Valentine's Day 2012 *Giveaway* - CLOSED

Update: 06/02/2012

Thank you all for entering my Valentine's Day Gifts Giveaway. The winners are:

Phyllis Ellett - Celliana Necklace
Vicky Robinson (Twitter entry) - Miners Cosmetics Mascara
Emma Lowe - find me a gift Red Rose Compact Mirror
Lisa Annie (Twitter entry) - from you to me card journal

Congratulations all, I'll contact you asap. Please respond by Wednesday 8th. If no response I'll have to pick another winner.

Ang x

The last time me and hubby celebrated Valentine's Day was in 2008. We shared the best, most beautiful gift we've ever had for V Day - Abby. Yup. Abby chose to (a week early) present herself as a V Day gift to us. It was the best. And the last (well, one still have hope that one day...).

Ever since we had her, V Day is just not V Day anymore. It's all about her. In fact, we never spend any events on our own anymore. Not that we are complaining, as a lovers day is just not a lovers day to us without Abby and Clay.

But we still do the small things, chocolate coated strawberries, sharing our love by giving chocolate and wine to others, etc.

Anyway, just because we are spending our V Day this way, doesn't mean that I have nothing to make yours better.

Hope you'll have a lovely Valentine's Day! <3

Categories

Recipes

Valentine's Day Menus and Hotel Packages

Flowers Ideas

Gifts Ideas

Giveaway

Recipes

Starter

Baked Soup with Puff Pastry

- Soup of your choice, let it cool a bit in an oven-proof bowl.

- Cover with ready-made puff pastry and brush with egg glaze.

- Bake it at 220 C until lightly golden (mine was over baked)

Main

Grilled steak and mushrooms served with boiled vegetables mixed with a touch of butter. Heart shaped steak anyone?

Venison Steaks with Port and Plum Jus

Dessert

Heart Shaped Macarons

Creamiest Creme Brulee made with Mascarpone Cheese

Chocolate Coated Strawberries

- Wash and pat dry strawberries. Gently stick a cocktail stick in each strawberries.

- Melt 65% dark chocolate (or mix part of 70% or above dark chocolate with milk chocolate) over a water bath or in a microwave

- Dip the strawberries in the chocolate and leave to set

Valentine's Day Menus and Hotel Packages

County Durham

Wynyard Hall Country Hall Hotel

Welcome drink, dinner, small gift for the ladies

£45.00 per person

plus bed and breakfast

£55.00 extra per person (ie total £100.00 per person)

Devonshire

Devonshire Arms at Beeley (Derbyshire's Gastropub of the Year 2011)

Bottle of Champagne, red rose, dinner, Bed & full Derbyshire breakfast

£99.00 per person

Devonshire Fell

5-course Gourmet Dinner, glass of champagne each, Bed & full Yorkshire breakfast

from £175.00 per couple (room upgrades available)

Hampshire

The Master Builder's at Buckler's Hard (Located in Lord Montagu's Beaulieu Estate in the New Forest National Park)

6-course dinner, a glass of bubbly, red rose for the ladies and chocolates, plus bed a breakfast

£195.00 per couple (£40.00 per person for the dinner alone)

Gloucestershire

The New Inn at Coln St Aldwyns

4-course dinner, including their signature Lover's Lobster Dish (served with champagne and caviar), rose petals on the bed and chilled bottle of bubbly in the room plus breakfast

£185.00 per couple (£30.00 per person for the dinner alone)

Kent

Walpole Bay Hotel ft The Ambrette Restaurant in Margate (Michelin star chef patron Dev Biswal's restaurant)

8-course Aphrodisiac menu, 4 poster suite, breakfast

£135.00 per couple (upgrades available)

For an extra £30.00 you can arrange to be collected by the hotel's chauffeur-driven Rolce Royce Silver Spirit from Margate Station

(£39.99 per person for the 8-course menu alone, booking through  www.theambrette.co.uk/home/booking_form.aspx)

Lancashire

Northcotte (Michelin-starred)

Champagne and canape, 5-course gourmet dinner for two, V Day Gift

£170.00 per couple

Disclosure: Information provided by PRs; please confirm the details with the restaurant/ hotel

Flower Ideas

According to Kirsty Pritchard at Bumblebeez Florist in Cheltenham:

Classic red Roses:

image from http://www.ozbv.com/

Dozen luxurious long stem red roses combine with berries and green foliage, or

Single stunning bloom

Different colour roses become increasingly popular, especially hot colours like pink, orange and yellow:

image from (L to R) http://bit.ly/zbg6kf , http://bit.ly/xpa1IF,http://bit.ly/yXucH5

People are opting for Spring arrangements:

image from (L to R) http://shutr.bz/wsRqb9, http://bit.ly/AlvdAa, http://bit.ly/wSBNuO

Hand-tied bouquets of red, purple and cerise Tulips with vibrant colour clashes, or

Unparallelled elegance of green and white parrot and fringed tulips

image from (L to R) http://bit.ly/wXNbRb, http://bit.ly/y3WPRI

For those who prefer modern, minimalist styles - red Amaryllis (above, right) left long or cut short, mixed with foliage and berries

If you want to make a statement:

image from http://bit.ly/xXfJd5

Vibrant scarlet or red Anthurrium - a modern trendy flower presented with large tropical leaves or combined as part of a mixed bouquet

Flowers for the gents:

image from http://bit.ly/z4y16z, http://bit.ly/wwYHbi

Masculine choice - hand tied of deep burgundy red Gerberas with a black velvet centre

Heady scent - large bunch of deep indigo blue Hyacinths 

Disclosure: Ideas were given by Bumblebeez; I searched on the net for the images

Gift Ideas

Balloon in a Box - Romantic Man £18.99 rrp (£17.09 at the moment)

approx 45cm H x 15cm W, handmade to order

Me: How cute is this?! Imagine opening a box and this is inside, it will make my week let alone day! In fact, I can't stop smiling by just looking at the picture!

Note: I haven't seen this product myself but this Balloon in a Box is just too cute not to include in the feature!

Build-a-Bear Friendship Hearts Series   £5.99 rrp (launch on 9th February, 2012)

4" mini bear with a heart and outfit to decorate

Me: A cute mini version of 1 of 12 best selling bears from Build-a-Bear Workshop, adorable enough for a Valentine I think! Check out more for the preview here.

Divine Chocolate Hearts - White Chocolate & Strawberry   £4.50 rrp (100g)

Also comes in 70% Dark Chocolate Hearts and Milk Chocolate Hearts

Me: Not only are they cute, but I absolutely love the creamy white chocolate that has crispy strawberry crisps that are made with real strawberries all over. It looked so pretty as well with the pink blended in the white. Needless to say, nothing left here for V day!

It looks pinkish here but the colour is darker
like a ripe cherry

Essential Care Lipstick - Cherry Tart (16)   £18.00 rrp

100% natural, 86% organic, Soil Association and Fairtrade certified, 100% organic plant oils, Fairtrade shea butter, fruits and flowers extracts 

Check out the Giveaway section below for a 10% off discount code just for this blog!

Me: If you hate fake colours and worry about crushed beetles (I never heard of it until now!!) in your lipstick, this will be the one for you. The colour appears instantly and it's very moisturising as well.

Godminster Organic Cheddar Cheese - Heart   £14.95 rrp (400g)

Organic Vintage Cheddar in Godminster's distinct burgandy wax

Me: Hubby took just a tiny bite and he's completely hooked. If it wasn't because he really cherished it (he refused to share with Abby and wondered why I gave her a big piece) he would have finished it within 3 days (we were given a 200g sample I think). He was looking for the cheese everywhere but the closest farm shop that stocks it is still miles away from us. I guess eventually he'll just have to fork out for the postage hehe.

The cheese is really salty and a little actually goes a very long way. But when that small bit of cheese melted in your mouth into a creamy puddle, and you have finished nibbling on the tiny bits of vintage cheese crystals, you'll start to salivate for more.

Henry Herbert's Online Bespoke Shirt   £145.00 (excluding £10.00 p&p)

Or check out their accessories from cuff links to leather bags

Me: Don't need to say much. It's hubby's favourite shirt and he refused to wear it for normal days, said he wanted to save it for special occasions! I've also done a review on the online bespoke shirt service a few weeks ago if you are interested in knowing how it works.

Your Collage  - A1 sized Poster £24.00 rrp (£12.00 January Sale)

Up to 100 of your chosen digital photos to be put together in a collage and printed in either poster or canvas format

Me: The hardest thing to do is to choose 100 photos. The uploading doesn't take long and you still get a say on how you want the collage look like by choosing layout, resizing photos, putting them in the front or back. The outcome is impressive and definitely a centre of attention. Now we just need to laminate it!

Disclosure: I was given a packet of Divine Chocolate, an Essential Care lipstick, a (200g I think) Heart shaped Cheese and an A1 collage poster for this feature to review; all opinions are honest and my own

Giveaway

Here are some gifts from me to you <3

Discount Code:

10% off Essential Care Organic Skincare and Makeup www.essential-care.co.uk - thisislife (valid from 1st February 2012 until 29th February 2012)

Raffle Gifts:

Update: I was using Rafflecopter for this giveaway but realised that you can enter the giveaway without leaving a blog comment, or just paste any twitter URL. Now that's not very nice to the others is it?

So until Rafflecopter can fix their issue, I'll have to reserve back to the traditional method.

Anyway, if you fancy winning yourself one of these lovely gifts, just follow the instructions below:

Celliana - Reversible Bling Heart Pendant (25" long)   £14.00

- Wooden heart pendant featuring high quality crystal stones on one side, plain wood on the other

- Metal silver finish chain and lobster claw ending

- This gift will be posted by Celliana's PR

Miners Cosmetics - Voluptulash Mascara in Extra Black   £3.99 (9ml)

- Unique hour-glass shaped brush, designed to sculpt and volumise
- Smudge-proof mascara
- This gift will be posted by me

find me a gift - Red Rose Compact (Pocket size) Mirror   £3.99

- Velvety soft to touch

- One normal and one magnified side

- Approx 6.2x6.2x1cm when closed

- This gift will be posted by find me a gift

from you to me - 'I Love You' Card Journal   £3.99

- Enables you to say more than you would with a standard greeting card

- 5 key prompts to help you write your card journal that will capture memories and share experiences

- This gift will be posted by from you to me

To enter:

1. Simply leave me a blog comment, telling me what you'd WISH to win. Please remember to leave me a way to contact you should you win.

2. For a second chance to win, 'Like' my Facebook page, and let me know that you've done so.

3. For a third chance to win, tweet ' I have entered @Ang_thisislife Valentine's Day giveaway http://bit.ly/x5Ryxl' #AngthisislifeGiveaway ' on Twitter.

Deadline - Sunday 5th February, 2012 11:59pm

Announce winners - before Wednesday 8th February, 2012

T&C:

• Open to UK residents only
• I'll only use your contact details to contact you should you win
• Your shipping details will be passed on to the relevant company should you win their gift, for them to post it (apart from the mascara)

Thanks to Celliana, Miners Cosmetics, find me a gift and from you to me for donating gifts for this giveaway x

This competition is listed on:

ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions
Loquax Competitions