We feel strongly about subtlety this time of year. You’ll notice there are no paper hearts in our café, no arrows spearing potential gifts. That said, we have a secret we share only in February: We love the red-pink slice of the color wheel (despite our personal palette of mostly neutrals), so we can’t resist seizing the opportunity to create vignettes in blush and bashful hues. Hence the baby's breath in our windows and the red accents everywhere.
This inner dialectic between heart aversion and pink affinity finds us searching for ways to express ourselves independently, authentically. Inspired by the recent thaw, we offer an itinerary for a Valentine’s Day sans hype and hyperbole: Go on a daycation. Do something you ordinarily wouldn’t like snowshoe up Shadow Mountain, cross-country ski to Granite Hot Springs, ice skate on Slide Lake or if this melt continues, march up to Bradley Lake. Whatever the route or destination, pack a picnic in a Stanley lunchbox.
A Picnic for Two (Plus) Packing List:
- A pair of Persephone sandwiches for lunch (the Truffled Prosciutto packs well)
- A Stanley Thermos filled with our Irish Coffee
- Persephone Granola for mid-trail fuel
- Two (or more) Stiegl Radlers grapefruit + hefewiesen for pit-stop refreshment
- A Compartes chocolate bar (or two or three)
- A Persephone kouign amann or slice of pumpkin carrot bread for parking-lot dessert
There’s no need to limit the fun to only two: crowd-source Cupid and create an adventure to share with a pack of people you love.
After a long day outdoors, you’ll be content cuddling up at home under a Hawkins Blanket by the fire and roasting our Peppermint Marshmallows, thereby avoiding a spendy dinner out with heart-shaped platings and such. Cupid, be cool.
This post is from 2015, that we updated for the season!