A “Heart” Attack

Where is the coolest place you’ve spotted a heart?

Many guys start their day with an incessant need to shave. On one such day my shaving foam reshaped itself into a sickeningly classical heart, reminding me of the inevitable Valentine’s season. Planted excuses aside, Valentine’s is the epitome of all things cute, pink, red, rosy, floral, and bubbly, enough to make some swoon, and others throw up out of sheer disgust.

Perhaps I fall in between these, but the evolution and interpretation of hearts has never ceased to amaze me. Which is why, whilst baking non-heart shaped cookies, I couldn’t but help to place them into a distinctive ceramic heart shaped box, warm and gooey to retain their lovely texture and taste, while being seasonally appropriate for a special someone.

Many other interpretations of hearts exist in the world, ranging from foodie delights to fashionable encounters, not forgetting the obvious influence on technoratti and gadgets. What merits its own out-of-hand observations palette akin to previous sightings one, two and three, an ode to all things heart is better on its own pedestal. Out of the thousands of items that have pounded my eyeballs in nothing short of a heart attack, many have been cliched – chocolates, underwear, socks, balloons, flowers, and the likes. Yet, some have indeed caught my fancy. Behold a collection of my favorites, credited to inventive creators, and bookmarked by yours truly.

Warning: besides being inspirational for your Valentine’s Day, or perhaps a neverending feed of shopping ideas, these will have some kind of inconsequential effect on you; they may make you levitate in delight, or wring in sickness, depending on your interpretation of the hearty day.

In the arena of foods, lets start with breakfast, a day’s most fulfilling, healthiest, and if you are awake for it, most gratifying meal. What better than to start it off with a hearty toast with a peekaboo sunny side up egg smack in the middle? Truly inventive indeed. Almost on par with heart shaped boiled eggs, where the heart-shaping process is one that is quite simple even for the most amateur of egg handlers.

Moving on to entrees, things get cuter (and if you are an anti-heart-ist, get ready to grimace). Heart shaped sushi, so cute that it actually looks like it is smiling. And if you are not a fan of the boho cold food trend, try hot heart shaped pizza, ready to order from many pizzerias worldwide. The latter is my favorite, owing to my affinity for crispy crusts in curvy shapes.

For desserts, try these giant cake renditions of the classic tasteless heart message candies that are a dentist’s nightmare. This deliciously accurate lifelike replica in a tastier cake form will leave any Valentine date salivating for more. And seeing a bag of love pasta in the kitchen next to the baking gloves is sure to conjure more visions than simply cooking. Turn on the heat and turn off the lights! (Heat of the stove, that is…).

For those who would rather romanticize over steamy liquid moments, there are many renditions of coffee and tea mugs for Valentine wannabes. Couple savvy mugs with heart shaped holders, designed by thoughtful designers definitely put fingers to better use. Furthermore, entirely over the top cups on saucers with birds-eye-views of ‘the heart’ relay a calming vision of hearty, frothy cappuccino. Yum. And for those who like to sip tea during the lazy hours between light and night or night and light, try an aptly shaped tea infuser, along with a heart shaped spoon to lick up a gooey chocolate dessert… Kitchen savvy gadgets never get sexier than this!

While food always sits on top of every plate, fashion cannot lag far behind. If the leading lady does not feel up to strutting in challenging heart inserted wedges (on Karross, a simple DIY heart shoe grip will be enough to give anyone a neck sprain from an eye-catching double take! Inventiveness overpowers all in this season’s fun and frolic. Who else would think that the Gucci G’s could be repositioned to replicate a heart on a belt that exudes designer finesse alongside seasonal commitment? Probably more subdued than a pair of designer sunglasses with hearty frames, thankfully in black and not overdone red.

The shoe grip trend extrapolates into red hearted elbow patches, another cleverly inventive DIY idea that contributes to a feeling of cozy warmth in a season that truly demands closeness. As if heart shaped hot water bottles weren’t enough to do the trick!

Moving on from food and fashion into more domesticated comforts, Valentine’s hearts can easily spice up bedrooms and nooks and crannies of any love nest. Watch yourself pout in a mirror with flying hearts, both cleverly designed and beautifully mounted. Or consume the aforementioned foodie treats on heartbreak chairs of plush and wood in detailed designs. For those who would rather go for subtler details, replace any old-school knob with a ceramic hearty one to liven up the elements that don’t always directly meet the eye. Or spice up the garden with a whimsical hose tap, sure to bring love back into the indoors.

Speaking of the rugged outdoors, what is a romantic day without wet, wet rain, and what is rain without a heart shaped umbrella? Functional and utilitarian, and seasonally apt all at once! For the athletic types, build in some time for play with a heart shaped tennis ball, sure to set more than just the sport rolling on the court.

And of course when Valentine’s Day falls smack in the middle of the week, and with bureaucratic officials unwilling to mark it as a public holiday to spend strictly indoors, sadness is bound to infuse into the day. So why not build love into the working day with a functional heart mouse to tap through the excel sheets and hearty ear buds to drown out an annoying coworker’s monotone? Keep yourself simultaneously tech savvy and seasonally fit. And for more basic needs, there are always heart shaped paperclips, innovatively created in yet another DIY fashion, or better yet, hearty held scissors to snip more than just time from a day that begs to turn into night.