Valentines Day Gifts

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope everyone had a safe and fun New Year’s Eve and is ready to have an incredible 2008!

One of my buddies last night had a Nintendo Wii party at his house to ring in the new year.  I didn’t go to it (lured by another party which had a pool table and hot tub), but I’m very jealous that he has the Wii.  Those sports games seem so cool.  And I know it’s not the most romantic gift in the world, but it might be something fun you can do together as a couple - and what could be a better Valentines Day Gift than just spending time together?  (Was that a little too mushy?)

With Christmas now in the rear view mirror, it’s time to look forward to Valentines Day, only seven weeks away.  Are you ready?  Well, probably not, so we aim to give you some more ideas.

My favorite gift that I got for Christmas this year was something called a liquor carousel.  Basically it’s an easy way to pour up to six bottles with perfect 1.5 oz pours.  I’m not sure where it came from, possibly Sam’s Club.

Obviously this gift would be a perfect Valentines Day gift for anyone who enjoys a drink every now and then, and any other time between now and then.

What was your favorite gift?

I hear that pocket watches are making a comeback. I don’t know exactly who carries them - I’m just telling you what I heard. Not for me, but then again I’ve never been one to wear a watch at all. For whatever reason, they make me jittery (don’t laugh. Oh wait, you already did? Nevermind then). I think it’s because I’m constantly checking the time, so that makes me constantly worried about being late. So…I guess maybe I do need a pocket watch then.

Of course, I already have a cell phone which sends emails, makes and receives calls, has chat capabilities, plays old Nintendo games, stores books, and even…tells the time. Oh, and it can be a tip calculator.

Anyway, the point is that some people really like pocket watches. It probably makes them look cool or old school or something.

Come to think of it, my grandpa would have probably worn…er, carried…a pocket watch. And the best site I’ve found for buying them is JewelElegance.com. Go check them out.

I had a chance to join a wine of the month club recently, and I couldn’t be happier with it.  Usually I buy 2 or 3 bottles of wine each month anyway, but I have really no idea what I’m buying, other than it’s red.  I’ll go to Harris Teeter and pick out whatever red wine bottles are marked down the most.  Yup, definitely a connoisseur.  So having experts pick out wine for me is perfect, and I might even develop a taste for certain Merlots or Cabernets (”Cabs” for us experts).

The company I signed up with is GoldMedalWine.com, and they have three different levels of clubs based on your taste and your budget.  If your a big baller and you get bored if brushing your teeth with Dom, you may want to join the Diamond Club, which ranges in price from $150-$180 per month (although they limit that club to 500 entrants).  But if you’re like me and don’t have the discerning palate just yet and/or don’t have the budget, you’ll want to go with the $30/mo Gold Club.  But who knows, maybe I’ll be movin’ on up one of these days.

And for Valentines Day or Christmas, they have gift cards available.  This would be perfect to get that special woman who likes a variety of wine.  Or perhaps you know she likes wine, but you just haven’t been paying attention and don’t really know what kind.

Anyway, very happy so far - can’t wait to get more next month!

I heard through the grapevine that a company called BedinaBox.com is going to do a video contest for a blogging network.  I’m not sure how it works, but it sounds like bloggers will be asked to make a video (like a commercial maybe?), then submit it, and the best videos will get something from their website.  It’s not like they have any inexpensive products out there, so it must be something good - a coupon for a memory foam mattress maybe?  I don’t know, that would be kind of crazy.  But what if it wasn’t?  What if they were giving away a whole bed if you made a great video?  Maybe I’ll enter it, although I’m not quite sure how.  A lot of people are going to do something with the Justin Timberlake / Andy Samberg video with the similar name, right?

I’ll have to think of some creative ideas, because that would be a ridiculous prize - and a great Valentines Day gift!

Nice list Hot Chick! I only threw up in my mouth when I thought about watching a few of those. Oh, just kidding. Well, only half-kidding anyway. I’ve never seen Love and Basketball, but I’ll have to at some point. And I need to make a Chick-Flicks that Guys Don’t Mind Watching list.

With no transition, I wanted to mention Canvas on Demand again. I talked about this a long time ago, but these canvases are just incredible. My boss recently got one for his father-in-law’s funeral. Every single one I’ve seen so far has nearly brought someone to tears. Basically what they do is take a photo and enlarge it to a mixture of a painting and photo and imprint it on a canvas. You’ll really have to see it to appreciate it, but they make perfect Valentines Day gifts.

Ok, enough ranting about fast food deliciousness. Any more road trips with Taco Bell and snack food the whole way and I’ll end up at fat camp.

But that’s not the camp that the title refers to. Ladies, a great gift that you can give your man would be to send him to camp, and there are a ton out there. If he’s a formal baseball player or just a fan of America’s game, send him to baseball camp.

If he’s a wannabe poker player, send him to the WPT Poker Camp.

I’m sure you can also find football camps, basketball camps, or even golf camps. You get to play with other amateurs, and you get instruction from real pros and coaches. These will probably cost a lot, but it might be the best gift ever if he’s a huge fan of the sport / game. Plus you get a vacation from each other for a week or so too. And if he goes to poker camp and actually learns something, he might make all that money back.

I had one of those “Did I really just hear that?” moments yesterday. I was on a road trip zoned out so I had to rewind it. After hearing it again, I determined that I really did hear Taco Bell advertising for gift certificates. It was something to the effect of, “Do you not know what to get your loved one for Christmas? Taco Bell gift cards make a great gift!” Seriously? Can you imagine giving your significant other a Taco Bell gift card? If you’re going for worst reaction ever maybe. I’d guess the reactions would range from:

• “Where’s the real gift?” to
• “What is this? You think I’m fat? What you think I like most in life is Taco Bell?”, followed by you getting kicked out of the house and having to find a hotel. Then her getting in really good shape and finding someone better.

Yeah, nice one Taco Bell - way to ruin relationships.

(Um, by the way, if any ladies want to get me a Taco Bell gift card, that would be awesome.)

Nice, good one Hot Chick!  The Princess Bride is a classic.  Did you know that Andre the Giant once drank 119 12-oz beers in a 6 hour period?  Inconceivable!  Can’t wait to see what’s next.

So I was scouring the web for different gift ideas, and I found a great site that you can go to for many different personalized gifts, MemorableGifts.com.  They have a lot of gifts there that really qualify as ‘gifts you give when you have no idea what to get but don’t want to get in trouble by giving a gift certificate’.  And yes, that’s a new official gift giving category - don’t act like you wouldn’t get in trouble if you bought a gift card - even if it was to your loved one’s favorite store.  My favorite of the ‘gifts you give when you have no idea what to get but don’t want to get in trouble by giving a gift certificate’ is the personalized CD/DVD cover.

This is a pretty cool idea - you make either a mixed CD of your favorite songs, or you make a DVD of videos or pictures together.

I was taking a look at a site today called SeniorStore.com and it got me to thinking, is buying a gift for Grandma on Valentines Day too much of a stretch?  I really can’t remember if I ever bought anything for my grandma or not.  I’m pretty sure she sends me a card at least, so it probably makes me a bad grandson that I don’t send her anything.  Well, just add that to the tally I suppose - bad son, uncle, nephew, brother, godson, in-law, cousin, and grandson.  Oh well - always time to make up for years of neglect.

I’ll have to check out that site to find some Christmas and Valentines Day gift ideas for gram.