Hearts and Flowers : Valentine’s Day: Tokens of affection, whether exotic or extravagant, can express a sense of tradition or wild romanticism.
If you’ve been thinking that making whoopee on Wednesday might not be appropriate because the day is named for a saint and martyr, think again.
All those stories about St. Valentine sending encouraging messages and other tokens of brotherly love to his condemned fellow prisoners may be true, but that isn’t why lovers lean to even more poetic heights of gush and mush at this time each year.
The feast of St. Valentine, who was a 3rd-Century Roman physician and priest, happens to fall one day shy of the Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia. It also happens to coincide nicely with the mating season of birds. Hardly saintly, but not a bad spur to romance.
If such ideas make your romantic imagination dance, you’re living in a good corner of the world in which to indulge it. In the next few days, Southern California will be awash in tender emotions, florid--sometimes bizarre--expressions of affection, a riot of flowers, hugely indulgent dinners, oceans of chocolate and enough champagne to flood a dry dock.
If you’re a traditionalist, this combo is your Feb. 14 meat and potatoes.
However, if you’re an incurable traditionalist and want to go for the dozen long-stemmed red roses, you’ll find the price a bit inflated.
At Ray’s Affordable Flowers in Sherman Oaks, 13838 Ventura Blvd., (818) 906-1120, 12 of the scarlet beauties, which usually cost $65, go for $75 around Valentine’s Day. It isn’t opportunism that jacks up the price, said manager Greg Miscikowski, but the weather. Roses fare badly in cold, wet weather, and growers must spend more money to keep them warm in greenhouses, he said.
Tulips, generally by the dozen and in red, also are popular Valentine’s Day choices, he said. They, like the roses, are imported to his store from Holland at this time of year and also cost $75.
For those with broader imaginations and deeper pockets with which to indulge them, Miscikowski said his shop can put together arrangements of imported exotics for up to $250.
More cut-rate is Conroy’s Florists, with several locations throughout the Southland. At the store at 707 N. La Brea Ave. in Hollywood, a dozen long-stemmed red roses cost $65 in a vase, up $20 from the regular in-season price, said owner Shoji Katayama.
However, simpler springtime floral arrangements can be had from Conroy’s for as little as $15, Katayama said.
The second half of the candy-and-flowers pairing traditionally means chocolate, and the potential for indulgence runs from the merely naughty to the overwhelmingly sinful. But even if you’re not sure whether to eat the stuff or just trowel it directly onto your thighs, there is a payoff: phenylethylamine. This is the chemical in the body that produces a brief, slightly euphoric state--it’s almost like being in love--and eating chocolate will raise its level.
For familiarity, See’s, with several locations in Los Angeles and Orange counties, is where you can find the traditional heart-shaped box filled with a variety of gooey items at a comforting range of prices from $3 for a quarter-pound to $42.50 for a four-pound velvet heart.
At the other financial horizon is Godiva Chocolatier (also at a variety of Southern California locations), specializing in perfectly molded gold-wrapped confections that are almost as enjoyable to look at as they are to eat. Expect to pay for all that sensory overload, though. Prices for assortments of chocolates range from $2.75 for a two-piece box to $350 for a hand-picked assortment arranged in a large, elegant heart-shaped box.
Three (or More) Little Words
All right. So you’ve defoliated Holland buying flowers for her--or him (men like flowers too)--and the chocolates you sent will generate enough calories to lift a Volvo, and he/she still isn’t convinced. You need to drive the message home with a Valentine that can’t possibly be ignored.
Supergram is your answer. Based in Denver, Supergram will print what will likely be the largest valentine the love of your life will ever receive. The message--any one you want--is printed on a foot-high banner in black letters. A banner with 48 characters costs $9.95 plus $1.30 for shipping first class to anywhere in the country (each additional character costs 15 cents). You can place your order toll-free by calling (800) 3-BANNER.
“A banner that says ‘Be my Valentine today, tomorrow and always. I love you,’ is about 15 feet long,” said company manager Doug Adams. “But you can essentially keep going forever.”
Love on the Move
If you’d prefer to do your nuzzling while sitting in something that moves instead of at a restaurant table, here are a few romantic options:
For waterborne smooching, try Gondola Getaways in Long Beach (5437 E. Ocean Blvd., 433-9595). For $45 per hour for two people, a gondolier will slowly propel you around the canals and waterways of Long Beach while you munch on the provided French bread, cheese and salami. Bring the beverage of your choice and they provide the ice. Italian music is provided on board and some of the gondoliers sing.
The bad news: They’re booked solid for Valentine’s Day. The good news: They’re open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to midnight.
If that clip-clop sound gets you all mushy and nostalgic, give Barton’s Horse Drawn Carriages a call. ((818) 447-6693). They’ll take a horse and one of their 20 carriages anywhere in Southern California (they have huge trailers for that purpose) and take you to dinner, to the park, or just around the neighborhood. The drivers dress in top hats and red livery.
Fees are based on how far the equipment has to go to get to you, and they begin at $450. If you want to go the route at more than $1,000, however, they can rig you up with a carriage similar to the one that carried the Prince and Princess of Wales to their wedding.
The Bartons operate seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Of course, if you’re on a budget, there’s nothing wrong with your own car, provided you find the correct romantic setting. With the proper motivation, it is possible to have an enjoyable tryst parked just beyond the end of the LAX runways, but for pure visual appeal, there are two spots that stand out.
Mulholland Drive west of the San Diego Freeway is legendary, offering dramatic views of both Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.
A different but no less spectacular panorama can be had from the top of Signal Hill, in the middle of Long Beach. Depending on where you park and the weather, you can see all of Long Beach, Los Angeles Harbor and most of Orange County.
So, Who Needs It?
By way of counterpoint, Valentine’s Day can also be a dandy opportunity to emphasize to someone who has been less than loving that your milk of human kindness has soured. If you’re the type who doesn’t like to suffer in silence, a firm named Revenge a la Carte is for you.
This new business, which operates in Los Angeles from downtown to the Westside, offers “a variety of gifts designed to help you get even.”
Simply call and you can order for your former beloved of such items as a dozen long-stemmed black roses ($37), a set of zipped lips (for the blabbermouth, $27) or a not-so-fresh fish, gift-wrapped ($20).
