board with more local suggestions.
And now the giveaways, why not share the love and have 10 different prizes? Post a comment for your to chance to a dozen cupcakes from Emily’s Catering, gift certificate to The Olive Groove, $20 gift certificate to Backporch Market, hydra aromatherapy shower burst from Yuba Blue, Treats “Bouquet” of our floral flavored ice creams, one small scoop each of Lavendar, Rose and Jasmine ice cream served with a topping in a waffle cup, $20 gift certificate to BriarPatch Co-op, a box of 6 long stem chocolate dipped strawberries from Nevada City Chocolate Shoppe, $20 gift certificate from Carolines Coffee or a Valentine’s Day Bouquet & Champagne from Foothill Flowers valued at $100 or 2 tickets to the Miners Foundry Mardi Gras performance, $50. The 10 winners will be announced Monday, February 11th. **Edited to say the winners are: Emily’s Catering: Kathy Hart, The Olive Groove: Jenn, Backporch Market: Kelly O’Neil, Yuba Blue: Judith, Treats: Geoff, BriarPatch: Michelle Noe, Nevada City Chocolate Shoppe: Kathleen Boyer, Carolines Coffee: Rashelle Griffin, Foothills Flowers: Ingrid Knox, Miners Foundry Tickets: Louise Bock, congrats!
© 2019 InnSide Nevada City, © photos by Erin Thiem and Lenkaland Photography
I want to do the Valentine’s Day hike! Sounds fun. Do I sign up or just show up? As always, great blog Erin! So much to do in our great town!
You just show up, you can park somewhere in town and walk up to the Outside Inn and meet us in front of the office at 3pm.
What a great selection! Thanks for sharing Erin.
Would like
Erin, you continue to bring great ideas of ways to support our local businesses!
I’ll be working at the lovely watershed at the owl for valentines day. We are doing a fixed coursed menu @ $80per person with an additional wine flight or added house made chocolate boxes for the table. I’m crossing my fingers for foothill flowers & lazy dog carmellows from my husband. Beautiful post as always Erin! ❤
Thank you for another great blog post with lots of good ideas for Valentine’s day. Definitely needed this!
Great ideas of how to keep it local this Valentine’s Day. 🙂
Erin-I LOVE your pictures! The ice cream and everything looks SO good.
There’s a truffle shop in Nevada City?! Oh my. Oh my oh my. Yum.
How cool that there will be 10 winners!!!
I always love your blog for good ideas and pics!
Thank you Outside Inn for you insightful emails, you always show the best of our towns. I would love the Valentine’s goodies to spoil my wonderful husband with. I always have to work on Valentine’s Day. It’s not like I’m saving lives or anything, but I’ve been in the restaurant industry for over 40 years and pretty much have worked every Valentine’s Day. I do love being part of so many lovely romantic celebrations though, I’ve seen surprise wedding proposals, 1-50+year Anniversary’s and announcements of pregnancy ❤️ It continues to remind me how much love is still in this world . Please keep sharing great articles about our beautiful corner of this great world.
Love all these shops! and the Wine walk sounds fun!
What a fun Valentines giveaway! Any prize would do, though I’ve been really liking Olive Groove’s balsamic vinegars!
Nevada City is an awwsome town to explore. Fun to visit the shops.
Always so grateful for the array of ideas and activities you share here in your blog. There truly are few blogs I read through on a regular basis, but yours is always a wealth of ideas for our beautiful community and a wonderful support of our local small businesses. Thank you!
Amazing! I had no idea there were so many cool things to do, eat and smell (flowers) for Valentines Day in Nevada County. Thanks for sharing
I love love, and I love these giveaways. Great reminders of ways to treat your sweetie and support local retailers!
Keepin my money in Nevada County this Valentine’s Day – so many awesome local businesses!
Wow, lots of wonderful things going on for Valentine’s Day here in town. Thanks for all the info. Looking forward to a sweet day with my wife.
Can’t wait to be back in town over Valentine’s weekend – love that there are 10 giveaways to win for this time!
What a great roundup of cute and creative ideas! Thanks Erin!
♡♡♡ Thank you OutSide Inn !!!
Thanks for all the fabulous ideas! Aren’t we lucky to have so many wonderful choices in our area? That ice cream sundae looks scrumptious! I don’t think I’d share…
Wow! You always have such great ideas in your blog posts, and who wouldn’t want a chance to win one of these special treats?
So many wonderful things to do and get to make this month a true celebration of love. Self LOVE is always appreciated by yourself. If folks want to drive a wee bit more there is always the famous event Valentine Erotique out on the Ridge at the School House
http://www.northcolumbiaschoolhouse.org/valentine-erotique/
These all sound wonderful. Erin, thanks for putting this together.
I love the idea of a gift that keeps giving like a CSA! We don’t usually do gifts for Valentine’s Day, but we do enjoy making an extra fancy dinner we wouldn’t typically make (like ribeyes or homemade pasta).
Chef dinner sounds delicious. Love these ideas. I will send a link to this to my husband
Happy Valentines shopping!
I also wanted to mention that Purveyer’s Pantry on Broad Street is making a special valentine’s dinner for take out on Feb 14th. I don’t know what they will be having yet but it should be good. By the way, we find that one dinner is plenty for the 2 of us.
Thank you so much for posting all this awesomeness! I mean so many different places for gift ideas, and who doesn’t like yummy dessert treats. Im definitely going to Lulus for some vegan chocolates! I never even knew they existed! Happy Valentines Day! ❤️
You always come through for our lovely community!
Thank you
Love the local love. Thanks Erin!
Thanks for the local business for this promotion ❤❤❤
Happy Valentine’s day ❤
Thank you for such a complete list of ways to keep it local! Yours is a delightful blog!
Local is a great option for celebrating love, it’s truly a gift that keeps on giving.
You are the best! So many great ideas and yummy options.
Thank you my friend….
Missing InnTown! Can’t wait to go back!
Did you see the photo I posted on Instagram today? Winter wonderland… at least for a few hours.
Love, love, love all the local businesses which are featured here. Happy Valentine’s Day.
Thanks, there are so many local ways to celebrate– if only I could include them all!
So many delicious and sensual choices to valentines day! I love the Chocolates from the Truffle Shop, Ice cream from Treats, and coffee and tea from Fable, Carolines, the new City Council Cafe. Emily’s Cakes and catering has amazing pastries. I look forward to exploring more of the recommendations here all year long!
You always have such great reminders of all that our area offers. Thank you for the great ideas.
Of course! It helps me get organized too 🙂
Erin, thank you for continuing to highlight all our community has to offer. Such great ideas here!
Thank you!
I shopped downtown today and had the best time. It was a snow day and everyone must have stayed inside.
The storefronts were dripping with sparkling drops of melting snow. There are a lot of great options for Valentine’s day in our local shops. Love my towns!
Didn’t you win the cupcakes last year? I was trying remember…. but yes, lots of great options and thank you for supporting the local merchants.
I don’t love Valentine’s day, but I do love all the goodies our community has to offer!
You can be like Alice and Wonderland and celebrate unbirthdays but unValentine’s Day 🙂
Thanks for all of the great ideas!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Thank you so much for always sharing such wonderful ideas to keep it local!
Local love gives back to the community in so many ways, thank you for support.
Another great post..all I want is sweets now! Thank you for always filling me with ideas for special occasions. I love celebrating with the help of all of Nevada City’s unique and talented vendors!
Well after you eat all the sweets you can join us for the Valentine’s Day walk? But there are lots of great options…
Wow, so many fun treats to win! Valentine’s day, not usually my most important holiday, but always sweet none the less. I love it when folks get their loved ones a flowers CSA (from http://www.soilsisters.org) for Valentine’s day – I can’t think of a more romantic gift!! 😉
I love the gifts that keep on giving, so yes, a CSA is a great option.
Always love what you’re doing!
Thank you! Is the library doing something fun for Valentine’s?
Great selection of local delights!
Cheers! (And for once I have all the kids Valentine’s Day cards for school already done!!!).
My sweetheart would be pretty excited if I won any of these treats for her.
She might even share the ice cream with you….
Great article highlighting so many great local businesses!
Thanks, there are so many more that I didn’t have a chance to include, you’re always welcome to give your own shout out.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Outside Inn!
Thanks!
I love all the local goodies! Great round up and so much fun!
Thanks, lots of great fun to be had– and not all chocolate and roses.
So many great ideas! I love that we have the opportunity to make Valentine’s Day, and every day, special with all the unique, creative options our towns have to offer.
Creative options are really my favorite too!
Looking forward to Emily’s catering pop up bakery!
There are some amazing goodies up for this pop up…. how would you choose which cupcake if you had 20 to pick from?
Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone at Outside Inn!
Thank you, we’ve got hearts up to welcome all our guests, so we’re celebrating for sure.
Happy Love Day!
Ditto!
Wow, such fantastic Valentine ideas and love that they are all local.
Local love is the way we do things around here 🙂
Love is in the air!! Thanks for the local ideas.
You’re welcome!
A fun list of prizes and great information as usual. Lazy dog is our favorite but anything that involves food always has our heart ❣️
I love the idea of adding chocolate balsamic… b/c sometimes the food part doesn’t have to be the traditional route.
I’m leaving a post on behalf of all the incredible volunteers of Nevada County Pets in Need Thrift Shop. I saw the cupcake portion of this giveaway and immediately thought of what a delightful treat that would be to honor all of the heart & soul these women put into caring for our fur families ❤
I’m confident if you won and were able to go deliver some sweet treats that you would be their new favorite person! Thanks for thinking of others.
So great to see the things you post. Thank you Outside Inn!
Erin, your photos are amazing! Loved all of them. I am so impressed by all of the Grass Valley and Nevada City businesses that support this blog.
What amazing prizes!! I love the givaways you do, always something for everyone!!
We are so lucky to have all these great places to visit and shop in Nevada County for Alentines Day. Will be in Nevada City on Weds to do my Valentine shopping. Think I will start off with buying myself a Caroline’s Coffee
Love keeping it local. Thank you for researching and putting all the ideas in 1 place.
Happy Valentines Day!!!!
So many great shops participating in this special occasion! There are a few that I haven’t heard of before and see myself venturing to support them soon. Thank you Erin for exploring our towns and always showing us what local people bring to our community. #supportlocal
Wow!! So much to do, all for Valentine’s day! ❤
Erin, you have, by far, the best giveaways!
Erin, I am a fan of all your postings on FB of the Outside Inn and The Inn Town Campground! Your photos are wonderful of our town, beautiful outdoor scenery, happenings and other events! I am happy to say that I stayed many times at the Outside Inn before I came found my home here in Grass Valley! Thanks, Beverly
Thank you, I appreciate your support.
I am not much a valentine celebrating gal, however, it is hard not to get excited by all your wonderful ideas and giveaways Erin!
I hope someone in your house makes you a homemade card 🙂 And I know you like olive oil… so that’s not a hard one to win.
Thank you Erin and The Outside Inn. I love reading your blog. Happy Valentine’s Day
I love that trailer I would be a great home base to enjoy the valentines night after exploring both Grass Valley and Nevada City. You guys rock
Love is in the air. Thanks for spreading the love to our community all year long! Such an amazing place to live.