The Love List

{coeur de neufchatel}

What would a Valentine's Day be without hearts, flowers, chocolate and love letters. To celebrate this day of love, I have created Allison's love list, all things valentine's day-ish that I am loving right now.

 I'll start with Coeur de Neufchatel cheese. Yes! Cheese...

{via Clarks Food online}

Coeur de Neufchatel has been made in the Normandy region of France in the shape of a heart since the 6th century and is said to have originally been made my love struck farm girls in the shape of a heart to win the attention of British soldiers during the 100 Year War. It is a soft yet crumbly cheese similar to Camembert with an aroma and taste of mushrooms. Yum!

I have been searching for an on-line resource in the USA to purchase French Neufchatel with no luck and was hoping to run by Whole Foods and the Fresh Market to see if they stock  it especially this time of year. The American version is actually not similar at all but more like cream cheese. It is also referred to as 'Coeur de Bray' (heart of Bray) after the market town of the "Pays de Bray" in upper Normandy where it was originally made.

{traditional home}

I love peonies! Their big dramatic, ruffly, fragrant blooms drive me crazy. I have invested some time and resources this year in building a garden and hope to grow some peonies of my own this year. I understand that peonies have a little bit of a reputation for being hard to grow but it sounds like the key is planting them in the Fall with "proper placement and site preparation" {whatever that means} and with that, they will be happy for life. Peonies live for up to 70 years. Wow!

I love the photography by Christy Ford that graces the magical blog And George and especially like their regular feature 'friday flowers.' I love to have fresh flowers in my home all year long and like the casual elegance of their styled arrangements. I also love purple and blue flowers and grape hyacinths.

{Sonoma Lavender}

I love lavender as it reminds me of all things earthy and beautiful. I discovered the most beautiful place in the world through the blog Dreamy Whites as they followed a wedding set against the backdrop of the Sonoma Lavender farm. I now have a visit to the Sonoma Lavender farm during the June lavender harvest on my design bucket list.

These gorgeous photos are from photographer KT Merry and the blog Dreamy Whites from the wedding held at Sonoma Lavender. I also love the simplistic beauty of these placecards.

Speaking of bucket lists...Did you know that many of the world's oldest and finest fragrance companies are located in the quaint french town of Grasse, France and if you travel there they offer special tours where you can create your own fragrance? 

The rose harvest in Grasse, France

I have read a lot about the process of making your own fragrance from the essential oils of fragrant flowers and now I am just dying to return to France and tour the perfume factories of Grasse, France. I really love the idea of having something that is all mine. The process takes about two hours at a course offered by Molinard.

Here's what I have learned. You start with a tour of the museum and factory and then learn about the basics of the fragrance families and how they interact and are layered to make fragrance. Then you choose your base, middle and top notes out of about 80 ingredients for creating your own scent. A fragrance expert called 'the Nose' shares their knowledge with you and guides you as you layer your three notes into a unique fragrance blend. I liked Katherine's blog entry here about her personal experience at Molinard and thought I might have made some of the same 'note' choices as she did.

Peony Cupcake Placecards from Everyday Occasions

I love to entertain and thought these cupcakes were so clever and beautiful and would be the perfect centerpieces for a Valentine's Day celebration.

Of course, if you are going to have a party or send a love letter, you've just gotta' have the perfect letterpress. I love these confetti cards from duet letterpress...

Happy Valentine's Day!

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