Valentine S Day

It appears skier Lindsey Vonn and golfer Tiger Woods are getting serious about their romance, with the two spending more and more time together in recent weeks. Earlier this week, Woods let Vonn use his private jet to return to her home after she suffered a knee injury during the world ski championship in Austria, which many took as the first public sign of their relationship. After all, you don't usually lend your private jet to just anyone. I certainly don't. Now, according to Us magazine, Vonn and Woods have met each other's families and Vonn gave Woods' kids a ski lesson as they spent Valentine's Day together.

Babies born Feb. 14 will receive child safety seats as their first Valentine, thanks to a police effort to enforce safety seat laws. To kick off National Child Safety Seat Week, the Peace Officers Assn. will hand out 100 car seats to new parents throughout Los Angeles County. The association, which includes police, sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol officers, will also coordinate a crackdown on drivers who break the law.

The mere mention of Valentine's Day in Orange County this year can conjure up images of heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, red silk boxer shorts, popping The Question to a loved one, the death penalty . . . The death penalty? It's not the predicted outcome of a failed romance, but the driving theme behind one of the many unusual observations planned to mark Feb. 14 in Orange County.

NEW YORK -- A few years ago, when the jaunty advice manual "He's Just Not That Into You" reached its zenith, co-authors Liz Tuccillo and Greg Behrendt -- both writers for HBO's "Sex and the City" -- scored bestselling ubiquity and couch time with Oprah by espousing a refreshingly pithy empowerment: If a guy is into you, he'll make the effort. If he doesn't, move on. No womanly excuse-mongering. Soon after, the whole singles-industrial complex came calling -- Could she do a TV segment on assembling just the right outfit for a first date?

Here's a news flash, folks: No matter what your guy says, when Valentine's Day arrives, he so does not want that heart-festooned necktie, cupid-covered hot water bottle or I.O.U. snuggle coupon. After briefly recalling the grisly fate met by the holiday's namesake 3rd century martyr, he will, however, smile broadly if gifted in such a manner. His lips will form the words: "You shouldn't have," but said gifts will disappear, never to be seen again. That doesn't mean you don't have viable gifting options.

Joanne Connon didn't spend Valentine's Day last year making heart-shaped pink cookies or writing mushy love notes. She spent it photographing flower vendors on freeway offramps. Starting at 10 a.m. in San Pedro, where she lives, Connon drove through parts of Los Angeles, Wilmington, Carson, Compton, Huntington Park, Palms, Culver City, Westchester, Hawthorne and Torrance, along the 110, 10 and 405 freeways, ending at 5 p.m. The route, mapped out, forms a slightly elongated, misshapen heart.

Just turned 19, tiny, pale-skinned actress Emma Roberts is in amused agreement with her "Valentine's Day" director Garry Marshall when she's told that he said her age group "makes love with its thumbs." "Our generation is definitely all about the texting and the e-mailing and the BBM-ing and the IM-ing; it's endless. I think a lot of things get misconstrued, because tone of voice is so important," she says, by turns claiming she doesn't text as much as she used to, then declaring she still loves it. "There should be a sarcasm font . . . because I'll make a sarcastic comment and the other person thinks I'm being rude when I'm not."

Perhaps you're thinking about sweets and Thursday's big event -- Valentine's Day. Well, it's possible to find romance even in the gloomy Pacific Northwest, especially when chocolate frosting is involved. Portland, Ore., has a reputation as a growing gastropolis, with foodies from around the country converging on newly opened gastropubs, communal-table style restaurants -- and bakeries . During a recent visit, it seemed as though a visitor could purchase pastries on every other corner.

Want to spend Valentine's Day with Rihanna , Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga ? They're all at Madame Tussauds Hollywood (sort of) along with Elvis Presley and the late Whitney Houston . Couples who buy a $40 package to tour the wax museum on Thursday also will receive a souvenir of their entwined hands in wax - for free. The deal: The "couple's handhold," as Madame Tussauds explains it, is just what it sounds like: You and your Valentine (or anyone) clutch hands and dip them in wax a few times.

San Francisco wants to spread the love on Valentine's Day. The city deemed "most romantic" on several travel surveys plans to bring some of its charm to L.A.'s Union Station with an entire train wrapped as a cable car - and even a bit of fog too. The deal: The train is really Amtrak's Coast Starlight that travels from L.A. to Seattle via San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Oakland and other cities. Through April 30, it will be covered with a scene of riders on a San Francisco cable car and views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Coit Tower at each end. To hail the train's arrival, San Francisco Travel will host an event at Union Station with characters dressed as Snow White, star of a current exhibit at the Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio; and the " Girl With the Pearl Earring," from the Vermeer painting on display at the De Young Museum . Free Ghirardelli chocolates will be handed out too. When: The event will be held 7 to 10 a.m. Thursday (today)