Moving through a fleeting month like February can only be steadied by the unwavering theme of love. Whether with family, friends or significant others, we're big believers in celebrating these relationships with care and intention. This month we propose some alternative date night ideas, readings on love and our growing relationship with flowers.
DATE NIGHT
Quality time and shared experiences with those we love are some of the great joys of life. Sometimes, though, we need to be reminded to get these things into our calendars ahead of time, before we get caught up in life's everyday rush. Feel inspired by our suggestions below (and get booking):
ABSINTHE & APHRODISIACS
Hosted by East London-based distillery Devil's Botany, this mini tasting menu features a range of their award-winning absinthes and a pairing of aphrodisiac bites to accompany each drink. The perfect, romantic evening to excite the senses.
INSIDE A PAINTER'S HOME
Before mass-produced Valentine’s Day cards, the Victorians spent hours creating elaborate, handmade cards to declare their love and affection. Hosted at Leighton House, the incredible former home and studio of artist Frederic, Lord Leighton, this evening of creative drawing and live classical music may be the perfect, tender bonding time you're looking for with someone you love.
LET'S TALK ABOUT IT
This wouldn't be a true celebration of love without celebrating it in all of its forms. Hosted by The Moth, this Valentine's special storytelling slam allows audience members the chance to share a true, 5-minute tale from their life centred around the evening's time: Love Hurts. It's a night of good, bad and ugly – but ultimately a chance to have fun honouring the messiness of love and the human experience.
BOOKS
ONE FOR THE MIND
How do you find and keep love? What can you do to manage conflict better? How can you get unstuck and cope with change and loss? In this book, No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author and psychotherapist Philippa Perry answers all of our big questions surrounding relationships (with everyone, including ourselves) with warmth and wit. It's the kind of reading that feels like an intimate conversation and hug from that one friend who always has the best advice (even if you don't want to hear it).
ONE FOR THE SOUL
Romance in Marseille follows the story of Lafala, a Black sailor who becomes wealthy after winning a lawsuit against a shipping line for the mistreatment he experiences as a stowaway. After returning to Marseille, he plans to reignite a previous relationship with Aslima, a Moroccan prostitute. Published posthumously 87 years after it was written – as the original editors considered the novel too transgressive for its time – this book is a touching story of love and freedom, seeped in a rich history.
ONE FOR THE BODY
Almost a love language of its own, there are few things more intimate than cooking and preparing a meal for someone you love. Focused on tenderness and the smaller, thoughtful elements of a meal, Table for Two is full of both uncomplicated and wow-worthy meals for breakfast to dessert and everything in between.
Looking for more?
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