Charleston is warming up with love for Valentine’s Day in spite of the snow and ice left over from the freezing winter temperatures.

Ashley Grant, a sophomore elementary education, was at the ITC Buzzard Hall Computer Lab, where she was putting the finishing touches on her fiancé’s Valentine’s Day gift. She drew Lightening McQueen from the 2006 Disney Pixar film Cars. She decided to draw her fiancé this picture because it is his favorite movie and she thought this was a great way to get him something he liked without having to spend money.

To complement her personalized gift, she also plans to have a romantic dinner at the Olive Garden, 30 E. Anthony Drive, in Champaign.

Andy DeJong, a junior psychology major, also plans to take his long-term girlfriend to dinner at the Olive Garden for Valentine’s Day.

Jason Hodges, the manager of the Olive Garden, said that he is expecting Valentine’s Day to boost business at his restaurant. The wait for a table could be anywhere from half an hour to two hours. To try to move things along a little faster, Hodges said they do not take dinner reservations on Valentine’s Day.

Megan Yonaka, a junior elementary education major, is not going to let her single status halt her plans for Valentine’s Day. She plans to go to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, 124 Dettro Drive, Mattoon, tonight with a close friend of hers.

Jason Foley, the manager of Buffalo Wild Wings, said he noticed the weekend before Valentine’s Day is usually when there is a rush of people versus on the actual holiday.

He said on average there are about 100 more people that come to Buffalo Wild Wings on Valentine’s Day weekend than on a typical weekend.

Besides dinner, roses are another popular gift to give or receive on Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day is one of the busiest days for Nobel’s Flower, 1100 Lincoln Ave., shop owner Franda Newkirk; however this day actually hurts her business.

“Roses are by far the most popular,” said Newkirk.

Since a lot of local rose farms have closed, it has forced Newkirk to buy her roses from more expensive rose farms.

Newkirk said she also loses money since she has to pay her workers for working overtime on Valentine’s Day.

This forces her to adjust the prices of her flowers to make back some of the money lost.

Walgreens, 411 W. Lincoln Ave., is a last minutes store that consumers can find a variety of Valentine’s Day gifts.

John Davis, the manager of Walgreens in Charleston, said he typically expects more of his busy for Valentine’s Day on the Feb. 13 and 14.

“I’ll probably sell half my inventory on the 13,” Davis said.

Dove chocolate assorted heart chocolates are the most popular chocolates. Roses are also a popular item. He said the single roses sell pretty well.

Desiree Morris can be reached at 581-7944 or [email protected].