If you know me, you know that I love to celebrate Valentine's Day.  Being a designer of both jewelry and lingerie, I suppose you could have made that assumption on your own.  Alas, both categories are full of wonderful options to gift your sweetheart.  

One of my favorite new pieces is a delightful tribute to romance.  This charming ring is heart-shaped, and composed of heart-shaped cut tourmaline stones, in varying shades of green.  It's a double hit of LOVE, and is certain to make someone extremely happy this Valentine's Day.  

This year we are thrilled to celebrate both LOVE, and our love of the arts.  On Saturday February 11th we are hosting a grantLOVE x Alisa Ratner event benefitting X-TRA Contemporary Art Journal, the longest running art journal in Los Angeles.  This feels especially meaningful this year, and the collaboration between Alexandra and Alisa has produced an incredibly beautiful body of work.  

I hope you can join us between 4-7pm to say hello, and purchase a print!  Each purchase is accompanied by an edition of X-TRA, and LFrank will gift a print with each jewelry purchase.  We have a limited edition of prints, as well as seventeen special edition one-of-a-kind pieces, and have already pre-sold quite a few, so come early!  

Another sure-fire hit this Valentine's Day would be one of our Juno silk charmeuse slips.  I love the version with a French lace hem, and am especially fond of it in rose gold.  It is the softest shade of blush, and is flattering on truly everyone.  

You or your love would also be quite thrilled to receive one of the Liberty print Asteria silk crepe de chine robes.  They are so well-loved, and one of our most popular lingerie pieces.  You really can't go wrong with one of these, and we have lots of prints to choose from in both silk and cotton.

Do swing by, as this year we are also lucky to have a few limited edition Pamela Hanson x Private Room books available.  I couldn't think of a better book to give your Valentine.  That, along with a selection of Milla Chocolates, plus one of our essential oil scented 100% beeswax candles, and you will be in perfect shape for celebrating Saint Valentine. Some may scoff, feeling like it is such a forced holiday, but I don't think it's ever a bad idea to treat the one that you love, or yourself for that matter!

This year, I've decided to make chocolate truffles for Valentine's Day.  I haven't made them in awhile, and there's something about the labor that goes into them, and their sheer decadence that makes them feel special.  I love the recipe for Black-on-Black Truffles from Pierre Hermé.  I promise you will be greatly adored by whomever you chose to make these for.  

9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I use Valrhona)

1 cup heavy cream

3.5 tbs. unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into 4 pieces

Dutch-processed cocoa powder

Put the chocolate into a heatproof bowl.  Bring the cream to a full boil in a saucepan, and then pour the hot cream over the chocolate.  Stir gently to make a smooth ganache. Allow to cool a bit before adding the butter, 2 pieces at a time, and stir to blend.  When all the butter is incorporated, pour the ganache into a bowl and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.  With a bowl of cocoa powder ready, line a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper.  Form small balls (they do not have to be perfectly round, in fact I think they're more delicious if they are more organically shaped) and dip into the cocoa powder.  You can roll them around in a fine mesh sieve to remove the excess, then place them on the baking sheet.

Enjoy, and Happy Valentine's Day to all...