Valentine's Day...
Valentine’s Day. The event that the retail industry invented to bridge the gap between Christmas and Spring. Just joking! Or am I…. Without wanting to do a Ratner, (which I’m not, because the gifts that we sell are really very lovely, ethical and excellent quality… great to give all year! Not just for Valentine’s Day!), whether to partake in the consumerism side of V-day can be contentious. It’s that time of the year where wholesale flower costs go through the roof (and therefore retail flower prices have to increase), where many a desperate person can be found scanning the shelves at well-known high street card outlets to find a card that sums up their sort of love (which is always going to be a challenge, because love is many things, and yours can rarely be summed up by a generic greetings card).
Hand’s up, I don’t partake (not even a card… I’m that much of a misery). So this is a bit of a strange blog to be writing. A blog that says, Valentine’s Day! To me it is nothing! But if it is something to you here’s some purchasing ideas! See, I believe that love is something that you shouldn’t need a specific day of the year to tell someone about, but then I also acknowledge, that for some, it’s a really good way to remind you that you do love someone. A highly scientific straw poll (so not at all scientific actually) on the Harriet and Rose Instagram page showed a pretty much even split into yes and nos regarding celebrating Valentine’s Day.
I am cynical*. And not terribly romantic… When a small box was presented to me for Christmas that promised something jewellery based inside, my words to my husband were (and I quote): ‘Jewellery? Wow, that’s a brave move’ (as well as not being a romantic, I confess, I’m exceptionally hard to buy for… mostly because, at the ripe old age of 39, I have still not quite established what I like, and sometimes I can be inconsistent/irrational… to his credit, he had done an excellent job, and bought some earrings - not sparkly - that I had seen in a gallery in Wales… he’d phoned up once we got back to Jersey and asked them to send them over… thoughtful gifting at its finest).
*As well as cynical, I am also known to be quite prickly. To the degree that when we were talking about what our Daemon would be (from His Dark Materials… no I haven’t read the book, we watched the BBC adaptation) the family consensus was that I would be a hedgehog. I waddle like one too.
But why have I never ‘done’ Valentine’s Day? Aside from the thoroughly depressing tales of woe from my teenage years receiving no cards (get the violin out), for us, it’s in part because we met on the 19th February and married on the 31st January (not in the same 12-month period I hasten to add), and V day falls right in the middle. And… well having waitressed for years at Uni, and then been in retail, I was always a bit cynical about the men dashing in and booking a table in a (rubbish) bar the night before (‘I’ve booked us a lovely table at the Pitcher and Piano in Reading! Surprise!’; the kitchen going to a ‘set’ (read £££) menu for just a couple of days, not to mention, the desperate purchases of fancy underwear ‘do you want gift-wrapping for an extra £3?’ on the 13th Feb… because nothing says love and romance like some underwear in the wrong size.
However. I do have to accept that I am a bit of an anomaly in terms of my prickliness, and Valentine’s Day splits the nation. Which means half of you WILL be doing something to celebrate and Valentine’s Day is very much a thing that (half of) people do. I just wanted to prefix this post with a note that you don’t have to do anything for it… but if you do, I’m going to help you buy something that says ‘I love you’ better than some fancy pants or a slightly rubbish card.
I have to say the onus/advertising for Valentine’s seems to be mostly at men, encouraging them to spend the money on flowers and underwear. I’m sure some people love flowers and underwear (and jewellery, I can’t deny that some people love jewellery), but there are other options!
First off… ideas for free (because thoughtful needn’t cost anything at all…).
I’m joking. There aren’t many options. You could pick some flowers from the garden (not that there are many about this time of year), or you could make a card yourself (again, this idea is so much more adorable when it’s a child doing it, and I’m not sure it translates to grown up giving). Probably the best ‘freeish’ option, would be to go to the trouble of cooking meal yourself (and no, going to Cook! or M&S doesn’t count)… after that, it does all come down to buying an actual gift I’m afraid.
We’ll start with cards - so not a gift per se, but a vessel for writing all your loveliest thoughts and feelings down for someone to read and feel loved.
All our cards can be found here.
When it comes to giving a gift, good things can totally come in small (and inexpensive) packages. Though if you like a bit of sparkle, we’ve got some lovely heart and ‘x’ earrings available by Jersey’s Lisa Le Brocq, handmade here in the island.
We are also extremely delighted to be launching our first (drum roll please) biscuit gifts! Hooray! It’s been an ordeal getting these off the ground… all that tasting, all that trial and error to ensure the mixture is just right…. and then there’s the storage… jars full of biscuits that we have had to eat from daily to ensure that our chosen jars keep the biscuits nice and fresh. IT’S BEEN REALLY REALLY AWFUL.
We’re joking of course. About the hardship, not the importance of taste testing. The very lovely Celia at Such Fun Cakes, has been designing and baking, and has come up with the tastiest of tasty iced vanilla biscuits for you to give. And because we want to ensure that you have options, you can choose from three options: love cookies, anti-love cookies, and friendship cookies.
You’ll get one of our beautiful ribbed jars full of biscuits. Each jar will contain:
8 small heart biscuits
3 love tattoo biscuits
3 large heart biscuits
The larger designs will be printed with love, anti-love, or friendship messages - and you can get in touch if you’ve something unique you’d like to have printed on them.
Price (including a reusable jar with tag for handwriting your message £25.00). Final order dates are Monday 10th February for delivery/collection on the 13th or 14th February. If you fancy something non biscuit based, don’t hesitate to get in touch and we can look at bespoke baking options for you.
In case you’re after something that will last a little longer (the only reason these lasted as long as they did in our house was because we were checking the biscuits kept their crunch… you have no such obligation!), we do have plenty of other ideas… from jewellery that’s bound to raise a smile, to gorgeous recipe books, delicious smelling candles… and (launching at the end of this week) an amazing new product (which will demand a blog post all of its own and is the perfect gift for anyone, be they male or female).
As always, we’re here to help and to assist in solving all your gifting dilemmas, so please don’t hesitate to drop us an email at info@harrietandrose.co.uk for ideas, assistance, and delivery.