(A Red Hot) Valentine’s Day Gift Guide!
In spite of its rather less-than-romantic origins (read here: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/mitch-ditkoff/the-history-and-present-of-valentines-day_b_6642020.html), and that slightly queasy feeling you get from its commercial excess, I have to admit that Valentine’s Day has a certain draw — perhaps because the idea of love is involved. Among the various words that the ancient Greeks had for love, the best known are “agape”, a generalized love of others, something akin to goodwill, and “eros” the more intimate and passionate form of love. Valentine’s Day celebrates the latter!
Here at GAI, we like to imagine that classically elegant interiors can be conducive to enhancing love and romance all year round. So while we don’t advocate leaving a show of affection to one day a year, Valentine’s Day presents a wonderful opportunity to reinforce those sweet emotions, to reignite the passions, and elevate the relationship above the day-to-day concerns and patterns of the rest of the year.
If love and attraction take shape within our minds, you may have wondered once or twice why the heart is the emblem of love, or why the colour of love is so often thought of as red. Well, wonder no more. Just imagine what happens when you are with someone for whom you have intense feelings: the heart beats faster and blood rushes to your cheeks, your lips, and perhaps elsewhere (blush). From this quickening of the heart and the blushing of skin, we’ve formed an indelible link between love and both hearts and the colour red.
For me, the best gifts truly are the ones that can’t be bought (like more down-time with my very busy and very amazing husband or a framed photo that depicts a favourite memory/event of our time together in the past year). And experience-oriented gifts are always in style: a romantic weekend retreat, a spa treatment, tickets to a musical, salsa dance lessons, whale watching or a ride in a hot-air balloon … the sky’s the limit [and these are all drawn from our personal playbook!]. But, for those who prefer snazzy, posh gifts (and no judgement here because hey, I’d never say ‘no’ either) we’ve gone classic and curated a gift guide in GAI approved style with a selection of items in the “colour of love” – big bold and beautiful red!
