Whether you came up short on Valentine’s Day or you just need to inject some romance into your relationship, we’ve got some spectacular date ideas designed to dazzle just about every taste.

A sexy twist on dinner and dancing
Start with orchestra seats to Dirty Dancing, Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King St. W. By 10 p.m. your hips will be begging to sway to a beat of your own. Head straight to Lula Lounge, 1585 Dundas St. W., where pumping world music will have you hot for each other on the dance floor. When your feet can take no more, wind down at Coca Tapas and Wine Bar, 783 Queen St. W., to indulge in exotic tapas before heading home for an intimate dessert.

Winter getaway for sports enthusiasts
Take advantage of winter weather by immersing yourself in the white stuff. Bundle up and head north to Blue Mountain in Collingwood for an action-packed day of skiing, snowboarding and skating. When the slopes close, retire to a chalet on the Blue Mountain Village strip for a long soak in the hot tub before visiting the Beaver and Bulldog sports pub and “wingery”, 195 First St., Collingwood, to sample a few of their 14 types of wings.

For the pampered princess
For the woman who has everything – and wants more – a day spent on the Mink Mile goes a long way. Indulge her with an afternoon accompanied by a personal shopper and a gold card at Holt Renfrew’s flagship store, 50 Bloor St. Take her hand as she steps into a luxurious limo waiting out front to whisk you away to Susur, 604 King St. W., for an exquisite meal with exceptional service. Complete the pretty woman experience by stopping off at Tiffany’s, 85 Bloor St. W., for a trinket before ending the evening in a deluxe suite at the Four Seasons Hotel, 21 Avenue Rd.

Spa day
Melt away stress as a couple with a day at the Elmwood Spa, 18 Elm St. The Euphoria for Two package promises a retreat designed to help you reconnect as a couple. With a 50-minute couples’ aromatherapy massage, deluxe pedicures and a private lunch at the Terrace restaurant, that loving feeling will have no choice but to be recaptured.

Carnal night out
Only one thing can possibly be on your mind on a date at Laide, 138 Adelaide St. E. Food and sex are intricately connected at this resto lounge featuring a nude photo montage, kama sutra posters and even a stripper’s pole if you’re feeling particularly inspired. When dinner is done, stop off at Come As You Are, 701 Queen St. W., a premiere sex toy, book and video store, to pick up a few goodies before heading home to put them to good use.

Details of a new budget proposed by the City of Toronto include an additional fee for garbage collection in order to cover long-term landfill diversion plans. Though garbage collection is already paid by way of property taxes, this new fee is set to be an additional amount that the city hopes to acquire $54million from.

Nobody will be exempted from paying the additional fee, not even condo and apartment dwellers. Residents of single-family units (houses) will start paying a fee from November 1, amounting to about $62 per year on top of their property taxes. The city will also standardize the size of garbage bins: small, medium, large and extra large. All sizes aside from small will incur an additional charge. For example, a medium sized bin will add an extra $41 a year, large an extra $101, and $151 for extra large. These amounts will be confirmed in March 2008.
Residents of multi-dweller buildings have been scheduled to start paying approximately $46 per year on top of their property taxes beginning from July 1.

(Confused? Information on the plan on the City of Toronto website is available.)

The city plans to divert an additional 250,000 tonnes of garbage per year from landfill. Though it does make living in Toronto a little more expensive, could this be the city’s best effort to make things a little greener around here? Or, could it just be another cash grab by greedy politicians who would rather line their own pockets than actually improve Toronto as a whole? You be the judge.

Other additional costs to support the new budget include a $60-a-year vehicle registration levy for motorists, though it won’t appear until the fall.