"conversation hearts" news and stories

We love those conversation hearts from Necco (and, what the heck, the knockoffs too, whether they be bitter or sweet or plain obnoxious). When I was a little girl whose head was filled with images of princess hats, men on white horses, and endless gifts of Whitman's Samplers and sugary candy and roses for Valentine's Day, I imagined the time when my sweetheart would express his love with those sweet, sweet hearts.

But it's never really happened as in my dream. When my husband proposed? It wasn't by handing me a candy heart imprinted in pink smudged block letters with "MARRY ME."

Has that ever happened, to you or someone you know? Please do share.

[Photo Sarah Gilbert]

Now, if you wanted to get your cynical Valentine's message across in some sugar-laden form, you could do like Sarah Gim and pipe your witty messages onto homemade cookies. Or, if you're lazy but still feeling acerbic, there are Bittersweets, conversation heart candies with messages like "call a 900#," "he has a job," or "prenup ok?" There are two different themes: "dejected" and "disfunctional," each of  which has dozens of sayings. A few other gems: "C that door?" "settle 4 less" and "table for 1." Each six-ounce box is about 10 bucks.