Skip the Valentine’s Day chocolates and lavish your love with handmade caramels from Indulge (indulgecaramels.com. Infused with sea salt, cayenne pepper, and other exotic touches, these sweets are every bit as quirky (and delicious)
as you are.

Track the State Legislature’s special session on the two political blogs the Washington Post rates as Oregon’s best: blog.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics and blueoregon.com

Make a date with your stereo: local rock ’n’ rollers Quasi release their new album, American Gong, on February 23. Read our review here.

February 7th: Save the Velveeta for the kids’ table. Set a more sophisticated Super Bowl halftime spread with a cheese and charcuterie plate from Foster & Dobbs.

Test your Gore-Tex (and your tolerance for misery) at the 18-mile Worst Day of the Year bike ride, a nine-year Portland tradition. (Feb 14)

Talk dirty (at least to your plants) among the showcase landscapes at the annual Yard, Garden & Patio Show at the Oregon Convention Center. (Feb 12–14)

Feb 12–28: Follow our one and only Olympic hopeful (provided she makes the team after press time): bobsledder Bree Schaaf, a one-time volleyball star at Portland State University.

Take a trip to the Oregon Zoo’s Cats of Amur exhibit in honor of the Chinese New Year. The year of the tiger starts February 14.