Happy Valentine's Day!

While you are swooning over fresh flowers or wishing you had some, check out Flower School. This blog is by a couple floral designers out of Brooklyn NY that give workshops on how to make beautiful arrangements like the ones above. If no one gives one to you, why not make one yourself!

Love. Love? Love!

Valentine Crush on Blush

Red is too loud, it says too much.

Black's visual vamp speaks too highly of lust.

 But together with white, 

they make me blush....

Photos via Martha Stewart, Florica by Helen James Design, Luisa Beccaria, Etsy, British Vogue,Tibi, Etsy, British Vogue, J. Crew, Essie, 

, Martha Stewart

Graham Cracker Love

Prior to the big storm, I mailed off Valentine treats to my parents. I made them "Salt Kissed Chocolate Grahams" tied the cellophane with a pink velvet ribbon and off it went through the snow and ice to make the long journey from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts.

As I stirred the chocolate on the stove it I enjoyed thinking about how lovely my parents made Valentine's Day for me when I was a child. Each Valentine morning I came downstairs to find little gift at my place setting. A box of chocolates, a small heart shaped box, a necklace, a beautiful valentine card, some home made fudge, these were some of the things that delighted my sister and I every year on February 14. They were never expensive gifts, but just little touches that showed a lot of love.

These tiny little gestures of affection made such an impact on me----and I'm just talking about Valentine's day. I don't have children of my own yet, but this is a small example of how impressionable children are and how much of a difference a good parent can make in a small person's life.

Parenting may not be easy, but I really do believe the more you love on your kids, the more it will come back to you. Even if it is just in the form of a chocolate covered Graham Cracker, it will be sweet nonetheless.

V a l e n t i n e

I know most people don't like to make a fuss about Valentine's day, but here's what I like to do:

Make a fuss. 

Not in such a fru fru way....but in a way that gives February 14 enough of a nod to say "You're worth it".

When else can you display pink and red hearts in excess?

And when else can you use the heart shaped doilies that have been in your craft box since 1996?

And don't you think after several long, cold, sleepy months of winter it's just about time for another celebration? Why not create one around a day so heartwarming? 

You don't need a lover to have a valentine. In fact, I almost think that Valentine's day is even less "trite" seeming when you celebrate with someone who is not...

(*if my husband is reading this...no, you are not off the hook)

All you need is something warm to bubble up inside yourself (this something is usually called love)....and then someone to share that warmth with.

Your valentine could be your mom, a friend, a brother or sister. A neighbor, a child, a random passerbyer.

Warmth can be given in the form of a card----but it doesn't have to be.

Give a sweet, a token, a kind word, some time. 

Just because Martha Stewart and Lady Godiva seem to have the Valentine Market cornered....don't believe for a second that their ways are the only ways to give....

Though I personally would never pass up a card that took 52 hours to make or a red velvet box filled with chocolate.

photo via jennifer ramos at etsy