valentinesday

Why Chocolate for Valentine's Day?

Filed under: Dining

Valentine's Day has many rumored beginnings with one of the most romantic (and believable) being that the holiday is named after Saint Valentine, a priest who lived in 3rd century Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decreed that marriage was outlawed because single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, Valentine defied the law and married young lovers in secret, until the day he was discovered, sentenced to death, and thrown into prison. There he met and fell in love with the jailer's blind daughter and because of their love her vision was restored. Then, as a final act of love before he was sent to his death Valentine wrote her a love note and signed it "From your Valentine."

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Tags: chocolate, history, luxist-awards, main-pedia, romance, sweets-pedia, valentine, valentines day, ValentinesDay

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Win Birds Of Sausalito Boxer Shorts

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Men's Style

Women aren't the only ones who deserve fancy underthings on Valentine's Day. Today's giveaway will help even the score for the men. We're giving away two pairs of Birds Boxer Shorts from Birds of Sausalito. These are no ordinary undies. The boxers are hand sewn and made of soft, touchable 100 percent Pima cotton.

The classic fit shorts have a flat front with a two-button tab closure using mother-of-pearl buttons and a single needle stitch sewing technique. The elastic waist starts at the side of the hip and wraps around the back. The leg is shorter and full, and there is plenty of room in the seat, which is double-lined, to minimize wear and tear.

The custom fit boxer has a curved yoke through the hips. Three buttons secure the boxers in place, so there is no elastic, except a very small strip in the back for ease. They are slim through the hips and a little longer in the leg and a double lined diamond shaped gusset means no center seam where the legs meet for an extra room fit.

Some other important details:

* To enter, leave a confirmed comment below.
* The comment must be left and confirmed before January 22, 2010 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
* You may only enter once.
* One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
* One winner will receive two pairs of the Birds of Sausalito boxer shorts, one in Custom Fit and one in Classic Fit with a total value of $130 ($65 each pair).
* Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia.

See complete contest rules here.

This contest is now closed. Thank you for your participation.

Tags: Birds of Sausalito, BirdsOfSausalito, boxer shorts, BoxerShorts, giveaway, luxist giveaway, LuxistGiveaway, valentines day, ValentinesDay

Rose Petals and Breakfast In Bed For Valentine's Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Travel & Hotels

If your Valentine's Day plans take you to Boston, the Fairmont Copley Plaza has a plan to help your romance along. The Fairmont Copley Plaza's Be My Valentine Package includes an overnight stay, dinner for two in the Oak Room (shown above), rose-petal turn down service and breakfast in bed. This package is available February 12-14, 2010, and rates start at $349.

The Oak Room will offer a three-course prix fixe Valentine's Day menu. The prix fixe menu sets the scene for love with appetizers such as Vermont Bijou chevre on crispy crouton with baby mache, toasted pistachios and huckleberry-pomegranate vinaigrette or Jonah crab cocktail with hearts of palm, citrus segments, baby arugula and passionfruit emulsion. Tempting entrée choices include filet of local Barramundi, asparagus tips, lobster vanilla sauce and straw potatoes or petite filet Wellington style with Portobello cap and puff pastry heart, zucchini marbles, and truffle Madeira jus. And no Valentine meal is complete without dessert which finishes up with Chocolate Variations featuring praline crunch Marquise, chocolate wrapped raspberry bonbon and Kahlua espresso terrine. The prix fixe menu is available for $66 per person with a glass of Rosé sparkling wine.

The Oak Bar will also offer Valentine's-inspired cocktails. The Sweetheart Martini is comprised of Hendricks's gin, Monin rose syrup, fresh lemon and grapefruit juices and a float of Rosé Champagne, served with a dish of Sweetheart™ Conversation Hearts. The Bésame (Kiss Me) is a combination of Christiania Organic Vodka, POM juice, Midori liqueur and a hint of Rosé Champagne. The Forbidden Love features Perrier Jouet topped with X-Rated Fusion Liqueur. These cocktails will be available throughout the Valentine's Day weekend.

Tags: valentines day, valentines day dinner, ValentinesDay, ValentinesDayDinner

Dempsey & Carroll's January Sale, New Valentine's Designs

by Lisa Palladino (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Writing Instruments

Last summer, my colleague Jared noted that stationer Dempsey & Carroll was stepping in when Mrs. John L. Strong closed up shop. It seems that despite the ubiquity of electronic communication devices, there are many who still put pen to paper. If you are one of these people, or have resolved to be in the new year, you should know that Dempsey & Carroll is offering its annual January Correspondence Card Sale, with its greatest price reductions of the year and never-before-offered engraving options.

Quantities of 100 personalized and engraved Correspondence Cards, in Dempsey & Carroll's most popular size, are on sale for $225, a 40% savings on its regular price of $375. The sale price includes a new name plate, if desired. Customers may choose from four typestyles, five ink colors, and white or ecru card stock. Borders, motifs, return address plates, return address engraving, envelope liners, and other options are available for an additional charge. New for the sale this year is the Deluxe (4-ply) and Opulent (6-ply) stock, also for an additional charge.

But maybe you're not quite ready for a hand-written note. Why not start on Valentine's Day? Dempsey & Carroll is a very traditional company, but for the first time they are offering modern designs for Valentine's Day (see the gallery, below). What a nice way to send, or receive, a love note.

Gallery: Dempsey & Carroll's January Sale, New Valentine's Designs

Tags: Dempsey Carroll, DempseyCarroll, paper, stationer, stationers, stationery, Valentine, Valentines Day, ValentinesDay

Spend Valentine's Day in Paris

by Carrie N. Culpepper (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Holiday Guides

Few would argue that Paris is one of the most romantic cities on earth. It's virtually impossible to avoid falling in love strolling along the Seine with the city lit up at night. So what better place to celebrate Valentine's Day with your sweetheart than the City of Lights?

In honor of the holiday, Concorde Hotels & Resorts is offering special Valentine's Day packages from Feb. 5 to Feb. 28 with rates starting at $276 at each of its five Parisian properties - Concorde Opéra Paris, Hotel du Louvre (above), Hotel Concorde Montparnasse, Hotel Concorde La Fayette and Hotel Lutetia.

The packages includes a double room, breakfast buffet for two each day, and surprise gifts, which vary depending on the property but could be Champagne, access to the Baccarat Museum, spa treatments or gourmet chocolates.

Rates fluctuate depending on the hotel but the package is also available at Concorde's other properties in Germany, Switzerland, Prague and elsewhere in France (Cannes, Lyon, Nice, Marseille, Toulouse, Nimes).

Here's to love!

Tags: concorde hotels resorts, ConcordeHotelsResorts, holiday hotel specials, HolidayHotelSpecials, paris, valentines day, ValentinesDay

Nina Ricci N029 Valentine's Day Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Swiss watch maker Nina Ricci presents an interesting timepiece for Valentine's Day 2010. This sporty yet attractive watch is a departure from the legions of formal jewelry wear often delivered for the "romantic" occasion. Combining the requisite "red" color of love for the occasion with stylized doves on the dial of the thin rectangular steel case (17mm x 37mm in size), and you have a timepiece that both fits the mood of the day yet offers something different. The strap is rubber and has three polished steel plates on both ends of the strap (which is closed via a butterfly clasp). Such plates create a more substantial feel to the watch, but preserve its sporty and comfortable demeanor. As a "love" watch, but the design does not scream "Valentine' Day." As such, it is a piece that can be worn on any occasion. That is not always easy to get away with when your watch dial is pink and shaped like a large heart.

While the red version of the N029 watch is the special version for Valentine's Day, the standard N029 watch collection has two Roman numerals on the dial and arrives in a variety of colors to suit one's tastes. Inside the watch is a Swiss Ronda 751 quartz movement.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: N029, Nina Ricci, NinaRicci, red, Valentines Day, ValentinesDay, watch

Blancpain Saint Valentin 2010 Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry, Timepieces / Watches

Here is a sketch direct from Swiss watch maker Blancpain showing their upcoming Saint Valentin 2010 watch. This will be their annual women's watch for St. Valentine's day next year. It is certainly an usual looking watch. While it does display the requisite heart for the occasion, the dial looks like a tear drop framed by a bending snake as the bezel. Hopefully that tear drop indicates tears of joy. The diamonds all over the bezel structure look almost like reptile scales - sorta cool.

The dial is in pink and white mother-of-pearl mixed nicely together. Nice round-cut diamonds are placed on the dial as hour indicators, while a tenth diamond cut like a heart sits as the 12 o'clock indicator. The watch case itself will be larger than expected at 33mm wide and 48mm tall - made out of 18k white gold. The bezel will be set with an additional 404 diamonds and 66 pink sapphires. Over 2 carats of stones total. Inside the watch is actually an automatic mechanical caliber 615 Blancpain movement, which is less common for such jewelry timepieces that tend to have quartz movements. In fact, according to Blancpain, the caliber 615 is the smallest automatic mechanical watch movement in the world. This little luxury for the day of love should be available by next February as a limited edition of just 14 watches.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: 0081-5560-52, 2010, Blancpain, saint, st, valentin, valentines day, ValentinesDay, watch

Big Heart Zip Clutch, Handbag of the Day

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Handbags

Tis the season for love, hearts, and girliness, and the Big Heart Zip Clutch by Marc Jacobs doesn't fail us! Leather appliqués in varying shades (of pink and purple of course) and textures generously cover the front and back, and almost look like they're floating around the bag as opposed to being stuck on it. Other than the hearts aplenty the design is pretty simple, featuring a gold hardware zip-tip closure, fine textile lining, and an interior patch pocket.

I really like it, although the color scheme gets on my nerves a little (I think red, white, and black would be awesome). $795

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Tags: bag, bags, clutch, handbag, handbag of the day, HandbagOfTheDay, handbags, heart, hearts, marc jacobs, MarcJacobs, valentine, valentines, valentines day, ValentinesDay

Valentine Essentials: Wine

by Laura Malesich (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Holiday Guides

Valentine's Day just isn't complete without a glass of good wine. Instead of focusing on the most expensive and impressive wines available I decided to add to the ambiance with romantically-inclined labels to help set the mood. Fun, fanciful and approved by cupid these wines or vineyards pay tribute to heartfelt emotions and amorous longings celebrated each year on February 14th. This list should at least get your gears turning in the right direction:

Seduction from O'Brien Estate, California
Cupids Arrow from Wild Rock Winery, New Zealand
Amore Winery, Pennsylvania
Valentine Vineyards, California
Terra Valentine, California
Loves Leap Vineyard & Winery, Kentucky

If none of these fit your Valentine's plans perhaps a pink-hued champagne would strike the right, bubbly note.

Source

Tags: amore, cupids arrow, CupidsArrow, seduction, terra valentine, TerraValentine, valentine wine, valentines day, ValentinesDay, ValentineWine, wine

Jewelers Giving It Away For Valentine's Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry

Jewelry has been one of the hardest hit retail areas but some jewelers are striking back this Valentine's Day by giving the stuff away. All across the country, jewelers are offering giveaways of free silver necklaces. The Independent Jewelers Organization has worked with many jewelers to give away free gifts of heart necklaces to those who have been hard hit by the economy. The giveaways began at Fox Fine Jewelry in Ventura, California and now over 45 stores around the country are participating. Most stores are giving away 100 silver necklaces worth $99 to the first people to show up with a a termination or foreclosure notice and an ID. You can find the full list of stores participating here.

Other stores are finding other ways to give it away. In Cleveland, Ohio, Alson Jewelers is giving away 10 pieces of jewelry, one per day, scattered throughout the city. The ten gifts will total about $2,000.

Source

Tags: giveaway, jewelers, valentines day, ValentinesDay

Fancy Candies and More from Dylan's Candy Bar

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Dining, Celebrity Design

We headed over to Dylan's Candy Bar to check out what's new and what's hot for Valentine's Day and found a ton of amazing goodies - edible and otherwise!

There's more at Dylan's Candy Bar (the upscale candy store and lifestyle brand created by Dylan Lauren, a.k.a. Ralph Lauren's daughter) than just sweeties for your Valentine's Day sweetie. We found a great line of canvas bags, the most adorable little raincoat, scented reeds, jewelry, and a gym bag we very nearly stole (at right - that's me in my "going to the gym" pose. I don't know why it's like that.). We liked the bright yellow towel in there, too!

So have a look through our gallery and see which treats spark your fancies. There's a lot of see at Dylan's Candy Bar!

Gallery: Dylan's Candy Bar

Tags: candy, dylans candy bar, DylansCandyBar, events, valentines, valentines day, ValentinesDay

2/12/09 Valentine's Day Contest: Flora2000's Free Bouquets

by Lisa Palladino (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Services

Here's one last chance for a Valentine's prize. Flora2000 is giving away three Valentine's Days bouquets, to be sent as gifts. Just fill in this sentence: "A romantic thing I would do for my valentine would be ... " and enter here. Winners will be announced on the morning of Thursday, February 12, so enter quickly!

Tags: contest, flowers, free, valentine, Valentines Day, ValentinesDay

Valentine's Essentials: Dining

by Laura Malesich (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

The perfect meal can set the tone for an entire romantic evening. But it isn't just about how much you're willing to spend -- you have to choose a spot based on its ambiance, service and, of course, the meal. From coast to coast well-known venues are serving special menus to celebrate Valentine's Day with you. All you have to do is decide which one to reserve!

In Hollywood, Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood has a myriad of tantalizing options all involving a seven-course, prix-fixe menu. Inside the restaurant this romantic meal is $200 - $300 per couple while a private 'engagement' dining room for two is $1,000 and the rooftop poolside cabanas are $1,150. Both the private dining rooms (there are two) and poolside cabana seatings include a bottle of Cristal upon arrival, a dozen red roses, and a take-home keepsake.

In NYC's Plaza Hotel, the recently renovated Oak Room is offering a sumptuous menu including seafood, steak and, of course, chocolate to suit your tastes for $140 per person.

At Denver's historic Brown Palace Hotel, the esteemed Palace Arms is showcasing a decadent six-course meal incorporating chocolate in every dish for $150 per couple.

Dallas' premiere restaurant, The French Room inside the Adolphus Hotel, is featuring a delicious three-course meal for $115 per person.

Lastly, The Herbfarm located outside of Seattle in Woodinville, Washington, has created a themed evening deemed "A Menu for Two Hearts" available Feb. 12 - 15 for $189 to $205 per person.

If you aren't close to one of these culinary wonders don't fret -- your community is bound to have something spectacular happening at their own local venues. Just be sure to avoid the chain restaurant on a night like Valentines.

Gallery: Specialty Menus for V-Day

Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood

Passion at the Oak Room - Plaza Hotel in NYC

Palace Arms inside the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver

The French Room inside the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas

The Main Dining Room at The Herbfarm in Washington

Tags: adolphus hotel, AdolphusHotel, dining, london west hollywood, LondonWestHollywood, oak room, OakRoom, palace arms, PalaceArms, the brown palace, the french room, the herbfarm, TheBrownPalace, TheFrenchRoom, TheHerbfarm, valentines day, valentines dining, ValentinesDay, ValentinesDining

How Do You Feel About Hearts?

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry

I have a friend who mentioned the other day in passing (I think she might be secretly hoping that her boyfriend hits me up for hints about what she likes) that she loves hearts in jewelry, especially heart-shaped gems. When she said that I couldn't help but remember a situation years ago when another friend actually cried when her boyfriend got her a heart-shaped amethyst pendant for her birthday, saying "how could he not know that I hate hearts in jewelry?"

Some women see hearts as corny and immature, while others see them as a universal and age-old symbol of romance and love. What's your take?

Hearts in jewelry: Love them or Hate them?
Love them! They're the universal symbol of love	13 (36.1%)
Hate them. They're corny and over used.	21 (58.3%)
-delete-	1 (2.8%)
-delete-	1 (2.8%)

Gallery: Hearts, Hearts, Hearts!

Tags: hearts, jewelry, poll, polls, valentine, valentines, valentines day, ValentinesDay

Valentine Essentials: Going Green

by Tracy Chait (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Green

Maybe this is the year you want to send a valentine to the planet, express your love for the environment, in addition to impressing the object of your desire.

Luxury gifts that just might turn the tide against climate change abound, and there are plenty more that are chic reminders that going green looks good these days -- like Stella McCartney's just-released organic lingerie line.

Don't forget all-organic romance: flowers (like the dozen roses at right, sustainably farmed and harvested using fair labor practices), truffles, champagne and candles. See the gallery for inspiration.

Gallery: Valentine Essentials: Going Green