Celebrate With The Ones You Love
The holidays are a time to connect with the ones you love. For “Love the Present” — our holiday campaign this year — we decided to feature real-life families and couples. It was a choice we felt embodied a season defined by expressions of joy and togetherness. Shot responsibly on location in upstate New York, the campaign celebrates the spirt of the season.
Below, you can read more about the real-life couples featured in the campaign.
Guinevere and Beau | @guineverevanseenus @simnyc
Name(s) / Nicknames
Guinevere van Seenus, AKA Baby, Don’t call me Baby
Beau Friedlander, AKA Baby, Don’t call me Baby
How did you meet? How long have you been together?
We were neighbors! Our meet-cute was in the park where our dogs play in the morning. We’ve been best friends for four years or so. About two years ago we became partners.
How do you live in the present with each other?
We live together in Brooklyn with Beau’s daughter Esther, our three dogs and two cats. We keep busy with creative projects and vacuuming pet fur. Guinevere works on her photography and makes complex woven jewelry in gold and semi-precious stones. Beau writes, makes music and works on stone sculptures on the roof. We like to take our dogs to remote areas for a run and share similar obsessions for strange food and animals large and small. Guinevere was recently annoyed when Beau “liberated” (into the East River) a bag of mussels she bought for dinner and also when he tried to adopt a “surprise" 200-lb dog. She admitted later that the mussels deserved freedom.
What have been the most memorable gifts you’ve received from each other?
Guinevere gave me a ring made by a jeweler in the 1880s. I wanted some gold on my hands for good luck. I gave Guinevere a work of art by an artist we both admire who embroiders on found photographs. It got stuck in customs, so I had the artist present the gift to her on Instagram.
Favorite holiday memories and traditions? Any new traditions together?
We use a Michael Jackson sparkly glove instead of a star on the Christmas tree. Our new tradition is listening to Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas.
How do you celebrate the holidays? How will you be celebrating this year due to Covid?
We will celebrate at home with Beau’s two kids, our dogs and our cats.
Samantha & Nicola | @samgradoville @wincenc
Name(s)/Nicknames?
Samantha Gradoville nickname Sam
Nicola Wincenc nickname Nic or Wincenc
How did you meet? How long have you been together?
Our spark first began under a large display of fireworks on July 4, 2015. But it wasn’t until spring 2019 that our passion truly ignited when we were reunited at Riverside Park when they introduced our spirit animal - the goat - into the park. We simply could no longer contain our love around these magical creatures and knew we were meant to be together.
How do you live in the present with each other?
We believe that the only thing we truly have in this life is time, and to be present in the moment is a mantra we try our best to live by every day. Being in nature is one of our favorite ways to stay present. We take lots of trips out of the city to appreciate nature and climb mountains like the goats we are! [We are both Capricorns!] We help each other stay present in the moment by supporting each other in all the ways of a friend and lover, and pulling funny pranks on each other.
What have been the most memorable gifts you’ve received from each other?
Samantha gave me a beautiful smoky quartz and my favorite stone, azurite, which I keep on top of my speakers. They have brought great new energy to the music that I make. Samantha is also a talented jeweler, and I love wearing the beautiful gold ring that she made for me.
Nicola is an amazing film photographer and gave me a beautiful framed print of me on one of our hikes in nature. And most recently he went and got me a puppy!
Favorite holiday memories and traditions? Any new traditions together?
We think the most exciting tradition we now get to experience together is our birthday week extravaganza since we are five days apart. It’s nice to find someone who has dealt with having Christmas, New Years, and a birthday all at one time.
My favorite birthday memory is when Samantha surprised me with a cake made of Butter Balls!
My favorite holiday memory is when Nicola went out in the morning of the first major snowfall and made his footprints create a huge heart that was bigger than the house! It was so romantic to wake up and look out the window to see this gesture of love.
How do you celebrate the holidays? How will you be celebrating this year due to Covid?
During Covid we realized we are an amazing cooking duo in the kitchen. This holiday we will be celebrating by making some of our favorite recipes such as our incredible chicken pot pie, rustic chicken soup with veggies, can’t-believe-they’re-gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, and cinnamon apple pie ala mode!
Sanna & Luccas
Name(s) / Nicknames
We never really had nicknames for each other, but “My love, babe, Amor”
How did you meet? How long have you been together?
We met 5 years ago, in Paris for the first time. We didn’t really talk then but I remember I thought he was so cute, then a few weeks later we both were in NYC and he found me on Facebook and asked to hang out. And guess we just never stopped.
How do you live in the present with each other?
We have this moment in the morning when we get our coffee and take a little walk together. It feels good to share that (more or less) quiet time before going on with the day, to ground us. Lucas is a dreamer, and I can be very matter of fact, so he is always there to remind me to stop and look at all the beauty in life.
What have been the most memorable gifts you’ve received from each other?
Honestly, it’s our son, August. He truly is the gift above all that we as a team worked to make possible, & we created and gave ourselves a family. That just enhances our purpose in life, as lovers, partners, parents - there is nothing to compare.
Favorite holiday memories and traditions? Any new traditions together?
We spent last Christmas and New Year’s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with Lucas family. They met August for the first time then, he was 8 months old. It was so special and beautiful. Lots of love and days on the beach together.
It’s fun because we now are our own little family and get to think about what traditions we want to create for August. The most important thing to us is that he experiences both Brazilian and Swedish cultures and grow up to appreciate them and their differences.
I remember as a child that decorating the house with my mom was one of the coziest things about Christmas, for example, so I will try to give that to him. I cook for August all the standard foods I grew up with, and Brazilian rice and beans I learned from Lucas’s mom and sister, and he eats it all.
How do you celebrate the holidays? How will you be celebrating this year due to Covid?
Usually, we would travel to either of our home countries to spend holidays with family, so we are not sure yet if that makes sense this year due to current circumstances. We might stay home in New York and have our own little quiet Christmas for the first time.
Barbara and Paolo
Name(s) / Nicknames
Barbara Valente and Paulo Almeida
How did you meet? How long have you been together?
We met at my first time in L.A., we started to talk few days into my trip, and he asked me if I wanted to hang out with his friends. We met at Santa Monica beach and since that day we became very good friends and after 9 months we started dating each other.
We met at Santa Monica Beach two years back and we’ve been together for a year and a half now.
How do you live in the present with each other?
We love to be together doing our thing, sometimes we try to cook (we can do an amazing pasta and couscous only LOL) and I love when we dance for fun at our apartment. I always felt free to be myself with Paulo and that’s why I love to be with him.
We lived together up until a few weeks ago, Barbara moved to Europe and I am going to Brazil to work on a project of mine but soon we’ll be together again.
What have been the most memorable gifts you’ve received from each other?
He taught me before quarantine how to print photos in the darkroom, it was a good moment because I tried to print some special photos that I had from Indonesia. And a big gift is when he talks about what he loves, it makes me feel this kind of fire that we have about feeling excited about things in our life. I feel inspired each time.
The most memorable gift I’ve received from Barbara has to be the way she has helped me open up to myself and to the world. To become more of a person, I’ve always known I am but to feel free to be that person. She has gifted me that unknowingly.
Favorite holiday memories and traditions? Any new traditions together?
When we were in Brazil after 5 years that Paulo was not there, it was very special to see him with his family and old friends. Sometimes we draw each other without see it.
My favorite holiday memory has to be when we were city hoping in Europe. It felt like it was only the two of us and no one else.
How do you celebrate the holidays? How will you be celebrating this year due to Covid?
We like to travel to some places that we don’t know and discover it. We don’t have any plans for this holiday, and we don’t want to make any. Just go with the flow and see what life is going to show for us later. I am sure we’re going to celebrate at a sunny place.
We don’t usually have plans, just what happens at that specific time. We are still deciding what to do and where to be at the end of the year but we’ll be somewhere where we can feel the warmth of the sun.
The holidays are a time to connect with the ones you love. For “Love the Present” — our holiday campaign this year — we decided to feature real-life families and couples. It was a choice we felt embodied a season defined by expressions of joy and togetherness. Shot responsibly on location in upstate New York, the campaign celebrates the spirt of the season.
Below, you can read more about the real-life couples featured in the campaign.
Guinevere and Beau | @guineverevanseenus @simnyc
Name(s) / Nicknames
Guinevere van Seenus, AKA Baby, Don’t call me Baby
Beau Friedlander, AKA Baby, Don’t call me Baby
How did you meet? How long have you been together?
We were neighbors! Our meet-cute was in the park where our dogs play in the morning. We’ve been best friends for four years or so. About two years ago we became partners.
How do you live in the present with each other?
We live together in Brooklyn with Beau’s daughter Esther, our three dogs and two cats. We keep busy with creative projects and vacuuming pet fur. Guinevere works on her photography and makes complex woven jewelry in gold and semi-precious stones. Beau writes, makes music and works on stone sculptures on the roof. We like to take our dogs to remote areas for a run and share similar obsessions for strange food and animals large and small. Guinevere was recently annoyed when Beau “liberated” (into the East River) a bag of mussels she bought for dinner and also when he tried to adopt a “surprise" 200-lb dog. She admitted later that the mussels deserved freedom.
What have been the most memorable gifts you’ve received from each other?
Guinevere gave me a ring made by a jeweler in the 1880s. I wanted some gold on my hands for good luck. I gave Guinevere a work of art by an artist we both admire who embroiders on found photographs. It got stuck in customs, so I had the artist present the gift to her on Instagram.
Favorite holiday memories and traditions? Any new traditions together?
We use a Michael Jackson sparkly glove instead of a star on the Christmas tree. Our new tradition is listening to Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas.
How do you celebrate the holidays? How will you be celebrating this year due to Covid?
We will celebrate at home with Beau’s two kids, our dogs and our cats.
Samantha & Nicola | @samgradoville @wincenc
Name(s)/Nicknames?
Samantha Gradoville nickname Sam
Nicola Wincenc nickname Nic or Wincenc
How did you meet? How long have you been together?
Our spark first began under a large display of fireworks on July 4, 2015. But it wasn’t until spring 2019 that our passion truly ignited when we were reunited at Riverside Park when they introduced our spirit animal - the goat - into the park. We simply could no longer contain our love around these magical creatures and knew we were meant to be together.
How do you live in the present with each other?
We believe that the only thing we truly have in this life is time, and to be present in the moment is a mantra we try our best to live by every day. Being in nature is one of our favorite ways to stay present. We take lots of trips out of the city to appreciate nature and climb mountains like the goats we are! [We are both Capricorns!] We help each other stay present in the moment by supporting each other in all the ways of a friend and lover, and pulling funny pranks on each other.
What have been the most memorable gifts you’ve received from each other?
Samantha gave me a beautiful smoky quartz and my favorite stone, azurite, which I keep on top of my speakers. They have brought great new energy to the music that I make. Samantha is also a talented jeweler, and I love wearing the beautiful gold ring that she made for me.
Nicola is an amazing film photographer and gave me a beautiful framed print of me on one of our hikes in nature. And most recently he went and got me a puppy!
Favorite holiday memories and traditions? Any new traditions together?
We think the most exciting tradition we now get to experience together is our birthday week extravaganza since we are five days apart. It’s nice to find someone who has dealt with having Christmas, New Years, and a birthday all at one time.
My favorite birthday memory is when Samantha surprised me with a cake made of Butter Balls!
My favorite holiday memory is when Nicola went out in the morning of the first major snowfall and made his footprints create a huge heart that was bigger than the house! It was so romantic to wake up and look out the window to see this gesture of love.
How do you celebrate the holidays? How will you be celebrating this year due to Covid?
During Covid we realized we are an amazing cooking duo in the kitchen. This holiday we will be celebrating by making some of our favorite recipes such as our incredible chicken pot pie, rustic chicken soup with veggies, can’t-believe-they’re-gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, and cinnamon apple pie ala mode!
Sanna & Luccas
Name(s) / Nicknames
We never really had nicknames for each other, but “My love, babe, Amor”
How did you meet? How long have you been together?
We met 5 years ago, in Paris for the first time. We didn’t really talk then but I remember I thought he was so cute, then a few weeks later we both were in NYC and he found me on Facebook and asked to hang out. And guess we just never stopped.
How do you live in the present with each other?
We have this moment in the morning when we get our coffee and take a little walk together. It feels good to share that (more or less) quiet time before going on with the day, to ground us. Lucas is a dreamer, and I can be very matter of fact, so he is always there to remind me to stop and look at all the beauty in life.
What have been the most memorable gifts you’ve received from each other?
Honestly, it’s our son, August. He truly is the gift above all that we as a team worked to make possible, & we created and gave ourselves a family. That just enhances our purpose in life, as lovers, partners, parents - there is nothing to compare.
Favorite holiday memories and traditions? Any new traditions together?
We spent last Christmas and New Year’s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with Lucas family. They met August for the first time then, he was 8 months old. It was so special and beautiful. Lots of love and days on the beach together.
It’s fun because we now are our own little family and get to think about what traditions we want to create for August. The most important thing to us is that he experiences both Brazilian and Swedish cultures and grow up to appreciate them and their differences.
I remember as a child that decorating the house with my mom was one of the coziest things about Christmas, for example, so I will try to give that to him. I cook for August all the standard foods I grew up with, and Brazilian rice and beans I learned from Lucas’s mom and sister, and he eats it all.
How do you celebrate the holidays? How will you be celebrating this year due to Covid?
Usually, we would travel to either of our home countries to spend holidays with family, so we are not sure yet if that makes sense this year due to current circumstances. We might stay home in New York and have our own little quiet Christmas for the first time.
Barbara and Paolo
Name(s) / Nicknames
Barbara Valente and Paulo Almeida
How did you meet? How long have you been together?
We met at my first time in L.A., we started to talk few days into my trip, and he asked me if I wanted to hang out with his friends. We met at Santa Monica beach and since that day we became very good friends and after 9 months we started dating each other.
We met at Santa Monica Beach two years back and we’ve been together for a year and a half now.
How do you live in the present with each other?
We love to be together doing our thing, sometimes we try to cook (we can do an amazing pasta and couscous only LOL) and I love when we dance for fun at our apartment. I always felt free to be myself with Paulo and that’s why I love to be with him.
We lived together up until a few weeks ago, Barbara moved to Europe and I am going to Brazil to work on a project of mine but soon we’ll be together again.
What have been the most memorable gifts you’ve received from each other?
He taught me before quarantine how to print photos in the darkroom, it was a good moment because I tried to print some special photos that I had from Indonesia. And a big gift is when he talks about what he loves, it makes me feel this kind of fire that we have about feeling excited about things in our life. I feel inspired each time.
The most memorable gift I’ve received from Barbara has to be the way she has helped me open up to myself and to the world. To become more of a person, I’ve always known I am but to feel free to be that person. She has gifted me that unknowingly.
Favorite holiday memories and traditions? Any new traditions together?
When we were in Brazil after 5 years that Paulo was not there, it was very special to see him with his family and old friends. Sometimes we draw each other without see it.
My favorite holiday memory has to be when we were city hoping in Europe. It felt like it was only the two of us and no one else.
How do you celebrate the holidays? How will you be celebrating this year due to Covid?
We like to travel to some places that we don’t know and discover it. We don’t have any plans for this holiday, and we don’t want to make any. Just go with the flow and see what life is going to show for us later. I am sure we’re going to celebrate at a sunny place.
We don’t usually have plans, just what happens at that specific time. We are still deciding what to do and where to be at the end of the year but we’ll be somewhere where we can feel the warmth of the sun.
