Valentine"s Day Gift Ideas For Her

Valentine's Day Gift Ideas For Her:

No.10 - Jewelry

Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but other valuable gems and metals come pretty damn close for the wallet-conscious romantic. Sleek rings and bracelets with precious stones will surely please your lady and complement the sparkle in her eye (can we get an "aw"?). There are great selections out there, some even offering unisex designs so that you can get matching pieces.

Go the extra mile: Present it to her in a jewelry box.

No.9 - Lingerie

Sexy intimate wear is always a good choice that never gets old. It's a perfect way to add some spice to your sex life, as lingerie is clearly meant to be taken off. Make sure you find her size in a style you know she'll love.

Go the extra mile: Have it delivered to her house, with a note instructing that she wear it on your Valentine's date.

No.8 - Weekend getaway

While bed and breakfasts will remain a female favorite (it's just some stranger's house to us guys), a carefully chosen one can prove to be an enjoyable getaway for the two of you. Out in the country away from the bustle of the city, but not lacking in comfort, it's one of the best ways to spend some intimate time together.

Go the extra mile: Visit a spa where you can both get the full-body treatment on the way to the B&B.

No.6 - Purse

Another fashion accessory that's very popular with the female persuasion, most women can always use another purse to match their shoes, belt, coat, etc.

Go the extra mile: Initialize the purse and/or stuff it with little gifts like a wallet, or a scarf with a pair of gloves.

No.5 - Sex toys

Make it a great night for the two of you by hitting the local sex shop. Sex toy manufacturers are getting more creative each year, and there's no end to the variety of bedroom accessories you can find, from board games and body paint to flavored massage oils.

Go the extra mile: Get something you can enjoy together -- again and again.

No.4 - A special date

There's no going wrong here. Take your woman out on a romantic date. It can be lunch, brunch or dinner, depending on what day Valentine's falls on. Or you can recreate your first date and relive the thrill of the honeymoon phase. Spare no expense here.

Go the extra mile: Send her an invitation via snail mail and tell her to wear the dress you bought her for the occasion.

No.3 - Flowers

These are classics that work like magic if you put a little extra effort into the deed (read: don't get her a single rose wrapped in gift paper). Talk to your florist about an intricate arrangement: each flower signifies something else, like romance, loyalty or purity, so pick the ones that match your woman most.

Go the extra mile: Give her the flowers in a vase.

No.2 - Chocolate

Show her how much you care by giving her the closest thing to sex (at least that's what women claim). If you came here in search of the perfect gift, she likely deserves it.

Go the extra mile: Get a custom selection of her favorite flavors and fillings, and feed them to her while you share champagne and strawberries.

No.1 - Picture & frame

Here's a good way to immortalize your love: give her a portrait of the happy couple in a high-quality cube frame. You can blow up that great set of pictures of the two of you or hire a professional photographer to do the job.

Go the extra mile: Make one for yourself also, so that you both have the same pictures and frame.

Maybe you don't have a girlfriend to buy for, in which case you're going to want to check out How To: Spend Valentine's Day Alone (and why are you reading this top 10 anyways?), and you might want to look at our Valentine's Day Myths Revealed as well.

How to Justify a $3,000 Coffee Maker

Serious Price Range - Incredible Gift

The Ultimate Holiday Gesture

Are you a coffee snob? Do you sniff at drip? Are you willing to endure a day of caffeine headaches and jitters rather than sip a subpar brew? And most importantly, is this addiction/affliction costing you more money than you can afford? These days a lot of people are telling you to get your caffeine fix at home rather than spending $10 a day at carts and counters.

“You probably stop at your local coffee shop at least once a day and grab your latte, cappuccino or Americano,” says sales manager Darren Ruffel of Whole Latte Love (WLL), a consumer-oriented e-tailer based in Victor, NY. He estimates, for example that if you average two venti mochas daily at $4.27 each, that comes out to $59.78 a week or more than $3,100 a year on take-out coffee, not to mention the cost of gas, parking and waiting in line.

“Your coffee habit is costing you a lot of moola!” he cries. WLL has definitely seen an uptick in machine sales since the economy crashed. “More people are investing in home equipment to save money and have good quality coffee at home.”

A shot in the dark

The heart of a gourmet coffee drink is the espresso shot, flavored with milk-stuff, sugar-stuff or spice-stuff or blended with ice or foam. It was Achille Gaggia who invented the modern espresso machine in 1938, which uses pressure to extract the best flavor and aroma from ground beans.

The signature of a perfect shot is the crema, the ephemeral golden foam of oils, proteins and sugars floating on the ebony slurry of extra virgin extraction. You only get that when properly selected and roasted beans are properly ground and pressed and then properly heated and pressurized water is forced through the coffee during the proper 20-25 second window.

How hard is it to get a professional-quality cup at home? “Not hard at all. With the right equipment, beans and knowledge you can create a great cup of coffee in your home—in most instances, a better cup than at cafes because you can customize your drink to your own personal tastes,” Ruffel says.

Types of espresso technology

So assuming that five or six cups before 8am will keep you going all day (really?), what kind of investment are we talking about? These days several categories of espresso machines have been especially popular: super-automatics, semi-automatics and single-serves. (Price ranges provided by WLL).

Super-Automatic ($499-$3299): Essentially a coffee-making robot. Put whole beans in the hopper, fill the water reservoir, and a superautomatic grinds and pumps perfect cups of espresso or crema coffee at the touch of a button. Then the mechanism expels the spent puck into an internal bin and readies itself for the next shot. Some have LCD screens or manual adjustments; many have self-frothers to foam the milk.

Semi-Automatic ($59-1999): Upgrades from the traditional pump machines. You’ll need to grind your beans first (use a burr grinder) and tamp it into the portafilter, but then the machine takes care of temperature and pressure.

Single-Serve ($89-499): A new market entry. These machines usually feature space-saving designs and deliver a single, precise extraction from an inserted capsule or pod. Many manufacturers also make tea, hot chocolate and flavored coffee pods.

Does it pay?

At my house we bought a Gaggia Synchrony Compact. Our preferred way to enjoy coffee is to express about 2-4oz of coffee and then add an ounce or less of milk or creamer to cut the acidity of the coffee. In Spain and Latin America, this is often called a cortado.

We paid $650 in 2005, so our beloved little robot just turned four. Over that time, this superautomatic has required very little maintenance and only weekly cleanings. It grinds and brews perfect cups of crema at the push of a button, and then cleans up after itself. After four years at an average of 5-6 cups per day, the machine itself has cost us less than 7 cents per cup.

Besides the coffee-maker, of course, you will be spending money on coffee beans. We use Peet’s Espresso Forte blend, which we buy fresh for $12.95 per pound. Using—believe it or not—the IRS’s estimate of 60 shots per pound, we’re paying a little more than 21 cents per cup. So for about two bits per cup, we’re enjoying the best coffee I’ve ever had anywhere in the world.

Compare that to about $1.45 for simple shot of espresso at Starbucks. If we invest the time in steaming some milk or adding a flavor, our investment only goes up by a penny or so. Compare that to Ruffel’s $4.27 venti mochas.

Coffee culture

Unless you work at home, this works best if you get your whole caffeine fix first thing in the morning. (Or maybe you need to invest in one at work too?)

But what about the social aspects of the coffee house? Dropping in on your crowd, taking a break from a stressful workplace? Coffee houses have become the quintessential “third place” between work and home, but Ruffell suggest that space has gone virtual, anyway.

“With the increased world of Web 2.0, we find that people are making coffee at home and sharing the ritual of creating unique drinks on social networks like Facebook, forums and blogs,” he says. “Individuals are spending more time at home and enjoying good quality coffee with neighbors and friends.”

Steve Barth @ Reflexions

Unique Gift - 60 hour Rope Candle

Great New Gift Idea

This is a very Unique Gift. Candle by the Hour is a coiled, beeswax rope candle that has the ability to put itself out. If you have a friend or loved one that enjoys candles then you gift shopping can stop here. Candles always make a good gift for all kinds of occasions, especially with this unique gift.

Simply feed up to three inches of flexible, movable candle wax (about an hour's worth of burn-time) through the brass clamp. When the flame reaches the clamp, the candle will put itself out. No worries of burning down the house. Refills are available.