I don't celebrate Valentine's Day... but if I did...

It would probably be the best Valentine's Day in the world...

My husband and I don't do Valentine's Day. This is not because we are unromantic or JUST because it is overhyped and commercial.

The main reason is that our anniversary is the 12th Feb and my husband's birthday is a week later. It is really excessive to have 3 celebrations in one week about how much we love each other!! We do that every day anyway.


So if I was planning a Valentine's Day this year, what would be fantastic gifts? I am a believer in not doing the obvious but finding something unusual, rare and with more meaning than the usual commercial gifts.

Ladies

Fragrance - I know it seems like an obvious choice but there are most definitely some alternative perfume choices out there that are not the usual celeb sponsored crap that is on TV around 14th Feb. I love specific perfumes that were chosen for me as they really capture some of my favourite scents in the world.

 Diorissimo by Dior

A beautiful scent created in 1956 with top notes of Lily of the Valley which Dior believed was the symbol of hope, happiness and joy. Edmond Roudnitska, a French Master Perfumer and author, created it for Dior and it helped establish his reputation as one of the finest perfumers of the 20th century. Why, I hear you ask? Well, the epheremal smell of Lily of the Valley, unlike the other ingredients of Jasmine or Rose, cannot be extracted from the flower without destroying them so Roudnitska created a near perfect recreation of the scent!


Its my favourite scent - it has tradition, class and smells unbelievable.




The only other perfume I wear is from Caron and is called Coup de Fouet, the eau de cologne version of their Poivre scent, launched in 1957. Based on black peppercorns, with Rose and cloves, it is a rich, unisex, peppery scent. The Poivre perfume can come in a Baccarat cystal fountains and 50ml of pure perfume can cost upwards of £200 and the only place I have found to buy it in the UK or London is Harrods, Fortnum and Mason or Les Senteurs in Belgravia. But I think it is worth it... they have a huge range of other frangrances as well and I think the extra effort and rarity factor are ideal elements of the perfect gift...


Jewellery - every girl loves a new piece of jewellery but I hate it when people have just done something obvious like just gone to Tiffany's - not that I don't love Tiffany's but I think there are more unique places and pieces to buy than a Tiffany tag necklace or a Links of London Sweetie Bracelet.

I personally love looking on Net-a-porter for jewellery as they have some big name designers as well as some really unusual pieces like a Love 18 karat gold and leather bracelet by Aurora Lopez Mejia for £2,935 if you are feeling extravagant!

If that is a little on the steep side, what about this stunning crystal pavé heart ring  from Marc by Marc Jacobs,  for a mere £110. A beautiful, wearable and unusual gift that leaves plenty of cash left over for the rest of your Valentine's day treats!

I am also totally biased but my husband bought me a gorgeous necklace for Christmas that was all about family as we have a new baby and I always refer to us as three peas in a pod.  This silver and pearl 3 pea necklace brought tears to my eyes and came from a website I love called the Handpicked Collection which has some really unusual ideas.


And if money were no object? Well it would have to be a piece from Garrard! I have already blogged about how delicious their Fire of London collection is, but for a more romantic note, their Wings collection or Entanglement collection are beautiful.




Lingerie - I am a total sucker for stunning lingerie and bed wear. For my wedding night, I spent a tiny fortune on a stunning set of cashmere and silk pyjamas from Myla that are still my favourite clothes in the world (I love them more than my wedding dress).  Myla is my kind of shop, classic, sexy and just a little bit kinky so I think they make a delicious alternative to Agent Provocateur for gorgeous lingerie - they even have a Valentine's section - Be Myla Valentine.


Leather - now before you think this is some sort of kinky section, it is actually about handbags, purses and shoes! Women love accessories and a designer handbag or pair of killer shoes is just a pure indulgence gift! This is one area where you don't need to find unusual places, just the right one for the recipient.


For this season I am in love with the Gucci Diana tote with bamboo handles.  I think it is just such a Spring classic and the perfect size for most occassions!


If you are planning on whisking anyone away for a romantic weekend as well then why not put their surprise tickets in this beautiful Mulberry Clipper bag, when you present it to them? It is a perfect little overnight bag and just screams "whisk me off to Paris or Rome"!

If these seem a little bit on the pricey side, have a look at the stunning clutch bags they have on ASOS at the moment. This lemon yellow quilted clutch by Ted Baker is bang on trend for Spring and will enhance any outfit...

Décolleté 100 leather pumps

Shoes - If your other half loves shoes, just go to Jimmy Choo, Christian Laboutin or Manolo Blahnik
Don't mess about with these things... no cheap alternatives will do. You will probably get the best sex of your life, probably while she wears the shoes...


There is something very irresistable about gorgeous shoes. I would team them with a pair of Wolford Velvet hold ups

Of course, all these gorgeous things need a suitably glamourous place to wear them to, so here are some ideas

Dinner:
Some vastly different ideas here
One - Clos Maggiore a super pretty room near covent garden that is kind of old school. 
Supper Club - super modern with caberet and a spot of burlesque...
Barts - a gorgeous venue in Sloane Avenue with cocktails in tea cups - a seriously impressive place 


Weekend Away in the UK
Manoir aux Quat'Saisons - nothing more to be said other than pure deliciousness and luxury
Babington House - Just a stunning luxury filled wonderland

 Weekend Away elsewhere...
For a really personal service try RomeLofts.com - unique properties all over Rome - some with spectacular views!
For further afield or real luxury try Mr & Mrs Smith - a collection of luxury hotels and houses around the world. Some really unique hotels, personally reviewed by the staff - my sister actually used to review for them.


Men
 The men in our lives are sometimes really short-changed on Valentine's Day. Women go nuts if their other half hasn't put in the required amount of effort, thought and romance into their Valentine's Day plans. But do they put the same amount of thought into the gifts for their menfolk?

Here are just a few ideas of things that I think men might appreciate...

A day at The Refinery 

Some men love a spa day, or at least a proper shave and a massage. The Refinery in London is the perfect venue - an all male "grooming" environment.


To combine with this, why not get him so fantastic aftershave and shave accesories from Geo F. Trumper such as their Eau de Portugal aftershave and a Whisky Leather Gillette Fusion Travel set


For more grooming gifts, go to the Men's Grooming department at Harrods and stock them up on moisturiser, scrub and even a bit of Manscara to make them feel fabulous.


Accessories
Men love accessories as much as us ladies so why not get them something fantastic to flash with their mates:
How about a superb iPad cover by Samira Boon called the furoshiki shiki - a transparent cover in some great bold shades that the ipad works through. Looks cool and its Japanese - what could be better. Just make sure he also has an ipad to go in it!!
A super cool wallet can be the perfect upgrade from that horrid old plasticy one he has had since university. Try Mulberry for some amazing Ostrich or Tan leather wallets in various styles

Smythson also has a fantastic collection including this classic black pigskin wallet.
If these are a little out of your price league, have a look on ASOS for some cool Ted Baker wallets 

I could go on and on. I guess the message is to avoid the obvious, keep it simple and remember it is all about the other person!

Happy Valentine's Day...

p.s. I tweeted to Nando's today about Valentine's Day and it got a lot of retweets as I was being juvenile.  I should do that more often...

Oh what a day - lights, love and lust

Cathedral of 55,000 lights at the Festival of Light, Ghent 2012

Today has been a mad combo of work and generally being glowy and emotional...

I am constantly reminded of why I love working in digital and the absolute bloody amazingness that the web shows me every day. Stuff I would NEVER have seen if it wasn't for the giant, sharing, rich content world of the web.

Here are some of my favourite things I saw today that has made me a tiny bit happier at the world!

The Light festival of Ghent in Belgium.
As you can see from the picture, the Belgians have only gone and made the most spankingly awesome festival of light installations including this bad boy... A cathedral made of LED lights. Before you eco-mentalists start worrying, it uses only 2kw per hour of electricity! Now that is a lot of bang for your kilowatt!

Feet First - a Family Portrait
A brilliant photographer, Tom Robinson, did a great series called "I'm Going to be a Dad" where he snapped people's reactions when he and his wife told people she was expecting a baby (so lovely, see it here). Having seen this a while ago, I was pleased to discover he had another great photo diary of his life called Feet First which basically charts he and his family's travels and life with photos of their feet in great locations. I love the point where they add their new baby girl to the shots as well. I think it is a really special series and it really made me smile and slightly emotional as well. Have a look at this gorgeous set of travel/family photos on this link.

Garrards - centuries of history

12ct Garnet Fire of London Ring by Garrard

I love jewels. LOVE THEM... So was mega excited that Garrard have come out with a Diamond Jubilee collection with 12 varieties using birthstones. I thought it was a fabulous idea!

While on their website, I utterly fell in love with this amazing Garnet ring in their Fire of London collection. I could honestly just lick it - it is so stunning. It is likely to also be about £12,000 so unlikely to ever adorn my little paws but it did give me 15 minutes of true drool-worthy window shopping having a look at their stunning site with just the most amazing collection of jewellery you have ever seen.

Garrard Diamon Jubilee Necklace

It is the sort of jewellery that makes me want to be the next Zsa Zsa Gabor and have a dozen rich ex husbands who bought me a lot of jewellery. It also brings out a strong klepto urge in me to just shove it down my bra and keep it forever!

I once dragged my husband to a Diamond exhibition that nearly made me weep with desire. I should also probably not be allowed back in the Tower of London Crown Jewels display as I go round and round on those little conveyor belts like a slightly mad woman, looking at them from every angle!

 

Taylor's swimming tiara!

I always loved the story of Elizabeth Taylor swimming in a tiara bought for her by Mike Todd - her 3rd husband.  She had the most amazing collection of jewels which were auctioned at Christies in December 2011 and total sales were over £100m for couture clothing, jewels & film memorabilia. I would have loved to have seen such an incredible jewellery collection all in one place before it was split up and sold. It seems too sad.



I have always said that if I was the Queen, I would sit around in my pyjamas wearing all the Crown Jewels I could fit on in one go and waving the Soveriegn's Sceptre about and giggling like a nutter.

So this is what the wonderful web brought me today: light, love & lust - that's quite a day!