Romanticize your life this month 💕

Practices, activities, and fun ideas to help usher in this season of love

A little over two years ago, I vulnerably chose “Romance” as my Word of the Year. I meant it not only as an intention to “romanticize” my life, but to declare my hope—perhaps even my expectation—for a romantic partnership. And well…you might know how that turned out for me. 🙃¹

As Valentine’s Day approaches, this single gal is reclaiming a little bit of that original intention. I’m still holding out for the kind of partnership I desire, of course, and in the meantime, I’m leaning into the heart-centered vibes.

I thought it might be fun to share some chicken soup for the heart—things that warm, inspire, and delight in an otherwise commercialized and overblown time. And okay, some seemingly superficial stuff, too, because we all know the power of a cute outfit!

Below you’ll find practices, activities, and fun ideas to help usher in this season of love (cue music).

Things to Do:

Write a Letter from Love

This beautiful practice, introduced to me by Elizabeth Gilbert, is a simple but incredibly healing act of writing a letter to Unconditional Love—to God, to Spirit, to whatever you resonate with—asking “What would you have me know today?” and then writing out the response.

You can read more about it, along with Liz’s daily letters, on her Substack, but I also would highly recommend listening to this two-part episode on We Can Do Hard Things where Abby and Glennon read their own STUNNING letters. Whether you take part or just read along, I am confident you will find healing and truth in this beautiful practice.

Book a Heartspark Session with Amanda Johnson

Have you ever done an energy healing session before? I’ve done three so far and I cannot recommend it enough! In these sessions, Amanda guides you through a relaxing meditation before dropping into energy work (all you have to do is rest!), and then she shares messages and guidance around your soul's unique journey.

You can come with a specific question or area you’d like to explore, or you can come open to whatever message wants to come through. Either way, the clarity and direction that comes from these sessions is deeply revealing and productive—and they’re also wildly fun. (Use code HeartsparkMarissa for 20% off!)

Things to Read:

A Perfect Vintage by Chelsea Fagan

If you’re looking for a deeply satisfying romance with a realistically flawed but smart and successful protagonist and a (gasp) younger French man without the tired “we assume dumb things about each other and don’t communicate thus sending our whole relationship into a tailspin that is easily resolvable” plot, this is the book for you.

Bonus points: it’ll have you dreaming about sunbathing and sipping wine in the French countryside.

Amazon | Bookshop

Fair Play by Eve Rodsky

I haven’t read the book yet, but I have picked up on the principles of Fair Play from Laura Danger and I can’t wait to use this as a life-changing tool for navigating discussions around equitable distribution of household tasks and mental load with my future partner. Even the most progressive and feminist of relationships can still fall into these patterns!

Amazon | Bookshop

How to Be a Bad Friend by Katherine Sleadd

I put off reading this book for literal months and I finally cracked it open a few days ago and am already underlining the crap out of it. We all have experienced heartbreak from lost friendships and yet we rarely have the language to talk about it and why it hurts so bad. Katherine offers us a new way to look at those friendships that have ended without shame.

Amazon

Love and Saffron by Kim Fay

I was gifted this epistolary novel about friendship, food, and love and can’t wait to cozy up with it.

Amazon | Bookshop

Things to Listen to:

The Pride and Prejudice (2005) soundtrack

Soundtracks are one of the best hacks for curating an embodied, romantic experience. Put one on, let it fill your body, and notice how you experience your surroundings. Highly recommend listening to this one while on a drive or a walk.

My Galentine’s Playlist

Originally curated in 2022 as part of my Romance year, this playlist is for the girls, filled with songs of yore, such as “No Scrubs,” and “A Thousand Miles.”

Forever Alone, a podcast by Rachel East

If you’re single and unwilling to settle but also don’t resonate with some of the more common dating advice going around, I cannot recommend this podcast series enough.

It’s the story of my perpetually single BFF Rachel and all of the crap she has done to get out of her own way and give herself—and hopefully you—the best possible chance of finding real, long haul, committed love. The perspective she shares on love and singledom in this age is refreshingly honest, without making your singledom your “fault,” like you so often hear from relationship experts. And I won’t spoil what comes after Forever Alone in Rachel’s story, but let’s just say…it’s working.

Things to Wear:

A Subtle Nod to Valentine’s Day

Wear your heart on your sleeve with this subtly-sweet embroidered chambray with navy hearts (because I guess chambray is back now?!), these fun retro-inspired sunglasses, and a signature red lip. Also kind of obsessed with these colorblocked slingbacks.

I miiiight try to hack the chambray by attempting to use the heart stitch on my sewing machine…

An heirloom locket

This heirloom locket from Little Sycamore is unlike anything I’ve ever seen because the pictures are printed directly onto the metal, making it luxury, long-lasting, nostalgic-yet-modern, and waterproof! Currently only the Sterling Silver is available, but you can add your email to be notified when gold is available again!

Things to Make:

Punch Needle Art

Grab a kit for you and your bestie and spend an afternoon punching away and catching up. I find punch needle far more satisfying than embroidery and cross-stitch because it’s faster to complete and easy to fix or cover up mistakes. This shop on Etsy has some awesome beginner-friendly kits.

A Honeygirl tee from Paradise Patterns x Lyrical Fabrics

If you’re a sewist, this is a super quick and fun basic-with-a-twist. I adore the scallop stitch on the neckline! Keep fabrication in mind as this pattern is drafted specifically for pointelle and other cotton knits with low recovery.

Not a sewist? Skip the work and snag this gorgeous pointelle sweater!

Things to Eat and Drink:

Brown Sugar Pop Tart Bars

My brother pretty much exclusively ate brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts when we were kids (Except he preferred them non-frosted 😱 I can still hear him chewing that dry, dry pastry 😂) and I plan on making this grownup version for him for his birthday in April, but I may not be able to wait until then. There’s also a strawberry version, if that’s more your flavor.

Raspberry Rose Poppi

I’m all about functional drinks these days, but I still want to sip something fun! This probiotic soda is delicious on its own, especially when poured into a fancy glass. Uplevel it by adding some heavy cream or your favorite creamer for more of a float vibe

I hope you’ll join me in combating our seasonal depression by leaning into the juicy heart stuff this February! What else would you add to this list? Let’s hear it in the comments!

1. Spoiler alert: I got diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022, but I’m trying not to mention that in every single post because god, what a bore.

This post may contain affiliate links.