Happy St. Valentine's Day!

I am a hopeless romantic! Can't help it. And guess what? I don't want to be cured.

I personally think we should treat every day like it's Valentine's Day, but at the very least some attention needs to be paid on February 14.

Usually Vince and I would celebrate Valentine's Day simply with an intimate candlelit dinner for two. If it was on a weekend, we'd go to a romantic NYC restaurant with a great wine list and a cozy fireplace. If the day fell over the long Presidents' Weekend holiday in February which it often did, we would find a romantic restaurant near the resort where we were most likely skiing.

But more often than not, we would cook something at home. Vince is a great cook and we had a great wine cellar. And a great fireplace. No reason to go out!

On the rare occasion when Vince was traveling on Valentine's Day (He tried to be home on the actual day, but it wasn't always possible. Turns out not everyone is a hopeless romantic and keeps the 14th of February sacrosanct!), I would join him wherever he was working.

In 2012, he was working in Washington, DC so we went to an early evening Valentine's Day cocktail party for the opening of a Russian and French Empires exhibit at Hillwood, the former home of Marjorie Merriweather Post in the Embassy neighborhood of DC. The invitation called for "creative cocktail," so I fabricated this handmade - and totally edible - Valentine chocolate box fascinator to wear on my head. It was more Piaggi than Middleton but it did the trick. Vince wore a foil-covered chocolate rose boutonniere!



We then drove out to the Virginia countryside for a gourmet getaway night at the very romantic Inn at Little Washington.

We had their special Valentine's Day truffle menu for dinner, inspired by old Hollywood. Bogey and Betty, Tracey and Hepburn, Pa Gable and Ma Lombard. C'est très romantique!

My Jane Austen-inspired Valentine shadowbox in 2009

One tradition which I started the year Vince and I were engaged is the annual homemade Valentine I make for him. It is a tradition I plan to continue in South Africa.

The Valentines started out very Victorian-looking and traditional with lots of lace and flowery notions. There was a fabulous ephemera store on Fifth Avenue in NYC called B. Shackman's which stocked aisles and aisles of Dresden paper cut-outs and stickers. It was my source for super vintage Victorian ephemera.

decoupaged honeymoon wine label on a...

Alas, Shackman's closed sometime in the 90's, another victim of the "vanishing New York syndrome." It became an Anthropologie of all things! Quelle horreur! (As opposed to my go-to shop for Valentine chocolates and Easter marzipan which was still alive and well the last time I checked. Mondel's on Broadway near Columbia. Long may it reign!)

But luckily, little shops like Parcel in Montclair, NJ and Castle in the Air in Berkeley, CA picked up where Shackman's left off and they became my new sources for Valentine inspiration and supplies.

Valentine wine cooler (2001)

And besides, I branched out into other fabrication techniques and media for my Valentine's creations. Embroidery, decoupage, origami, needlepoint, silhouettes, beading, communicative floral tussy mussys, shells for a sailor's valentine. Whatever I was into that year became my muse and medium.

30th wedding anniversary Valentine's Day love padlocks (2010)

We attached the Valentine love locks I gave Vince one year onto the Pont des Arts after we renewed our wedding vows at the American Church in Paris to commemorate our 30th wedding anniversary. And we threw away the key into the Seine.

See? Hopeless!

Wild & Crazy About You (2013)

As you can tell, I take Valentine's Day very seriously.

dreaming of love in South Africa

As seriously as one can of course with a homemade Valentine like the one I made last year that is basically a jack-in-the-box ...






 




... with a pop-up giraffe head!







 



But since last year's Valentine's Day was a total wash-out (Vince was already living in South Africa and I was home alone in the US with the dogs finishing up the move), we decided to make this year's celebration extra special.

With a romantic dinner ...

... and a movie. Contrary to how it sounds, this is not a film about the eternal love triangle that exists between me, Vince and New York!














We will follow it up with a romantic getaway to the Victoria Falls Hotel and ,,,

... Africa's answer to a honeymoon in Niagara Falls, Victoria Falls.










Love in Zambia  and ...

Love in Zimbabwe.

a Victorian hand fan

Upside down love in the Victoria Falls Hotel!

"I love Jozi" skyline tee shirt

Oh ... and my homemade Valentine for Vince this year was a no-brainer. Remember the mosaic pieces I picked up from the ground unloved in the CBD last December? I've never used mosaic as a medium before, so why not?

"I love Jozi" skyline hall rack

Joburg heart on the corner of William Nicol Dr & Republic Rd

Happy Valentine's Day a la Jozi!