From playlists to play pretend: How to keep the romance alive in a long-term relationship on Valentine’s Day

At this point, I’ve been in a relationship longer than I’ve lived in any apartment (I’ve moved every year for the last six years). It’s been three and a half years, and I’ve somehow managed to keep it as the one constant in my life amid the tumult of my early twenties. I know what you’re thinking, three and a half years isn’t even that long, but I wasn’t the same person 42 months ago, and we weren’t the same couple.

Whether I like to admit it or say the actual term out of fear a sad stigma will consume us, I’m in a long-term relationship. And what I’ve found is that