Thinking of Valentine

I wasn't actually thinking of Valentine at all. But I am now. One of my favourite bag makers is Radley. I like the way that they make each bag in lots of different sizes, which is important for petite people as big bags can end up making one look a little bit Mrs Pepperpot. I also love their soft leather, gorgeous linings and many hidden pockets and the way that you can't tell who they're made by (well, once you've removed that pesky leather dog motif). So when I was given some money last year to buy something that I would keep for years to remind me of someone special, I chose to buy one of their bags (the person in question would have shaken his head in bemusement, and possibly horror, at that. He was not known for his handbag appreciation. But he did like things that made people happy). 

So when I discovered on Friday night that Radley had chosen to put my lovely sister's book in amongst all their beautiful bags and purses as part of their Valentines campaign...gulp. I'm so proud of her. I love the thinking behind this campaign: that the perfect Valentine's gift would be a handbag with a cloth bound book of love poetry inside really appeals to me - it's marrying two very different, but equally important aspects of being a woman: the 'wanty' bit that loves beautiful things and the deeper bit that wants to be wooed and understood on an emotional level and wants her man to realise that she is not just a superficial consumeristic handbag lover: she is that, but so much more besides. My sister was typically modest about this...so it was left to me to be deeply uncool and delighted by the fact that she even has her own product code on their website.

So anyway, back to Valentine's Day. We're not huge celebrants of it, but as regular readers will know, I will leap (in this case, forming a dusty cloud of icing sugar as I go) upon any excuse to whip up a batch of peppermint hearts. You can find my recipe here, should you feel compelled to do the same.

Those not reading through a feed reader might notice that I've changed the layout of my blog a little to make room for a third column (something that I've been coveting for a while now). This means that I've now got room for, amongst lots of other things, a few shops to advertise their wares! You can now click straight through to Kate's lovely shop M is for make... at the top right of my blog. If you're interested in advertising your own shop here too, then please do contact me or go here to find out more first.

Wishing you a lovely weekend,

Florence x