3 Cliche Valentine's Gifts to Stay Away From

February 11, 2009 7:41 PM
by Pete Tremblay

Only days from now all of us will be acknowledging and some of us will be celebrating the most (commercially) romantic holiday ever created in the name of love, lust and liability. Why liability you ask? Well, because if you are in a relationship and you choose to not celebrate the event; or if for all intents and purposes you fail at providing just the right feeling and gift for that person you love, well, you might not be spending that day with the same person come this time next year. Valentine’s Day is on its way and like it or not you have to do something about it. This year it’s time for a change, and for those of you who are celebrating with someone you care about in a very real sense, you owe it to her to get off your ass and figure out something special for the holiday, or at very least take my advice and AVOID these tired and aged ideas that are all too easy to rely upon during the times that we really can’t screw up. These are THE TOP 3 most overused and cliché Valentines Day gifts that should be avoided, and a few ideas to expand upon the original intention!

Roses (Red Variety) –

As we grow up, for some odd reason it is engrained into our collective Disney based imaginations that the best (and only) way to express the fact that you’ve got a little bit of strange feeling (down there) when you look into her eyes is to give her a plant’s reproductive organs. What better way to give her a roadmap to your intention than to express it metaphorically – with a rose. Hell every Valentines Day cliché is bathed in red and white, so why shouldn’t the symbolism be as well?

On the other hand…

Flowers are usually a good idea to give on corporate love day, especially with the love/lust filled intention that she gets the hint. However the idea of red roses jumped ship to the island of boring and played out in the 1950’s. Although with most clichés the sentiment really does hold weight and importance, the delivery and vehicle for that sentiment will (in almost all cases) be more meaningful if a little bit of effort and creativity is involved. MY suggestion, give her flowers, but something different, and equally as stunning and unique as she is (and if prompted as to why you chose to give her a bouquet of “birds of paradise” from Brazil you can even use that line. Not to mention score points for being cultured and appreciating what makes her unique.)

Tiffany’s Necklace/Standard Issue Jewelry –
It seems that more often than not in the annuls of symbolic love gift giving, the old go-to of somewhat pricey gifts to show the girl who you already are in a relationship with that you plan on coming home to her for a while longer has always been of the sparkly variety. This mindset exists for two reasons. 1. You’re spending a lot of your hard earned money on something that she can wear everyday that shows how much you care (the silver heart is an obvious give away) And 2. All of her friends already have a Tiffany’s heart shaped necklace/bracelet, and are asking her if you actually care that much about her.

On the other hand…

Gift giving in traditional senses has been a sign of the sacrifices you are willing and able to give up for each other, and anything that costs at least a good percentage of your pay-check will obviously mean you’ve thought enough about her to sacrifice every time you wanted to reach for the Grey Goose but instead chose the Popov in the name of love. Instead, give her something functional, shiny and a daily reminder of how you feel. Buy her an IPOD, load it with songs that remind her of you and the relationship and get the back engraved at your local Things Remembered with your names on it and a simple I love you. Make sure to throw on some Barry White mp3s for good measure.

Expensive Dinner at her favorite Restaurant –

As the old adage goes, the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Well surprisingly enough the sexual properties of food do go for both sexes, as long as whatever your trying to treat her to doesn’t make her think (IN ANY WAY) about food as anything else but a sensual enjoyable and romantic experience. The typical thought to this will be to take her out to the semi expensive, romantic Italian place and reserve the candle lit table in the back with a nice bottle of Wine.

On the other hand…

Food : Great Idea… However a typical, cliché, boring dinner out on the town, that you could and would have probably enjoyed any other night takes the romance out of what is in essence a really special occasion. Get creative with it. You can turn your living space into a veritable love den, and control everything, including the lighting, music, menu, and after party, as well as avoid the hour and a half wait, annoying couple that are fighting while sitting next to you on that uncomfortable bench, and any other unforeseen issue that could arise. Can’t cook? So what! Order in, pick up the food on the way home from work and put it in the oven. Tell her you will pick her up and to wear something nice, and let the food and effort in the entire immersive experience do the talking for you. If you want to really make a romantic experience out of it, mix the foreplay into the food… have her come over and cook the meal decorate the place with you. The entire experience will be well worth the anxiety of learning to roll your own sushi. If done right you will be eating on the kitchen floor with one another and forget about the candles, rose petals and Barry White playing in the bedroom for later.

No matter what you choose to do, keep in mind this whole idea and holiday actually does exists because you care about each other, and you truly want to show her that you appreciate everything she is, does and makes you feel.