As Valentine’s Day approaches, I thought I’d share some budget-minded ideas for a unique, special way to celebrate this year. This list was shared with 10TV viewers on Saturday morning, so if you missed it, here’s a recap complete with costs.

Dining Ideas

Valentines by Candlelight at the Ohio Village
$57
From 6:30-9 p.m., guests will be greeted by Victorian costumed interpreters. After an elegant meal, the Ohio Village Singers will present a concert of period love ballads and comic songs interspersed with romantic verse, poetry and readings. Each guest also receives a handmade valentine.

Shadowbox Presents: Bringin’ Sexy Back
$30 or $20 for seniors and students
At 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., this show redefines sex appeal. It features outrageous original comedy sketches and raucous rock ‘n’ roll. The subjects range from the first date to the last - and everything in between!

Valentine’s Warmup at Vino 100 Polaris
$12-$14
From 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Vino 100 Polaris, you can enjoy a specially selected red or white wines and enjoy a serenade by jazz and blues singer Lisa Imondi.

Entertainment Ideas

Photo: Will Shively
BalletMet dancers Adam Hundt & Adrienne Benz

BalletMet and the Columbus Jazz Orchestra present: Jazz Moves Take 2
$28-$45
At 2 p.m. at the Capitol Theatre, Riffe Center. Directed by Byron Stripling, this performance creates a mesmerizing fusion of dance and music perfect for Valentine’s Day. Jazz lovers and dance devotees alike will be jamming to the most American of all art forms.

Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus Presents: Obsessed, A Vox Performance
$2
At 8 p.m. at the Columbus Performing Arts Center. Join Vox, a small ensemble of the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus, for a fun and eerie performance. Audience members will enjoy a wide collection of fun and slightly creepy songs, such as Can’t Get You Out of My Head, Every Breath You Take, From This Moment On, and All By Myself, among others.

Free Valentine Concert of Love Songs at Areopagitica Books
FREE
From 7-9 p.m., the evening features serious love songs and a humorous trivia quiz. Bill Cohen will strum and sing acoustic guitar favorites made famous by great American folk singers like John Denver, Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel and others. In addition to the classic love songs, Bill will challenge the audience with trivia questions about famous couples and love songs throughout the decades.

Warhol Farewell Reception
FREE, $8 to enter the exhibit
From 5-7 p.m. at the Wexner Center for the Arts, the reception will feature a live auction (around 6 p.m.) of two Andy Warhol/Wexner Center street pole banners and an Andy cutout to benefit Wexner Center education programs. Stick around for other events later in the evening, including a Hitchcock screening, a Japanese theater group performance and a live performance by Columbus-based Velvet Underground tribute band, Times New Viking.

Family-Friendly Ideas

Columbus Children’s Theatre Presents: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
$10 - $20
At 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. at the Park Street Theatre. This sprightly version of Snow White has played to the delight of children of all ages from Toronto to New York to Los Angeles. The exceptional score and the caring relatedness of the young girl and the dwarfs distinguish this version of the classic Brothers Grimm fairytale.

Valentine’s Day Sweetheart Skate at Skate Zone 71
99¢
From 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., featuring Radio Disney Music. Wear something red or pink for 99¢ admission to this family friendly Valentine’s Day party for kids. Skate, make Valentines, play fun games, and win great prizes.

For more ideas, you can visit the Columbus Events Calendar and search by date or enter keyword “Valentine.” Or please feel free to add your own in the comments.

No matter what you choose to do, I hope you share it with someone special. Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at Experience Columbus.

Andy Warhol Self-Portrait, 1986

My in-laws, Ed and Bonnie, recently flew in to Columbus from their home in Long Island. They’ve grown to love Columbus, and each time they’re here my wife and I expose them to something new.

This visit, we went to the Wexner Center for the Arts to see Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms . While there, we ran into Wexner’s director, Sherri Geldin . Seeing Sherri was an unexpected treat and she shared extra background on Warhol that even this expansive exhibit couldn’t delve into, including Warhol’s fascination with Truman Capote .

One cannot help but be overwhelmed by such an intimate look inside this complex artist. Searching for his own identity, Warhol utilizes a wide range of media in his expression of social, political and cultural upheaval. I felt like a voyeur watching his home movies, reading his personal scribblings and viewing his sketches and photos. It’s as though Andy touches your shoulder and says, “Come with me, I’ll show you the good stuff.”

As Ed and Bonnie went through the exhibit, their eyes grew big at the site of the iconic Campbell Soup art, their faces wrinkled in amusement while reading Warhol’s writings, and they smiled warmly at the gentle sound of Warhol’s voice in his movies.

Lifetime New Yorkers, Ed and Bonnie are never shy about expressing their opinions. They wouldn’t rave about something unless they were truly moved by it, and they raved about Other Voices, Other Rooms . Their reaction to the exhibit was as expansive as the exhibit itself.

“He has many people in his head,” Bonnie said, and Sherri smiled and agreed. Bonnie remarked on how many times she had seen Warhol’s work in galleries in New York, but had never seen a collection like this one (Columbus is the only U.S. stop on this international tour).

Bonnie was nearly moved to tears imagining what Warhol might think if he knew how close to him we had become:

And I was reminded to never take Columbus treasures like the Wex for granted.