Anyone who knows me knows I love food. And eating out. Especially during Detroit Restaurant Week—which is especially wonderful because my loft, which I also love, is right in the middle of all these incredible eateries that are dishing up delish Three-Course Dinners for only $30!

But I will admit that I’ve always had it in my head that the ideal situation would be to somehow combine all of these things. In other words, it would be heaven to have incredible, gourmet meals served to me, right in my own home. However, you may have noticed a complete absence of any mention of cooking in my list of loves. There is a similar complete absence of cooking in my life.

So, when I sat down with the Hudson Café’s Chef Tom and his wife Kasie to talk about Detroit Restaurant Week, my first question had nothing to do with the event. I wanted to know what it was like being married to a Classically-Trained French Chef. (I am not sure if all those words are supposed to be capitalized, but in my head, they are.)

So I asked Kasie what it was like to come home to a house scented with herbs and spices, to meats and sauces and fresh vegetables simmering or roasting or doing whatever it is those things do before they hit the plate.

She laughed.

“Tom doesn’t cook at home.” A pause, followed by slight clarification. “When he does, he makes a mess.”

My dream image shattered like the coffee mug in my microwave last week when I tried to make tea.

“Kasie does the cooking at home,” Chef Tom nodded. “She’s an incredible cook.”

I thought it would be inappropriate to ask them how they felt about adoption…specifically the adoption of a full-grown culinarily-incapable adult.  In part because our food had arrived.

We were at the Hudson Café going over the menus for DRW and I had the Feature of the Day, a Pulled Pork and Coleslaw Sandwich, Kasie had the Quesadilla, and Tom had the Voodoo I’m Benedicted. Everything was delicious. And I know this because I quickly discovered going out to eat with a Classically-Trained French Chef and his wife is a very close second runner-up to moving into their guest room and claiming a seat at their dining room table.

“How does this usually work?” I asked them, gesturing at the table filled with food.

“We usually get more,” Kasie laughed. “Tom can never make up his mind. He always wants to try five appetizers and several entrées,” she told me. “I’ll get full halfway through my entrée, but he’ll finish off my plate.” She sighed. “Then he orders desserts.”

Yep. There are two S’s in the middle of that word and one at the end. Dessert-s. Plural.

“Wow,” I said, demonstrating my incredible journalistic interviewing skills.

Fortunately Chef Tom, familiar with how this was supposed to work, answered the question I should have asked. “At some restaurants, I have a favorite dish that I get every time. Signature dishes I wouldn’t miss. But I also love to try new flavor combinations or see how a chef has prepared a standard dish…you know, made it different, made it their own.”

Up until that moment, I thought the only way you made a dish ‘your own’ was to buy it, put it in your cupboard and then use it to eat carry-out on.

The first DRW Menu we went over clarified this concept for me. We started with The Rattlesnake, where Chef Tom immediately pointed out the Cumin Coriander-Scented Roast Carrot Salad (Prepared with Avocado, Oranges and Cilantro Vinaigrette). “You always put citrus with avocado.” I nodded, hoping to convey an ‘of course, who doesn’t know that’ attitude while he went on, “It’s nice they used orange instead of lime or lemon.”

Ahhhh. So that is how a Chef makes a dish their own.

The Rattlesnake’s Lemony Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler (Served with Agave Mint Sorbet) is also a dish that Chef Tom suggests ordering. “Rhubarb is very tart. I like the sweetness of the Lemony-Strawberry because it cuts the tart.” Then he and Kasie reminisced, recalling that “Back in the day, we used to go to Romeo, Michigan to get rhubarb pie. It’s excellent that now we can have it here.”

The homegrown, going back-to-your-roots theme was carried into our next menu, which was Coach Insignia. Here Chef Tom pointed out the Braised Short Ribs (Prepared with Faygo Root Beer Glaze, Spring Vegetables, Fingerling Potatoes). “I love the ‘Michigan Glaze,’ he said, coining what I think is a new phrase. “I love supporting local.” I ventured to ask why put the Faygo Root Beer on the Short Ribs instead of just in a glass next to them. Tom explained, “The glaze…reducing it brings the salt flavor out in the ribs.”

This I got. It’s a technique utilized in a dish I often serve to guests in my own home. I just didn’t know it applied to anything but Reese’s Peanut Butter cups.

Apparently, you can also combine salty and bitter. Which is why, at Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria & Cucina, Chef Tom recommends the Tuscan White Bean Soup (Pancetta and Swiss Chard): “I love the balance between salty (the Pancetta) and bitter (the Swiss Chard).”

And at Atlas Global Bistro, the Amalfi Salad (Watercress, Frisée, Endive, Orange, Radish, Fennel, Red Onion, Goat Cheese, Olive Oil, Tarragon Vinegar), gets a thumbs-up from Chef Tom for a similar reason. This has a “great balance from the bitter greens and the sweet red onions and oranges.”

He also recommends Atlas’s Gazpacho (Cucumber Pearls, Heirloom Tomatoes, Fried Garlic, Spring Herbs and Olive Oil) because Gazpacho is “always a spring soup” and the Lamb Chops (Rosemary and Saffron Jus, Brioche Crust, Roasted New Potatoes, English Peas and Honey Drizzle).  When I pressed him on his reason for this, expecting to learn something about Jus made from Saffron, Brioche, or even Honey Drizzle, the answer I got was the kind I would give. “I’m always a sucker for a good Lamb Chop.”

It’s nice to know Chefs are human too.

“Kasie and I go to Andiamo for their Zip Sauce,” Chef Tom told me as we moved on to that menu. “We always order the Steak Bites.” During DRW, he said he would order the Portobello alla Griglia (Marinated Grilled Portobello Mushroom, topped with our Andiamo Signature Zip Sauce).

“And the Suppli” Kasie added, pointing out the Suppli al Telefono (Seasoned Italian Risotto rolled and filled with Mozzarella and topped with Tomato Sauce).  I think she immediately sensed that the description of the dish was as foreign to me as the name itself. “It’s going to be like cheese sticks, stuffed with rice, baked to perfection. The cheese is just going to ooze out,” she said putting it into a context I could picture (for hours). “Delicious,” she added.

While Chef Tom and Kasie are on the same page when it comes to food – understanding and talking about it – Kasie seemed much more aware that not only was I not on that page, I didn’t own the book and this was a foreign language to me.

She pointed out the Roasted Breast of Chicken Cordon Bleu (Potato Fritter, Sauce Mornay, Asparagus and Speck Ham) on the Iridescence DRW menu. “It’s a nice twist on an old classic.”

Tom nodded in complete agreement. And he pointed out the Asian Pork Belly Nachos (Sesame/ Togarashi Queso, Cilantro, Bean Sprouts, Hoisin and Red Pepper). “Togarashi is a fantastic Japanese spice. Great chili taste in Queso.”

Oh. Yeah. Togarashi. I think I keep that right next to Allspice…Use it all the time…

Thanks Chef Tom. Our food discussion was right back to ‘it’s all Greek to me’…which is strangely appropriate for our next menu and Kasie and Chef Tom’s first recommendation at Roast: The Roasted Goat (served with Salsa Verde, Tortilla and Chili Broth). “Roasted goat reminds me of Easter because Greek’s generally roast goat and lamb.” Then he and Kasie described these family dinners. Unfortunately, I can’t transcribe them for you. I drooled all over those notes.

When we returned to the Roast menu, Chef Tom made sure I took note of the Smoked Pork Belly (Prepared with Cheesy Grits and Chow Chow), which he said would be delicious with a “crispy start with the Pork Belly and a smooth finish with the Cheesy Grits.”

He also emphasized texture in his next recommendation:  the Braised Veal Cheeks (served with sautéed Candy-Striped Beets, Hedgehog Mushrooms and Goat Cheese Brick Roll) at The Whitney. “Cheek is a very tough meat, but when it’s cooked correctly, it’s so tender you can cut it with a spoon.” Kasie nodded in agreement, and again gave me more context: “Like the best Kobe filet you can imagine.”

Which was helpful, as I actually do spend a lot of time imagining Kobe filets. Well, not just Kobe filets, but all sorts of food. But how she knew this is where my skill-set lay, I don’t know.

A new restaurant in the DRW lineup was our next menu. “It’s good to see another Greek restaurant in Greektown,” Kasie and Chef Tom both agreed about Santorini Estiatorio.

I braced myself, expecting the conversation to soar beyond my comprehension again. But this time it was Chef Tom who brought it down to a level I could totally understand and relate to:

“Forget Timbits,” he said, pointing to their ‘Donut’ Sundae (Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Loukoumades—Greek Donut Fritters—tossed in Cinnamon and Sugar, Greek Honey and topped with Hot Fudge). “Deep-Fried Heaven.”

Yep. I understood, and wholly agreed with, his description.

Of course, after all this talk about food, I was hungry again. Thankfully, so were Kasie and Chef Tom. So Chef Tom suggested one of his other favorite eateries in Detroit, the Mercury Burger Bar. Kasie’s earlier descriptions of eating out with her husband were immediately confirmed. We had barely sat down when Chef Tom ordered Poutine Fries and Tater Tots for us all to start off with. Then we had The Juicy, the Blue Apple, the Murty-Bird, and Garlic Fries, with everyone sharing so we could all taste as much of the menu as possible. And just when I thought it wasn’t possible for more, Chef Tom remembered they have Chocolate Milkshakes. Which meant we all had to have one.

Dessert-s.  How I had forgotten about that?

Tomorrow, Detroit welcomes home the 2012 American League Central Division Champs…our Detroit Tigers. The Tigers’ Home Opener is always a day full of celebrations in our city, with a full roster of talent. And when you have a team of Champions, you know you’re going to have an excellent line-up…Here’s ours with every ‘position’ guaranteed to make your day in The D a ‘Win’!

Starting Pitcher: You want to start the game—and the Home Opener—with a true champion, a winner that you know you’ll have in your roster for awhile…say, for instance, 7 years. So why not plan to sport a tee-shirt from Down with Detroit, a clothing company that’s also a hometown hero, as your uniform for the day. Oh. And it won’t cost you $180 million dollars.

Catcher: This guy takes a beating—up-down-up-down all game, and day, long, just like you will be when you’re jumping out of your seat to cheer on the Tigers—so you want to start out at Home Plate fueled for the day. I’m starting my Home Opener in a Very Berry good way right downstairs from my loft at the Hudson Café with friends and neighbors from The Lofts of Merchants Row. Another option is to join Core Detroit for their Opening Day Breakfast with Core at Small Plates Detroit where they’ll have a “special brunch menu, an outdoor tent and BBQ, local beer from MIP, and energy drinks from Detroit’s own 313Energy” from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.!

First Base: Always a hit, the annual 97.1 The Ticket Opening Day Block Party in Grand Circus Park starts at 10 a.m. and goes until 8 p.m. This position requires power and coordination, and you’ll have both being right across the street from Comerica Park and hanging with celebs (like Paws!), you can enjoy ballpark food, BBQ, a big screen, and multiple TVs in the View and Brew Tent along with interactive games and Opening Day merchandise.

Second Base: As MLive puts it, “There certainly is no party quite like a Detroit party”…and you can “Come hear the Roar” at Sports Fest, a Greektown Block Party hosted by Fresh 100.3’s Jay Towers, with performances by the Killer Flamingos and Brena, 10 DJs, heated beer tents with full bars, food trucks like The Mac Shack, a Hot Dog Eating Challenge and much, much more.  With so much going on, this party will keep you nimble and let you do a quick turn to Comerica Park in plenty of time to make the play. Gates open at 9 a.m. and the party goes until 2 a.m.. Tickets are available at http://www.neptix.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=www.event&eventID=1048

Third Base: Have a “clear and near view” of Comerica Park at the Detroit Tigers Opening Day Festival at 3 Fifty Terrace on top of the Music Hall, with multiple HD TV’s broadcasting the event in Indoor Areas, Heated Tents and on the Rooftop, a Beer Tent, Full Bar, and Food while DJs Matt Aubrey, John Larson, Denis Celic, Maz, Rob Play, Mike Scroogs, Mike Jones, Tony Tone, Chuck D (and many, many more) put their spin on the celebrations from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m.!

Short Stop: You’ll want quick feet and good hands at the Opening Day Party in Foxtown to be able to enjoy all the good stuff, when host Olympia Entertainment presents another edition of the Foxtown Food Truck Rally with The Park Bar, El Guapo Grill, and Treat Dreams in the open lot behind the Fine Arts Building on Elizabeth Street starting at 10 a.m.!

Left Field: A lot of Detroiters have already experienced the frequent ‘pull to’ Santorini Estiatorio Detroit, the “redo of Mosaic into a blue-and-white Greek island-themed restaurant,” which offers an authentic Greektown experience along with drink specials, ‘Ballpark Food,’ flat screen TVs and DJ Chris B for Opening Day in Detroit. There is no cover and the celebration starts at 10 a.m.!

Center Field: “The Place to Be in The D” is at The Fillmore Detroit & State Bar and Grill, where doors open at 8:30 a.m. and entertainment includes a Pregame Tailgate Show and Live Broadcast from WRIF’s Anne Carlini, and performances by Zoso: The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience, Citizen Zero, and Pistol Day Parade! Oh. And a 50′ HD screen…so just like the player in this position, you get a clear view of the entire Opening Day field.

Right Field: This position requires a strong arm, and you’ll be giving yours a power workout with ‘Three Parties on One Corner’! The Town Pump Tavern, Centaur Bar, and the ‘Tent Party’ opens Indoors & Outdoors at 8 a.m., with a McClure’s Bloody Mary Bar, full bar (including hot coffee drinks!), Gameday Fare and BBQ, giant TV screens, live performance by Kaleido’s Christina Chriss and Joey Fava, and DJ Zig Zag spinning!

Designated Hitter: Since you only get this position in American League Parks, why not grab something you can only get in Detroit…coneys from American Coney Island and Lafayette Coney Island. Note, we say and, not or…

Closer: This position requires a ‘cool’ mindset…and you can go extra innings at The Old Shillelagh, where they aren’t having an ‘Opening Day Party’—they’re having a “Welcome Back Tigers Weekend” that starts at 7 a.m. on Opening Day and goes until Monday at 2 a.m.! On Friday there will be Live Bands throughout the day and Black Koala spinning. On Saturday, the Indoor and Outdoor Tent party starts all over again at 10 a.m., with DJs and shuttles to the 4 p.m. game, and on Sunday you can watch the both the Tigers and the Wings play on TV or take their shuttles to and from the games!

Actually, we’re not sure if that’s a closer, or a Detroit-Style Double-Header! Go Tigers! Go Wings! Go Detroit!

But we’re coming up on an almost universal one: Bathing Suit Season. Whether you plan to don one or not, you can’t avoid its looming presence: it’s on the morning talk shows…it’s on magazine covers…and, ironically, it’s referenced in advertisements on the very same weather reports that are still predicting snow….

All year long—not just when we’re inundated with reminders of an oft-dreaded clothing-defined season—one of the most common questions I’m asked when people learn I live Downtown is: “Where do you go to workout?”

It has taken me awhile to figure out how to answer this question…not because it’s hard to think of places, but because there are just so many.

During the winter months, there is the Boll Family YMCA—with exercise machines and weight-training areas; racquetball, squash, and basketball courts; a track for walking and running; cardio and yoga classes; a Rock-Climbing Wall; and an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Okay. There are actually two pools, and I don’t know if either is actually Olympic-sized, but I know that if you try to swim a lap, the lap is really, really long. (Disclaimer: While I did get my Life Guard Certification, I am not an Olympic Swimmer. More like an Olympic Floater…if floating was a sport…and you could do it on an air mattress.)

There is also Come Play Detroit, with their Fitness Studio (Cardio, Boot Camp and Yoga Classes) and their Indoor & Outdoor Leagues (Kickball, Softball, Broomball, Volleyball, Basketball, Dodgeball, Flag Football, Hockey and Bowling).

And more recently I have the option to ‘get my sweat on’ at Detroit Endurance Lab, where they have Indoor Cycling Classes, Group Training, and Personal Coaching—all with State-of-the-Art CompuTrainer Cycling Simulators.

And, while “Cycling and triathlon coaches worldwide use CompuTrainer as their primary testing instrument. USA Triathlon and USA Cycling test and train their team athletes with CompuTrainer,” you can gear your workouts toward getting ready for the great outdoor workout options Downtown offers.

Bikers can cycle the Detroit RiverWalk and Dequindre Cut Greenway along the Detroit Riverfront…or wheel their way to Belle Isle. You can join Slow Roll to Jams and Tour de Troit for group rides through the city.

And, of course, you can also run, jog, rollerblade, or walk the RiverWalk and Dequindre Cut.

But since I moved Downtown, some of my favorite running and walking routes are not routes at all.

They simply start at my front door and then I let my eyes, not my feet, lead the way. I cut my own path through a city that continually entices me on with the different perspectives and countless architectural details on its historical buildings, with the new businesses popping up that I can window-shop, with the ever-changing marquees on theatre and concert venues, with the coming-into bloom and ever changing flower-scape of Campus Martius Park and Lafayette Greens…

I could go on. But, quite honestly, I’m going to get up and lace-up. That is the one ‘downside’ of ‘working-out’ in Downtown Detroit…you have so many motivations and ways to ‘Just Do It’!

Overall I’m a pretty focused person.

When I have a goal, I set my sights on it and then—sometimes sailing, sometimes trudging—head in the general direction of attaining whatever that particular goal is.

While I’ve been very fortunate to have had, and am very thankful for, a pretty solid support system to help me achieve things in life (Mom and Dad established a great foundation, teachers and mentors helped me build upon it, and my best friend talks me through my constantly evolving idea of who I ‘am’ and what I want to ‘be’), the motivation for making my visions a reality has largely been self-fueled.

Well, that is how it was. Then I moved Downtown.

Living in the city, has changed both how I determine and how I achieve my goals.

The first change is that I am surrounded by inspired individuals who have charted their own course and are excited to work hard to see their own visions to fruition.

This in itself is not a completely new experience for me: I attended a large liberal arts university that encouraged ambition and vision for our future roles in the adult or ‘real’ world, I have been a member of groups geared toward each of us accomplishing a common goal, and I have held jobs where my colleagues are supportive of my growth in our field.

But in all of these instances and experiences, the visions of the world we each wanted to contribute to and to help create were seen through a shared window of experience, perspective, or goals.

Living in Detroit, I find that I am constantly meeting people who have had completely different experiences than I have had: and connecting with them, hearing about and learning from their experience, gives me a stronger foundation that I can build my own dreams upon. This expansion of the ground upon which I chart my path in life has also broadened the perspective I have on the world. But the biggest difference is not that my ‘window on the world’ is now bigger, but that, because I am surrounded by myriad visions and new ideas, there is no longer a window.

Instead, the constant stimulus and new input I receive from all the people I meet on a daily basis is more like continuously viewing my own goals through a prism.

And it is the prism-effect of these interactions that adds new dimensions and perspectives to my own dreams and actions.

Now, I see the goals I am aiming toward from completely new angles: giving them more substance and allowing me to see new—often better—routes I can take to ‘get to’ them.

The second influence living Downtown has had on my life—how I live it, how I determine what I want it to be, how I get from here to there—is that I find myself fueled by the sheer energy of the people I encounter and interact with every day. In the morning when I head to the coffee shop downstairs, it isn’t for caffeine to get me going…it’s because I am sure to run into or be introduced to someone who is revved up to make something—good things—happen for our city.

So, now I find the common ground that I stand on with those who motivate me the most isn’t experience or perspective or goals: it is the city. It is Detroit.

This city, any city, is and will be seen in widely different ways by the people who live in it, work in it, and bring dreams to fruition in it…but this prism of vision acts like any other prism: the spectrum is revealed in the rainbow it casts.

And it is this—the prismatic effect, the light shed on my own goals by the visions and energy of others who are on this journey with me to make our own lives, the lives of others, our city better—that drives me.

I used to make plans like crazy.

First, game plans for work, then, schedules for getting that work done. Alright, I still make those plans, actually. Like crazy, in fact, because I really like planning and scheduling things, figuring out how to be more efficient, to get more done. If there were Dayplanner and calendar pics on Pinterest, I’d be pinning like crazy. I would schedule time to pin.

I’ve even had jobs that were, essentially, scheduling and planning. I was a Logistics Manager for a German Data Acquisition company.  Yep. Logistics.  For Germans. Who were into Data Acquisition. Did I mention, I love planning.

Okay, with all this talk about work, I will add that I do not work in the city of Detroit. But three years ago it occurred to me that life should be lived where you want to be.

And that is when I moved Downtown. To be where I wanted to live my life…  It’s also when I stopped making plans for things to do during my free time.

Before moving Downtown, I drove down from Birmingham for Red Wings, Tigers, and Lions games.  I kept an eye out for gallery shows and carved out afternoons to get to the Detroit Institute of Arts.  I hit up shows at the Fox Theatre, Fillmore, and Saint Andrew’s when my schedule gave me time to get to the venues. When festivals, like Movement, were running, I made an effort to make it to them. So, when I moved Downtown, I thought I would do all the same things I had done when I lived out in the ‘burbs.

I was wrong.

Not only do I do more, I do the ‘same’ things completely differently now.

When Muse or The Lion King come to town, I do not ‘make an evening of it.’ It is just an evening. A great night, but not necessarily any different than any other night of the week. I don’t plan to do the things I love to do anymore than I plan, say, ‘Tuesday’ night. I just do them. And there is something to do every night.

Before I moved Downtown, the logistics of scheduling commute-time and parking-time, figuring out in advance where to eat before or afterwards, and deciding where to meet friends would all play a part how I spent my free time…and all that scheduling, figuring, and deciding was, ironically, eating away the time I had to do the things I wanted to do.

Now, when I hear about something coming up that I want to do, I buy a ticket, have friends come to my place or walk over to theirs beforehand, and then we just head to our favorite place for drinks and dinner afterwards. That place could be Roast or The Town Pump or Foran’s. It just depends on what we’re in the mood for at that moment, not what we planned…

In fact, sometimes even the ‘planning’ that goes into buying tickets for something doesn’t happen. ‘An evening’ begins with meeting or running into friends, someone mentioning something ‘going on’ Downtown that night, and we just walk over to the box office and get our tickets. Or I get a call from a friend who is Downtown for an event, and I just pop over and join them wherever they are. From where I live it is a 5 to 10-minute walk to Joe Louis, Ford Field, Comerica Park, the Fox Theatre, the Opera House, Music Hall… Okay. You get the picture.

I still do all the scheduling and planning I love so much for my work—now I just don’t have to put as much work into having fun.

Although, sometimes, even when you don’t have to plan like crazy to make the things you want to do happen, ‘plans’ with friends still do fall through. But that’s okay. When that does happen, I have a back-up plan. I can take my building’s shuttle and be at the DIA or Eastern Market in just a few minutes. Or, I simply head out my front door and start walking. It’s a certainty that I will run into friends or walk past a marquis that catches my eye and pick up some tickets. And so another great evening begins…

February is American Heart Month and mid-month we celebrate Valentine’s Day.

So, all these heart-related holidays got me thinking…

Not only is the city the perfect place to celebrate your romance, but the city itself embodies romance.

Okay. You might be scratching your head and wondering how I got from point A to point B.

Let me explain—not just my reasoning, but why I see the city as being the very essence of romance.

To start with the obvious, I considered ‘romance’ between two people.

When I thought about it, I realized romance is basically founded on ‘hope’: a hope that begins with the belief that there is a ‘Mr.’ or a ‘Ms. Right’ somewhere out there…and that you will eventually connect with that person.

Romance is also the lure of the ‘promise,’ or the potential, of that other person: that as you discover more and more about each other, you will eventually succeed together.

It also seemed to me to be important to consider that in every instance of the eventual ‘together’ of romance, there was an initial meeting of two people.  Two different people.  Sure, they may have had similar goals and desires, but they probably had two different ways of looking at those goals and of going about achieving those ends…and it is the bringing together of those different perspectives that leads to eventual success in romance. And in life.

Which brought me to a second consideration of ‘romance’ that plays into my conclusion that the city embodies romance: The Romantic Era. Basically, a couple of centuries ago, artists and visionaries began questioning the status quo, social norms and ideals of beauty, and wondering if they could not be re-imagined…and in doing so, they ushered in a period of more freedom of creativity.

And while the Romantics often found their inspiration in nature, today the city offers a landscape of hope, promise, and creativity…an inspirational space where every day different people come together and imagine a future where we all succeed. Together.

Okay. So Hallmark doesn’t make a card for that. But if they did, I like to imagine I can guess the ‘logo’…

Living at the Lofts of Merchants Row in Downtown Detroit definitely has its perks. Not least of which is being able to step out your front door and be within walking distance of Campus Martius Park, festivals, restaurants, bars, and shops. Check out what Winterblast had to offer this year in downtown.

It’s that time of year again. Valentine’s Day.

Unfortunately, I am among the ranks of the romantically-challenged.

There are those of us who have special people in our lives—people who we love with all of our hearts, people who we are madly, passionately in love with—but our attempts at cooking up a romantic evening come to about the same ending as the Titanic.

And I am not talking about the movie here.

So, with that holiday where I feel pressured to come up with an original idea for a romantic evening coming up on me faster and surer than an iceberg, my first reaction was: Shoot me now, Cupid.

But then, while I was wishing I could channel Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Celine Dion into a perfect romantic evening but was unable to escape the sense of impending doom and premonitions of another tragedy of the same proportion as that sunk ship…inspiration struck.

Oh. And by inspiration, I really mean stealing.

Yep. The epiphany I came up with was: This Valentine’s Day, why not steal romantic scenes from movies and recreate them right here, right where I live, for a literally ‘picture perfect’ romantic evening?

Then I remembered: it is wrong to steal.

Unless you’re Robin Hood. And stealing was only okay for him because he shared his goodies. So, to soothe my conscience, I am sharing with you four romantic movie scenes that I came up with that can be recreated (with some adaptations) right here in Detroit.

10 Things I Hate about You. Heath Ledger serenades Julia Stiles with “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.”

Okay. So the movie is inspired by The Taming of the Shrew andLedger gets hauled off to detention by security guards at the end…but this is still a romantic movie scene that you can steal! Replace the high school bleachers with the steps of the Detroit Institute of Arts; the marching band with your iTunes; and then take your date to Maccabees At Midtown to check out Midtown’s new restaurant and their deli-inspired dishes that can evoke more a grown-up version of that old high school standard: sharing a burger and fries.

Sideways. Maya asks Miles why he is so ‘into’ Pinot and he replies: “I don’t know…It’s not a survivor like Cabernet, which can just grow anywhere and uh, thrive even when it’s neglected. No, Pinot needs constant care and attention. You know? And in fact it can only grow in these really specific, little, tucked away corners of the world. And, and only the most patient and nurturing of growers can do it, really. Only somebody who really takes the time to understand Pinot’s potential can then coax it into its fullest expression. Then, I mean, oh its flavors, they’re just the most haunting and brilliant and thrilling and subtle and… ancient on the planet.”

Well, you probably want to leave out that part about being ‘the most ancient on the planet’…unless you are very clear that you are referring to your love and not your date. But you can tell that special person in your life that you find them haunting, brilliant and thrilling by taking them to MotorCity Wine and exploring wines from around the world together while tucked away in this cozy wine boutique.

The Clock. Even though Robert Walker has only just met Judy Garland, he is sure ‘she’s the one’… she agrees to break her date for that evening, and they meet under the clock at the Astor Hotel in Times Square…and the soldier and his sweetheart are married in 48 hours.

Never heard of this one? Well, that might be because it is from 1945. But let your date know that your love is timeless by arranging to meet under the Kern’s Clock on Woodward at 7. (Oh. You won’t be the first to make this date: after its placement above the Ernst Kern Company Department in 1933, Detroiters would often agree to “meet under the Kern’s Clock.”)  Then capture that romantic 1940s feeling with a stroll through Campus Martius Park and then heading to either American or Lafayette Coney Island…or better yet, get those ‘dogs’ to go and eat them, curled up on the couch together, while watching the movie!

An Affair to Remember. The premise:  Cary Grant meets Deborah Ker aboard a ship and they agree to reunite at the top of the Empire State Building in six months if they have ended the relationships they are currently in and have started their new careers.

Ummm, skip everything about this movie except the premise. (Cary Grant believes he is stood up for their rendezvous because Deborah Kerr is hit by a car en route to their meeting and ends up paralyzed from the waist down.) Instead, capture that heavenly feeling of being on top of the world while overlooking the city with dinner at Coach Insignia at the top of the Renaissance Center or cocktails at SkyBar & Lounge on the 33^rd floor of the historic David Stott Building.

By the way, Grant and Kerr do get together in the end: Grant hasrealized his dream of being an artist and Kerr says, of looking up at the Empire State Building on the day they were to meet, “It was the nearest thing to heaven. You were there. Oh darling. Don’t worry darling. If you can paint, I can walk. Anything can happen. Don’t you think?”

And, while it may be a tad melodramatic, isn’t that the whole point of Valentine’s Day? Celebrating the fact that when you are together anything is possible…even a successful romantic evening!