What We Love Wednesdays: London Getting Ready for the Olympics

It's no secret that Laura and I are lucky enough to live in the greatest city in the world (in our opinion) and from the moment London was announced as the host for the 2012 Olympics, we knew 2012 was going to be an AMAZING year.

The thing with London is even though it is a 'big' city and is generally packed 24 hours a day, it is a city you can find your own space in - and you can really make it your own. We have blogged about our love of Borough Market, Southbank, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Camden Market, the theatres, the restaurants, the free festivals etc etc but NOTHING has created a buzz like the Olympics.

Our Instagram followers will have seen more and more pictures being put up about the changes taking place in London. On our trip around the city to see the Shard opening we drove in and out of Olympic Lanes - decorated but not yet in use at that time - although very much in use now!

Sarah's walk to work is now lined with flags telling the hoards of crowds arriving at Victoria where to go for the Horse Guard's Parade (and the beach volleyball). The corners are filled with tourists trying to read maps and head to Buckingham Palace (it's the main place S gets asked about!).

Every tube station is displaying fushia signs pointing out where to disembark for Olympic events, and most tube stations now have 'tour guides' pointing out where to go. At Earls Court (our first station in the mornings) we have our very own 'Get Ahead of the Games' advisors telling us how to walk or cycle to work! Who are they kidding! Maybe if, you know, it was DRY outside!

A new addition that always makes us smile is Boris Johnson (our Mayor) bellowing over the PA system that we should make sure to check online to 'Get Ahead of the Games' - as we smell the armpits in our faces and get a little too up close and personal with the people around us, we can't help but think - that info may be more useful pre-entering the tube.

And then there is the BRANDING! It started a few months ago but over the last few weeks everything you see, eat, drink, use seems to be getting in on the act :

From a local perspective, the lack of road works is nice to see and the effort to run efficient transport has been noted - less cancellations and more communication! There are more Union Jacks decorating windows and shops than ever before and our parks and streets are gleaming! It's almost as if we are being judged :) The Mall especially has had a face lift this year - thank you Jubilee and Olympics.

Despite not being fortunate enough to get Olympic tickets (although, the fact that if your event gets postponed if it rains, you can't sell your tickets, so you have to come back - coming back from Thailand would be...erm...EXPENSIVE) we are still loving the atmosphere. We hope the summer weather arrives in time!!!

The free Metro paper has become obsessed with reporting every tweet that the athletes put up as they arrive in the city or at the Olympic accommodation.

It's also hard to ignore the once no-go area of Statford is now ordering people to come and visit - with a fast train heading that way and cable cars to transfer you from one side of the river to the other at ONLY £3.60 on an oyster card! Bargain! You can also see the Olympic structures from afar. The only thing we are slightly baffled about is the 'abstract' Arcelor Mittal tower! The view from it is meant to be spectacular but it's not the best looking sculpture we've seen. Laura has just realised it is supposed to be the Olympic flame!!

In all honesty, if the cable car doesn't provide the view you want, there's always 'UP' at the o2 Dome - you could bounce your way over that :)

The other event(s) you can't fail to notice if you live in the UK is the journey of the Olympic torch! 8000 people carrying it 8000 miles and touring the entire UK! It has been tightrope walked, rowed, climbed and ran through the streets of the UK. It's been held by the Queen, Olympic athletes past and present, Lewis Hamilton (of F1 fame), music 'stars' including Will.I.Am (not sure when he became British), old people, school kids, charity workers and two relatives of people Sarah works with (including Martha!). It even visited Sarah's home football club - Madjeski Stadium! Her Dad summed it up when he said 'It is like nothing I've seen in this country!' - literally hundreds of people spill out into streets as it passes, regardless of time or weather. It creates a real sense of pride to say you were there!

Living in London we will be lucky enough to see the finale at Hyde Park! We are heading to a concert held for its arrival and to celebrate the end of its journey! Bring it on!!!

It also dominates conversations whereever you go and everyone has something to say on it. Despite the press, from our experience it's been mainly positive! London is always going to be busy in summer, you accept that, so it's nice that they are making an effort to get the city ready.

Are you excited for the Olympics?

Love always,

Sarah & Laura xo

SFFF - We've Got That Hawaiian Feeling!

So SFFF has been somewhat AWOL through March so apologies for that. You may have seen that we have been busy on a Big Egg Hunt mission and celebrating our 3 year anniversary. As Spring has officially arrived and March draws to a close it’s party time. Our friend Martha turned 30 earlier this week and is having a Hawiian themed party so in honour of this SFFF has taken a Hawiian twist!

The state of Hawaii consists of eight main islands: Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe and the Big Island of Hawaii. It is the most isolated population centre on the face of the earth. Located 2,390 miles from California; 3,850 miles from Japan; 4,900 miles from China; and 5,280 miles from the Philippines. Or in my language a 17 hour flight from London, 11 hour flight from New York or a 7 ½ hour flight from Boise. And from east to west Hawaii is the widest state in the United States.

Hawaii was first ‘landed’ in 1778 with the arrival of British explorer James Cook. Originally he named the islands the "Sandwich Islands" in honour of his sponsor John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. He published the islands' location and reported the native name as Owyhee. This spelling lives on in Owyhee County, Idaho, after three Hawaiian members of a trapping party killed in that area. Check out the Idaho link!!!

Cook only visited the islands twice. Upon his departure during his second visit in 1779, a quarrel ensued, involving Cook's men taking temple idols and fencing as "firewood" and The natives then took a small boat belonging to Cook’s ship. Cook then abducted the King of the Big Island of Hawaii, Kalaniʻōpuʻu, and held him as ransom aboard his ship for the return of the boat, a tactic that had worked for Cook in Tahiti however Kalaniʻōpuʻu's supporters fought back and Cook and four Marines were killed as Cook's party retreated to the beach and launched their boats. Not the best ending!

It was down to Cook's visit and the publication of several books about his voyages, that the Hawaiian islands received a lot of European visitors: explorers, traders, and eventually whalers who found the islands a convenient harbour and source of supplies. Early British influence can be seen in the design of the flag of Hawaii which has the British Union Flag in the corner. Heck yes to the British link!

Nowadays more than one-third of the world's commercial supply of pineapples comes from Hawaii- you know your tropical when that’s true.

There are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet. Vowels: A, E, I, O, U Consonants: H, K, L, M, N, P, W!

The Hawaiian Islands are the projecting tops of the biggest mountain range in the world. Not something I ever knew! In fact they were formed when under-sea volcanoes erupted thousands of years ago to form the islands. And it currently sits on Haleakala Crater (Ha-lay-ah-ja-lah), the world's largest dormant volcano!

Hawaii was the 50th state admitted to the union on August 20th, 1959 and it has its own time zone (Hawaiian Standard Time.) The time runs two hours behind Pacific Standard Time and five hours behind Eastern Standard Time. And for anyone in the UK the clocks will go forward by one hour on Sunday 25 March as British Summer Time begins for another year- yippee! The official time changes at 1.00 am, moving forward to 2.00 am across the UK.

There are four counties in Hawaii (Kauai; city and county of Honolulu; Maui; and Hawaii). Each city has a mayor and council in charge.

There are no racial or ethnic majorities in Hawaii J Everyone is a minority. Caucasians (Haoles) constitute about 34%; Japanese-American about 32%; Filipino-American about 16% and Chinese-American about 5%. It is very difficult to determine racial identification as most of the population has some mixture of ethnicities.

Honolulu is the largest city in the world -- at least it has the longest borders. According to the state constitution any island (or islet) not named as belonging to a county belongs to Honolulu. What that really means is all islands within the Hawaiian Archipelago, that stretch to Midway Island (1,500 miles northwest of Hawaii) are part of Honolulu.

Then there’s the whole reason why people LOVE Hawaii and that’s the beaches! More than 100 world-renowned beaches ring Honolulu. Kind of makes my stay in Manly seem a million miles away. The island of Oahu draws more visitors than any other to Hawaii. One-third of the state's best surfing beaches are on Oahu.

So I hope where ever you are I hope you wake up to sunshine tomorrow…..

Enjoy you weekend

Love

Sarah

xoxo

Sarah's Fun Fact Friday!! March is Here!!

Welcome to March, and the First Fun Fact Friday of the month! In London we are enjoying nice warm weather and hoping that this may be the start of Spring – BRING IT ON! I like my weather extreme – extremely hot or extremely cold - just don’t let it rain.

In folk law if ‘it rains in March so it (will) rain in June’ – seemingly faulty logic, but lets hope that doesn’t happen!

March used to be the first month in the calendar and it was named after the Roman god of war- Martius, it is also known as Hlyd montha (stormy month) because of the typical weather.

For anyone religious, it’s also the time for Lent - the Christian observance from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer—through prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving, and self-denial. After 40 days, if then culminates in the celebration on Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I went to a Church of England school, so grew up observing Lent but nowadays I don’t partake.

Did you give up anything for Lent this year?

Outside of Lent, we don’t have to wait until April for celebrations– before then we have St Patrick’s Day on the 17th – and who doesn’t have some Irish heritage or relation or distant cousin? In the UK, the pubs turn green and wherever you are there will be some sort of celebration. It commemorates Saint Patrick (c. AD 387–461), the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is also widely celebrated by the Irish descendants, especially in places such as the UK, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand, among others. Today, St. Patrick's Day is

probably the most widely celebrated saints’ day in the world.

Originally, the colour associated with Saint Patrick was blue - but by the 17th century, Green had over taken as the more recognised colour. You will also see plenty of Shamrocks - Saint Patrick is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day.

Further to the day’s celebration, it has also become a festival in Dublin! The first Saint Patrick's Festival was held on 17 March 1996. In 1997, it became a three-day event, and by 2000 it was a four-day event. By 2006, the festival was five days long; more than 675,000 people attended the 2009 parade. Overall 2009's five day festival saw close to 1 million visitors, who took part in festivities that included concerts, outdoor theatre performances, and fireworks.

As it turns out, Laura was actually there for the festival!! Her report was that it was crazy busy, lots of drink and there were a TON of Canadians there. And that she can’t really understand Irish people. Thanks for the valuable input, Laura!

Yes, Laura used to dye her hair dark brown! I was surprised too.

As well as Dublin, many other cities, towns, and villages in Ireland hold their own parades and festivals, including Cork, Belfast, Derry, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, and Waterford.

The biggest celebrations outside Dublin are in Downpatrick, County Down, where Saint Patrick is rumoured to be buried. In 2004, according to Down District Council, the week-long St. Patrick's Festival had more than 2,000 participants and 82 floats, bands, and performers and was watched by more than 30,000 people.

The shortest St Patrick's Day parade in the world takes place in Dripsey, Cork. The parade lasts just 100 yards and travels between the village's two pubs. I'm sure there will be plenty of Guinness consumed in those pubs :)

At the Guinness Factory in Dublin

In London we will be holding our St Patrick’s Day parade on March the 18th (also Mother’s Day in the UK!) this year– starting at Green Park it precedes through the streets to Trafalgar square. All 32 Irish counties are represented and dressed in traditional county colours.

Apart from St Patrick’s Day, March had a few momentous occasions in history:

In March 2000, the Disney Company reversed its 43-year ban on moustaches for its theme- park employees. A memo sent to the 12,000 Disneyland and Walt Disney World employees said guests would be comfortable with “neatly trimmed moustaches.” Founding father Walt Disney sported his own moustache, but that didn't stop him in 1957 from banning facial hair. He did this to distance his crew from stereotypical county-fair “carnies.” The grooming code at the theme parks still bans beards, goatees, piercings, and unnatural hair colours. Hahahaha.

In March 1986, pop star Michael Jackson received the biggest commercial sponsorship deal in history at that time from Pepsi-Cola. He was paid $15 million up front to appear in two TV commercials, and Pepsi agreed to sponsor his first solo tour. Also, a 1984 Pepsi sponsorship of $7 million was split among the other Jackson brothers. As you may know, Laura and I are Coca-Cola fans (and big Michael Jackson fans) but Pepsi do great marketing, we can’t deny that – check out my favourite Pepsi video here!

On their way from Chicago to Los Angeles, 55 Oscars disappeared on March 10, 2000. Nine days later, 52 of the stolen statuettes were found next to a trash dumpster in Los Angeles’ Koreatown section. Willie Fulgear was the lucky man to find them and as a reward, he was invited to the 2000 Academy Awards as a special guest.

"Happy Birthday" was the first song to be performed in outer space, sung by the Apollo IX astronauts on March 8, 1969. It’s also the month of my Mum’s birthday! But no, they weren’t singing it to her.

So let’s get the party started – from Mardi Gras to St Patrick’s, the excuses just keep coming!

Enjoy your weekend!

Love, Sarah

The Versatile Blogger Award!

Happy Saturday!!

We have great news today to share with you! We have been lucky enough to receive our first ever award!! It was given to us by our new lovely blogger friend Jennifer at http://jenelizlouise.blogspot.com/, so go check out her blog!!

So these are the rules:

1. Nominate 15 fellow bloggers
2. Inform the bloggers of their nomination.
3. Share 7 random facts about yourself.
4. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
5. Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your blog post.

And I Nominate:

http://whatwegandidnext.blogspot.com/

http://notesonallure.com/

http://www.mondayswithmac.com/

http://www.laceyinthecity.com/

http://lockerroomgirls.blogspot.com/

http://www.jesseandlauren.com/

http://lostandfound-bailee.blogspot.com/

http://wakingupwithher.blogspot.com/

http://www.2bridesto2mummies.blogspot.com/

http://fabulousfashions4sensiblestyle.blogspot.com/

http://www.5ohwifey.com/

http://asummerfullofpeaches.com/

http://thiswouldbeshaysblog.blogspot.com/

http://www.kikiandlalainwonderland.com/

http://www.thecuriouspug.com/

7 Random Facts About Laura & Sarah

1. We set the alarm every morning 15 minutes earlier than we need to get up so we can have some serious morning CUDDLE TIME!
2. After rent and bills, our next biggest expense by far is Diet Coke.
3. We never go more than one month without eating a Nandos.
4. Our car is called The Captain, because it is practically a boat. It also goes by 'Oh Captain, my Captain!'
5. Before starting this blog, we had never met another lesbian couple.
6. Since being together, we've never had separate jobs.
7. Between us we have 4 tattoos and 8 piercings. And we really want more tattoos!!

We hope you are enjoying your weekend!!

Laura & Sarah xo

Sarah's Fun Fact Fridays!! 100th Post!

Welcome to our 100^th post!! We can’t quite believe we are here in what seems like such a short space of time. If you have been following us for awhile – thank you! If you are new to our blog – welcome and we hope you enjoy!

As today is Sarah’s Fun Fact Friday, I thought I would dedicate this post to the number itself. To make sure it covers all bases, you’ll find a bit of science, currency, war, land ownership, language and maths! So much fun. And we're off!!


The words ‘‘hundred’’ and ‘‘century’’ apparently come from the root 'satam' in Sanskrit, which became 'centum' in Latin, 'hekaton' in Greek and 'hunda' in the Germanic languages.


One hundred is:

• The basis of percentages (per cent meaning "per hundred" in Latin), with 100% being a full amount
• The number of years in a century
• The number of tiles in a standard Scrabble set
• In Greece, India, Israel and Nepal, 100 is the police telephone number
• In Belgium, 100 is the ambulance and firefighter telephone number
• In the UK, 100 is the operator telephone number
• "The First Hundred Days" is a benchmark of a President of the United States' performance at the beginning of his or her term
• In politics, the United States Senate has 100 Senators
• It’s the sum of the first ten odd numbers (1+3+5+7+9+11+13+17+19+21=100)
• 100 signifies completeness, maximum, superiority and has mostly positive connotations
• On the Celsius scale, 100 degrees is the boiling temperature of pure water at sea level

One hundred was the Anglo- Saxon unit of measurement for land area. A hundred had enough land to sustain 100 households headed by “a hundred man” who did all the administration, raising troops and leading forces. Hundreds were divided into tithings, each with ten households. The basic unit of land was the “hide”, with enough land for one family. Hundreds still exist in the US state of Delaware; they were introduced by William Penn in 1682 and were used until the Sixties, but now they have no administrative role, though they are still used in real-estate title descriptions. So there you go!


The largest bank note in England is the one hundred million pound note, nicknamed 'The Titan' – well, I guess it is big! It is only used internally at the Bank of England, and there are only 40 in existence. Scotland is the only place in the UK where £100 bank notes are used- that maybe a request for my next birthday- I’ll get all my Scottish family to club together :)

Most of the world's currencies are divided into 100 subunits; for example, one euro is one hundred cents and one pound sterling is one hundred pence.


The U.S. hundred-dollar bill has Benjamin Franklin's portrait; the "Benjamin" is the largest U.S. bill in print. American savings bonds of $100 have Thomas Jefferson's portrait, while American $100 treasury bonds have Andrew Jackson's portrait. So next time you hear 'It's all about the Benjamins!!!' you'll know why! Holla!

This is only applicable in the UK but all Blue Peter badges (it’s a kid’s show in the UK) feature the famous ship logo, created by Tony Hart. Tony, who died earlier this year, was a presenter of kids' art shows and creator of the cult animated Plasticine figure called Morph. He was paid a flat fee of 100 pounds for his ship design that is one of the most recognised designs in the UK.

In a 1987 study, just 100 surnames accounted for 85 per cent of the Chinese population. According to the 1990 census the most common was Li, with over 100 million people: more than the population of Germany. And I though having the most common girl's name in my year was bad!


The atomic number of fermium is 100. Ferium is a synthetic element- a chemical element that is too unstable to occur naturally on Earth, and therefore has to be created artificially.


Back to my school history lessons here but The Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) actually lasted 116 years and didn’t acquire its popular name until 1874. It was a series of skirmishes fought between two French families, one of whom claimed the French throne (Valois), while the other claimed both France and England (Plantagenet). The eventual victory of the Valois came at a high price – France’s population was reduced by two-thirds over the period and England was left isolated from the rest of Europe, speaking English rather than French. Can you imagine kinda fighting for that long!?! Crazy.

In religion it’s the Jewish who love the number 100 - there are 100 blasts of the Shofar (horn) heard in the service of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, and a religious Jew is expected to utter at least 100 blessings daily.

When a TV series reaches 100 episodes, it is generally considered viable for syndication. (For shows picked up midseason, this point is generally reached during a prime time series' 5th season).


And if that isn’t quite enough we will finish off with 100 in sport:

• ·         The number of yards in an American football field (not including the end zones).
• ·         The number of runs required for a cricket batsman to score a century, a significant milestone.
• ·         The number of points required for a snooker cueist to score a century break, a significant 
•            milestone.
• ·         The record number of points scored in one NBA game by a single player, set by Wilt 
•           Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors on March 2, 1962
• ·         The minimum distance in yards for a Par 3 on a golf course

That’s it for me; I hope you enjoyed it and have added a few facts to your repertoire.

Enjoy your weekends!

Love Sarah

P.S, if you've enjoyed this post check out previous SFFF here!

Sarah's Fun Fact Friday!! Happy Mardi Gras!!

Despite having both Valentine’s Day and our 35^th Monthaversary (we watched Call The Midwife and had Chinese takeaway to celebrate, it was delicious!) this week, it has still been a long and hard one at work. So we are VERY glad it is Friday. Sarah has been so busy this week, that she’s had to give up her Fun Fact Friday throne! But don’t worry, I’ve rushed in and saved the day. All hail Laura, Queen of Knowledge!! Honestly, I’m more of the Queen’s awkward niece by marriage of knowledge, but I’ll give it a go.

As if this last week’s holidays weren’t enough (plural because I know you all celebrated our monthaversary with us!!), this coming Tuesday is Mardi Gras!! Time to party!

Mardi Gras, meaning ‘Fat Tuesday’ in French, is a Catholic holiday - a day of celebration before Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of Lent. Falling 40 days before Easter, Mardi Gras is traditionally meant for people to eat fatty, unhealthy foods before giving them up for the Lenten season. That’s a holiday I can get behind!! However, it’s more widely known for its wild carnivals in places like Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and New Orleans in Louisiana, where they base their celebrations on the slogan Laissez les bons temps rouler (let the good times roll), and the questionable tradition of women receiving necklaces of beads for ‘flashing’ people is still going strong. Girls Gone Wild, anyone?

(source)

In the UK, Fat Tuesday is officially called Shrove Tuesday – and is much tamer than the American counterpart. The day is commonly referred to as Pancake Day, and it is traditional to eat lots of them on this day! In Newfoundland, England, small tokens are frequently cooked into the pancakes. Children take delight in discovering the objects when eating their treats. For example, the person who receives a coin will be wealthy; a nail that they will be (or marry) a carpenter, and so on. Surely cooking a nail into food to give to children is unsanitary and dangerous!! Also, there are ‘pancake races’ staged throughout the UK. In Olney, Buckinghamshire, they stage a race where people dressed in aprons have to run a course while flipping a pancake on a frying pan a certain number of times. The tradition is said to have started when a woman was so busy cooking pancakes for the celebration that she lost track of time, and didn't realise until the church bells rang – then she ran all the way to church still flipping her pancake! Since the ‘50s, Olney have been running twin pancake races with a town in the USA – Liberal, Kansas. They both run their courses, and compare times! Kansas has won 37 times, and Olney 25. I’m already prepared with my pancake mix for Tuesday!!

Speaking of pancakes, I tried to make some on Tuesday as a Valentine’s surprise for Sarah. But here’s the clincher – I put food colouring in them to make them pink! Pink for V-Day, clever right? Or so I thought – I’m not sure if it was the amount of dye I put in, but when cooked, they came out grey. Not pretty pink, and frankly, unappetising. Which is why you didn’t see them in our Valentine’s Day post. But it’s the thought that counts, right?

With all of the pink around from V-Day, have you been feeling a bit more relaxed? Studies have shown that pink makes people happy and passive – it’s very difficult to be angry when surrounded by pink. Iowa University’s American football team famously painted the opposition’s locker rooms pink in an attempt to put the opposing team in a passive mood, and emasculate them. It must have worked – the Western Athletic Conference now has a rule that team’s opposition locker room cannot be painted a different colour from the home team’s! And a specific pink, Baker – Miller Pink, is used universally to calm violent prisoners in jails. I love pink – I would definitely say it makes me happy!

Apparently blue is the most popular colour in the world, though – 40% of people list blue as their favourite colour. Sarah and I are two of them! Blue is said to make people more creative, and people who wear blue are statistically the most successful in job interviews and making sales. I will remember that! Oddly, people with blue eyes are also statistically likely to earn more money than us greens, browns, greys, and hazels. The colour mentally focuses you and communicates to others that you are loyal and trustworthy. This is why politicians tend to wear navy suits when making speeches. Crafty, right?

Whether you're a Smurf or the Pink Panther, I hope you've enjoyed my special edition of Laura's Fun Fact Friday! Next week we will be back to our regularly scheduled programming!!

If you enjoyed this Fun Fact post check out others HERE!

Love always,

Laura xo

Sarah's Fun Fact Friday - Love Is In The Air!!!

Whether you are a lover or hater of Valentine's Day and the outpouring of hearts and soppy sentiments, with the impending event fast-approaching, I thought I would share some Fun Facts about the origins of the holiday, and just how much the Americans love their chocolates and roses!

Saint Valentine's Day, or Valentine's Day, is celebrated on February 14 and traditionally honours one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by giving flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). 

The early Medieval story of Saint Valentine was explained in Legenda Aurea. According to that version (and Wikipedia), St Valentine was persecuted as a Christian and interrogated by Roman Emperor Claudius II. Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a discussion with him, attempting to get him to convert to Roman paganism in order to save his life. Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity instead. Because of this, he was executed. Before his execution, he is reported to have performed a miracle by healing the blind daughter of his jailer. So there you go!


However, Legenda Aurea provides no connections whatsoever to sentimental love - for that we have to look to a more modern portrayal where Valentine was a priest who refused to abide by a law created by Roman Emperor Claudius II, allegedly ordering that young men remain single. The Emperor supposedly did this to grow his army, believing that married men did not make for good soldiers. The priest Valentine, however, secretly performed marriage ceremonies for young men. When Claudius found out about this, he had Valentine arrested and thrown in jail. Either way it seems if you were called Valentine you are likely to end up in jail or dead!


In 1797, a British publisher issued The Young Man's Valentine Writer, which contained scores of suggested sentimental verses for the young lover unable to compose his own. Printers had already begun producing a limited number of cards with verses and sketches, called "mechanical valentines," and a reduction in postal rates in the next century ushered in the less personal but easier practice of mailing Valentines. That, in turn, made it possible for the first time to exchange cards anonymously. At that time Richard Cadbury (son of the guy who started Cadbury's chocolate) also invented the first Valentine's Day candy box.

Chocolates were a better gift than people in the Middle Ages could expect - back then young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. This is where the phrase 'to wear your heart on your sleeve' comes from!

The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately 190 million valentines are sent each year in the US. Half of those valentines are given to family members other than husband or wife, usually to children. That's the largest seasonal card-sending occasion of the year, next to Christmas!

When you include the valentine-exchange cards made in school activities the figure goes up to 1 billion, and teachers become the people receiving the most valentines. In order of popularity, Valentine's Day cards are given to:

1. Teachers
2. Children
3. Mothers 
4. Wives
5. Sweethearts
6. Pets

About 3% of pet owners will give Valentine's Day gifts to their pets. And yep I used to be in that 3%!

An estimated 15 million e-valentines were sent in 2010 using digital means of creating and sending Valentine's Day greeting messages such as e-cards, love coupons or printable greeting cards (woohoo check out why we love printed cards from Moonpig HERE!). Followed by cards, the second most popular gift is flowers! Valentine's Day and Mother's Day are the biggest holidays for giving flowers. Worldwide, over 50 million roses are given for Valentine's Day each year. 73% of people who buy flowers for Valentine's Day are men!

California produces 60 percent of American roses, but the vast number sold on Valentine's Day in the United States are imported, mostly from South America. Approximately 110 million roses, the majority red, will be sold and delivered within a three-day time period. (Check out Valentines Day, the film, to see this in action)!

Speaking of South America - in some Latin American countries, including Mexico, Costa Rico, Ecuador & Puerto Rico, Valentine's Day is known as "Día del Amor y la Amistad" (Day of Love and Friendship). It is also common to see people perform "acts of appreciation" for their friends. In Guatemala it is known as the "Día del Cariño" (Affection Day).

The oldest surviving love poem to date is written on a clay tablet from the times of the Sumerians, inventors of writing, around 3500 B.C

The most famous verse Roses are red echoes conventions traceable as far back as Edmund Spenser's epic The Faerie Queene (1590):
She bath'd with roses red, and violets blew,
And all the sweetest flowres, that in the forrest grew.


The modern cliché Valentine's Day poem can be found in the collection of English nursery rhymes Gammer Gurton's Garland (1784):
The rose is red, the violet's blue,
The honey's sweet, and so are you.
Thou art my love and I am thine;
I drew thee to my Valentine:
The lot was cast and then I drew,
And Fortune said it shou'd be you


And finally, here are a few Valentine's Day Superstitions to get you ready for love, if you haven't yet found that special someone....

• If an apple is cut in half, the number of seeds found inside the fruit will indicate the number of children that individual will have.
• To be awoken by a kiss on Valentine's Day is considered lucky. Pucker up!
• On Valentine's Day, the first guy's name you read in the paper or hear on the TV or radio will be the name of the man you will marry. Unless you don’t date men, of course! Does it work with women too?
• If you see a squirrel on Valentine's Day, you will marry a cheapskate who will hoard all your money.
• If you see a goldfinch on Valentine's Day, you will marry a millionaire.(Good luck with that!)
• If you see a robin on Valentine's Day, you will marry a crime fighter - maybe they mean Batman! Hahahahaha
• If you see a flock of doves on Valentine's Day, you will have a happy, peaceful marriage.
• If you find a glove on the road on Valentine's Day, your future beloved will have the other missing glove. (Or someone might be kind of annoyed you wandered off with their glove!)

Happy Valentine's Day to each and everyone of you....I hope you have someone to give a Valentine to!

I've got a surprise planned for my Valentine so i'm getting excited......until next time,

Sarah xo

P.S. if you aren't great at remembering to text your other half numerous times a day- there is an app called the 'Girlfriend Keeper' that's here to help! You input basic data (eye colour, date you started dating, etc) and it will automatically generate and send texts to your girlfriend. Including 'I can't believe we have been dating for 1 year 53 days!' or 'You have the prettiest green eyes I could ever imagine!' Awesome, right!

I hope someone is keeping your heart warm xoxo

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