Gift Suggest

Last year I got it in my head that men shouldn’t have to do all the work to create a romantic valentines day. What started it was a fight I’d had with my boyfriend which later turned out to be my fault. I didn’t exactly apologize to him we just made up i.e. I started talking to him again. But I felt guilty and began thinking that all I ever did on valentines day was dress-up and look pretty; so I told my boyfriend that I’d be making all the arrangements for a romantic valentines day.

I think if I’d shot myself in the foot it would’ve had less dire consequences than my idea to plan Valentines dinner and everything. My boyfriend kept offering to take over but I was determined to plan a super romantic valentines dinner or die trying. And on top of all it I had to find a romantic gift for my boyfriend. For the first time since I began dating, I actually fell behind on my Valentines shopping.

The whole valentines dinner plans weren’t going well either, I couldn’t get any reservations at a nice affordable place and as much as I didn’t want to, I ended up cooking Valentines dinner myself. Oh and I couldn’t buy myself any valentines bouquets or heart shaped valentines candy which otherwise my boyfriend would give me at dinner. I was about ready to bail out but my boyfriend had stopped offering to help me so I didn’t have a choice anymore. That was the one time I didn’t get a Valentines Day gift for my boyfriend. On Valentines Day my boyfriend (who knew that I’d had a pretty rough time with all the valentines planning) really out did himself.

He bought me a valentine chocolate box and flowers and a box of dipped fruit which beat all his other gifts by a mile. The dipped fruit was just delicious and it came in pineapples and oranges and chocolate strawberries. The chocolate covered strawberries were so delicious. It made me forget all about how hard it had been to plan the valentines dinner, it was all worth it.

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It doesn’t snow in California and no one ever bothered to tell me. I moved there to live with my grandma who’s sick and all and I figured I’d get to see the sea and just assumed that if it snowed in Chicago, there wasn’t any reason why it shouldn’t snow in California (since they’re both in the same country).

So basically I’m a 28 year old living in California for the past four years waiting for it to snow and the chances are not good. The closest thing that I saw to real snow was on Valentines Day last year. I never really realized how much I complained about the weather until then. My boyfriend gave me a huge snow surprise on valentine day. Winter usually starts off with me whining about the fact that there’s no snow until I drive my sick grandma up the wall.

My boyfriend takes me along when he goes valentines shopping and just asks me to pick whatever I want for a Valentines Day gift. He says it saves him the trouble of scouting out Valentines Day gifts for me himself and guarantees I get what I want. Even though I tag along I still tell him how completely unromantic it is. So last year he said I didn’t have to come and he’d go hunting for romantic gifts for women and I had to like whatever he got. Three days before Valentines Day and I began to think just how awful his gifts could turn out.

On Valentines Day my boyfriend announced that we’d be having dinner in his backyard and even though I smiled and said it was romantic I was thinking ‘Major lame’ in my head. The valentines dinner turned out to be really great. He made it a snow themed thing and rented a snow machine so that when I walked out to the table it was snowing. Even some of the food followed the theme, like the box of chocolate covered strawberries that was covered in coconut. It was so delicious and chocolate strawberries tied in with the theme just perfect! I never knew my boyfriend’s romantic and creative.

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You can always tell if a man has made any effort or put any thought behind the valentine’s Day gift he buys simply by looking at them. A simple rule of thumb is that flowers and Valentine’s Day chocolate mean the guy only remembered it was Valentines Day when he saw the morning paper. And if you receive a home appliance and/or dish washing detergent, it’s likely that your boyfriend/husband was trying to ‘think out side the box’.

I know all this because I’ve received everything from spatulas to fabric softener in eight years of marriage. When ever my husband forgets about Valentines Day I get things like Valentines bouquets or a valentine’s heart box. When he remembers to plan for it, I get things like an all-in-one vegetable shredder XP. Either ways, the chances of me getting a thoughtful romantic Valentines Day gift have been slim for a long time. I kind of thought that it was unfair since I devote hours to my valentines shopping looking for romantic gifts for my husband. I finally broke his habit last year when I threatened his valentine’s day gift would be as good as what he bought for me.

The effect was amazing, he not only began planning in advance for Valentine’s Day, but he also spent hours online searching for unique Valentine’s Day gift ideas. At first I was a bit annoyed with the fact that he was doing it to avoid getting a bad Valentine’s Day gift from me but when he gave me my Valentine’s Day gift, a box of delicious chocolate covered strawberries, I forgot everything. The wonderful box of chocolate strawberries was a superb gift and anyone who heard about it envied me.

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When I was in high school I was the typical giggling girl who went nuts over just about anything. I’d plan weeks in advance for any and all school events and if I didn’t get at least five heart shaped valentines chocolates boxes I would consider my valentines day a complete disaster. The kind of gifts that appealed to my silly sixteen year old mind the most were candy bouquets and just about everything else that was either chocolate or sugar or sugar coated chocolate.

Now that I’m all grown up (and dating a doctor) my crazy addiction to sugar and candy has reduced somewhat but I still wait impatiently for Valentines Day. I don’t expect a whole ton of Valentines Day gifts anymore either; just one really great mind blowing Valentines Day gift and I’m happy. Of course my boyfriend isn’t happy with that, he prefers buying me valentines bouquets or valentines chocolate gifts on and off in the days leading up to Valentines Day so that he’s relieved of the pressure to buy one superb gift that says it all. So we’ve made a little agreement; he takes me out for a nice valentines dinner and gets me flowers and one other gift

The overall effect is he doesn’t have to have to go crazy doing his valentines shopping trying to find a great Valentines Day gift for me. I don’t know why he worries so much; he’s great at picking out romantic gifts for women. Last year he gave me a bouquet of beautiful long stemmed roses and a box of absolutely delicious chocolate covered strawberries.

My mom used to make the chocolate strawberries at home when I was little but these tasted so much better and I was left wondering what brand of chocolate they use. The dipped fruit was so wonderful I would’ve have been happy with just getting fruit for Valentines Day for the rest of my life!

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