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valentine’s day

Design

20 Incredibly Adorable Valentine’s Day Cards

By Caroline Stanley on

Back when you were a kid, picking out Valentines was a much simpler task. Now that we’re all older — and in many cases, selecting a card for a very special person, as opposed to an entire classroom full of people who, let’s be honest, really only cared about the candy — finding the right one can prove tricky. To make things easier, we’ve rounded up 20 solid options for you after the jump. While the sentiments they convey run the gamut from “you’re my best friend forever” to “I love you even more than my iPhone,” these tiny missives have one thing in common — they’re all incredibly adorable. … Read More

Gift Guide

25 Gifts for Your Valentine That Don’t Suck

By Caroline Stanley on

For a holiday that’s purportedly all about love, Valentine’s Day is pretty divisive. You’ve got plenty of people who can’t stand the idea of buying a cheesy greeting card or a dramatically marked-up bouquet of flowers — which is totally understandable. But this archaic pagan ritual doesn’t have to be a total bummer. That’s why we’ve put together a shopping guide for February 14th that is chock full of trinkets that we’d be happy to give or receive anytime of the year. Yes, there is an overwhelming amount of the color red involved, but that kind of comes with the territory. Let us know in the comments which of these gifts you love! … Read More

Television

Awesome Infographic: Who Is Your TV Valentine?

By Judy Berman on

The folks at TV Squad are killing it this Valentine’s Day. First, they brought us a wonderful montage of televisual kisses. And today, they’re helping us find our true TV love, with a handy flowchart. So, ladies: Are you a Chuck Bartowski kind of girl, or is Tim Riggins more your… Read More

Food

What Your Choice of Valentine’s Day Candy Says About You

By Judy Berman on

February 14th is a day for boxes of chocolates, from artisanal truffles to generic Godivas to gluey Russell Stover disasters that have been sitting on the shelf for months. But here at Flavorpill, we’d like to move beyond the heart-shaped box (and, for that matter, the inedibly stale, chalky conversation heart), without sacrificing the wonderfulness that is Valentine’s Day candy. With that in mind, we believe that anything you’d want to say with flowers can be better communicated with candy. That’s why we’ve compiled this handy guide to what your choice of V-Day confection says about you — and the lover you choose to share it with. … Read More

Music

A Metalhead’s Guide to Valentine’s Day

By Margaret Eby on

By all indications, Valentine’s Day is the least metal holiday possible. You’re reveling in all the icy, cavernous gloom of mid-winter and then BOOM: frilly pink hearts and stuffed puppies everywhere. It’s enough to make you want to tear shit up, even more than usual. But chin up, metalheads: St. Valentine himself was martyred in a totally gruesome manner (beheading!), and the original pagan holiday Lupercalia, pre-heart-shaped cards and overpriced prix fixe dinners, was partially in honor of the she-wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome. Wolves, goats, and revelry? Maybe Valentine’s Day can be metal after all. Click through for our guide to celebrating V-day the metal way. … Read More

Television

Video of the Day: Adorable TV Kisses Supercut

By Judy Berman on

We know — thanks to our roundup of the ten best art kisses of all time — that artists have spent centuries creating immortal kisses. TV may be a younger medium, but it has produced its share of memorable smooches, too. So, if you’ve still got the stomach for some pre-Valentine’s Day mushiness, check out this supercut of televised kisses from the folks at TV Squad, and tell us which is your favorite in the comments. Our pick, for the record, is Daria and Tom — because we may be romantics, but we still love us some misery chicks. … Read More

Art

The 10 Best Art Kisses of All Time

By Paul Laster on

The Depression-era song “A Kiss to Build a Dream On,” which Louis Armstrong made famous in the ’50s, finishes with the lyrics: “Oh give me your lips for just a moment/ And my imagination will make that moment live/ Oh give me what you alone can give/ A kiss to build a dream on.” Over the course of art history, painters, sculptors, poets, and photographers have — as the song suggests — used their vivid imaginations to bring the kiss to life as a symbol of fresh love, renewed love, and even black-and-blue love.

With Valentine’s Day in mind, we’ve selected the 10 best art kisses — ranging from erotic embraces in paintings by Gérôme and Klimt and sensual smooches in sculptures by Rodin and Brancusi to lustful lip-locking in works on paper by Picasso and Man Ray — so that you, too, can share the love. If we missed one of your favorite make-out moments in art, tell us about it in the comments. … Read More

Books

30 Literary Quotes That Just Might Get You Laid

By Kathleen Massara on

Wooing is hard work. Inevitably all of us will be crushed by disappointment from time to time when a chosen paramour rejects us with a single, cutting remark. However, we are almost certain here at Flavorpill that having a background in literature will work in your favor, whether you find yourself pining at a bar, a café, or at an awkward house party filled with graduate students clutching red plastic cups — their eyes glazing over as another person enters the throng and attempts to discuss his thesis on Levinas’s idea of irreducible relations. Rally against this stagnation, readers, and use the quotes below to find love… but don’t blame us if you get slapped. … Read More

Gift Guide

Gift Guide: What to Buy Your Impossible to Shop For Valentine

By Judy Berman on

Last week, we urged you to think outside the Valentine’s Day box and forsake expected gifts like candy, flowers, and stuffed animals for 25 stylish alternatives. But we worry that some of you are still approaching V-Day with no present plan whatsoever. And we can totally sympathize — some people are just impossible to shop for. So, we’re doing our part to help you out with this guide to thoughtful presents for eight kinds of picky Valentines, from design geeks and bookworms to music junkies and jetsetters. … Read More

Gift Guide

25 Presents for Your Valentine That Don’t Suck

By Caroline Stanley on

Valentine’s Day is a pretty warped holiday when you think about it. For people who aren’t in a relationship, it’s often cringe-inducing to see other people get cards/flowers/candy/stuffed animals, even if you’re not usually into that kind of thing. But it can be much more uncomfortable for the participating parties — suddenly there are baffling expectations that center on overpriced lingerie, armloads of roses, and tables-for-two. To take some of the stress out of the situation, check out our shopping guide for February 14. We’ll go ahead and warn you that there is an overwhelming amount of both hearts and the color red involved, but everything that we’ve picked out is a present that we’d actually be psyched to give or receive — or simply buy for ourselves. Let us know in the comments which gifts you love! … Read More