The Little Things · A Valentine’s Edit
The Valentine We Don’t Celebrate
Flowers, chocolate, somewhere new to go — and homemade chips with Belgian beef stew.
Bas and I always say we don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. Every year, we still end up doing something small for each other.
He surprises me with flowers and chocolate. We also give each other outings: a concert, a museum visit, an evening at the theatre. I have given him a lunch date too. What I enjoy most is finding something we haven’t done before, or somewhere neither of us has been.
And on the day itself, I often cook his favourite: homemade chips and Belgian beef stew. With Valentine’s falling on a Sunday in 2027, I already have a fairly clear idea of what will be happening in my kitchen.
So yes. A remarkably well-established tradition for two people who apparently don’t celebrate.
The flowers and the chocolate
There is something lovely about a familiar gesture arriving as a surprise. Bas brings me flowers and chocolate, and I still enjoy it every time.
The flowers get a place in the house. The chocolate, naturally, requires my attention too. Neither needs a complicated explanation. It is simply nice to know that someone has thought of you and brought something home because of it.
If you are choosing a small gift, start with what you know the other person likes. Their favourite flowers, the chocolate they actually reach for, the pastry they always choose. The “I Noticed” Gift Edit has more ideas for turning that kind of observation into a personal gesture.
Somewhere we haven’t been
I really like giving us something to do together. A concert, a museum or the theatre all give the gift a second part: the day when you actually go.
The detail that makes it particularly appealing to me is finding something new. A place we haven’t visited. An activity we haven’t tried. A lunch date somewhere that is still an unfamiliar name on the reservation.
It gives you something to look forward to and something new to talk about afterwards. And a lunch date can be a very good present. I would happily argue its case.
If you like the idea, make a short list of three possibilities. Pick one that fits the person, your budget and a date you can both make. Check availability and the practical details before you book. You can write the plan on a card even when the actual outing is a few weeks away.
For smaller ideas close to home, the Tiny Escapes collection is a place to start. Your own version might be a café in a town you usually drive past, an exhibition you both mentioned or a walk followed by lunch somewhere new.
Sunday, with something on the stove
Cooking Bas’s favourite is part of the day that I genuinely enjoy. Homemade chips with Belgian beef stew is the sort of meal I am very happy to make for him. Especially when I have a Sunday to do it.
There is pleasure in knowing what you are making, taking your time with it, and putting a meal on the table that you know the other person will be pleased to see.
For us, that happens to be stew and chips. For you, it might be a favourite pasta, a particular curry or the takeaway someone always suggests first. The useful question is: what would make this person genuinely happy to have for dinner?
This is a personal note about what I like making, rather than a recipe for my stew. If you want a complete alternative dinner plan, The Little Bistro at Home has a simple menu and shopping list for two.
A table full of little snacks
I also love the idea of putting small snacks on the table in the afternoon and settling in with a film. A little of this, a little of that, something to drink and nowhere we need to rush off to.
And the film really doesn’t have to be romantic. A proper action film can be just as good. If that is what you both feel like watching, put it on.
That is an important part of making the day enjoyable: choosing the version you actually look forward to. You know what makes you both laugh, what you enjoy eating and what kind of film you will happily sit through together.
If choosing the film tends to become the longest part of the afternoon, browse The Watching Room before you make the snacks. Or use The Little Valentine Tray to put together a small coffee, snack or film moment of your own.
The small version is a whole plan
You can take one thing from our version: flowers and chocolate, a new place to visit, somebody’s favourite dinner, or snacks and a film. You can also make room for all of them over the weekend.
If you are giving an experience, say what you have chosen and why. If you are making dinner, enjoy the making as well as the eating. If the plan is the sofa, pick a film you both want to watch.
And if you would like to add a few words, the Little Notes Post Office has a card waiting. “I found somewhere we haven’t been” would be a very promising sentence to find inside one.
Esther